The Persians Flashcards
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Queen
Chorus
Setting
Type of play
Dress
Queen Atossa
Dignitaries and Advisors of the Empire - chorus of old men of Sousa
Sousa one of the The Persian Empire’s Capital Cities
An ideological play, a highly emotive and ideological story, “they are called neither slaves nor subjects of any single man’ (24)
The Persians wear ornate dress and head gear in the play and have sumptuous luxury - gold bedecked army (11) the gold of Sardis (45), Babylon rich in gold (53) great luxury, effeminate, decadent
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Author
Date
Sea Battle
Revolt
Dead King
New King
Aeschylus, born 525 BCE, fought at Marathon 490 and Salamis 480 BCE then Plataea Persian Army (Mardonius) defeat, Mycale navy defeat, both 479
Play Produced 472 BC(Pericles)
Salamis,480 BCE led by Greek Commander Themistocles
499-494 revolt of the Ionian cities, leading to Persian Invasions
Darius/Dareios-Invaded Greece in 492 in revenge for greek assistance to the Ionian cities revolt, but defeated at the battle of Marathon in 490 in an enveloping manoeuvre executed by the Greek general (stratogi) Miltiades
Xerxes, wanted to avenge the defeat and invaded in 480
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Masculine v Feminine
Influence
Strategy
Generals
Greeks butch and masculine, Persians effeminate, behave like women, tear their clothes with rage and grief
Earliest work that sets the West (Greece et al) against the supposedly inferior East (Persia and its empire). The Greeks are free the Persians are slaves
Strategy Themistocles conned Xerxes into blocking the straits of Salamis, resulted in Persian fleet being cramped and unable to manoeuvre and fell prey to the Greek ships- 300 lost
Generals Greek - Themistocles , Persian - Mardonius
Story Progress 1 Asia emptied
Chorus describes departure of the Persian forces from Asia In all their might and glory
Archers, swordsmen, cavalry, sailors, Egyptians, Lydians, Babylonians, Syrians
Asia is emptied
Bridge built of lashed boats across the Hellespont (Bospharos)
Women tearing clothes sobbing at their empty homes and beds
Story Progress 2
The Queen enters, Darius’ wife
She is worried about possible disaster “Great wealth may kick up a cloud”.
She asks for council and describes a dream, 2 girls one Greek one Persian placed in a yoke by Xerxes, the Persian girl accepts this the Greek one fights and refuses to be yoked, Xerxes fall from the chariot symbolises the defeated the Persan army - PROPAGANDA 1
She speaks of a fight between an eagle (symbol of the Persian army) and a hawk (Greece) then hawk (in Greek myth the Hawk is a messenger of Apollo) wins - premonition of doom -PROPAGANDA 2
Chorus suggests prayers to husband and Gods, citing prowess of Greek army and possession of silver -PROPAGANDA 3
Chorus appears to laud Greek democracy “Neither slaves nor subjects of any single man” - PROPAGANDA 4
Story Progress 3 The messenger arrives
Enter Messenger who reports the doom of the Persian Army and navy - PROPAGANDA 4
How much they had lost when the Persians were destroyed by Greek Ships at Salamis
He recites the toll of the names of commanders who have died
Greek navy 300 ships, Persians 1000 yet destroyed by cunning ruse - the Persian ships were moored too close together, constrained, therefore unable to deploy properly and were picked off by being rammed by the Greek ships and damaging themselves in their haste to escape
Story Progress 3 -2
The Greek sailor master of his ship , the Greek soldier master of his spear - PROPAGANDA
Barbarians are simply anyone non-Greek, they speak ‘barbar’ -gibberish
Small island nearby used as trap to ensnare Persian soldiers, corralled and massacred
Xerxes tore his robes and screamed
Story Progress 4 - The Queen Raises Darius ( a vehicle also used in The Odyssey and Illiad)
Queen speaks of fears of doom and says she will conjure/raise the dead Darius’ spirit for advice - his ‘yellow died slippers’
More ‘doom’ propaganda by chorus - PROPAGANDA 5
Darius demands to know why he has been raised immediately and succinctly
They reiterate yet again the story of doom -PROPAGANDA
Darius condemns his son for his over-confidence and ambition, his lack of prudence his pride and hubris (similar to Achilles?)
Story Progress 4 -2
Darius condemns Xerxes attempt to tame the Hellespont with the Bridges (he had done the same at the Dardanelles) Xerxes had the Hellespont lashed
Darius recounts how the Persian Empire grew, its rulers, this again to show how clever the Greeks were to defeat such a powerful enemy - PROPAGANDA 6
Darius says the Empire will grow “Only if you take no expedition into Greek territory”. “The land starves to death any excess of population”.
Darius believes that the disaster has been incurred due to the Persians destroying and defiling the shrines of the Greeks as the Persians went through Greece - “Zeus chastises arrogant minds”.
Darius - “Wealth is of no use to the dead” and departs
Story Progress 5 - Finale
The chorus praises the good governance and wisdom of Darius
Xerxes enters ruined and wretched - “Oh wretched me!”
Chorus - The Persians have been killed by Xerxes and cry out in mourning
Reiteration of the dead by chorus TEDIOUS PROPAGANDA - Greeks speaking as Persians but loving Greeks, much wailing, gnashing of teeth, tearing of gowns, HISTRIONIC
Following on from this was the Greek Victories at Plataea - land, Mycalae - sea 479
City Dionysian and the Lenae
Took place once a year
Usually three tragedies and five comedies over several days
All actors were male, in the orchestra, wore masks, exotic costumes for barbarians
chorus, spoke, danced and sang, form of divine worship,
Play performed 472
Greek tragedians
Aeschylus -The Persians, he was from a noble Attic family father Euphorion, claimed that he was killed by a tortoise that fell out of the sky when dropped by an eagle
Sophocles - The Theban Plays (Oedipus the King) - b 497-d 406
Euripides- - The Trojan Women -b 480 - d 406
Lines to quote
“Great wealth may kick up a cloud” Atossa
“Neither slaves nor subjects of any single man” Chorus
“Only if you take no expedition into Greek territory” Darius
“The land starves to death any excess of population”. Darius
‘So the city of Athens still not sacked?’ - Atossa
“Wealth is of no use to the dead” Darius
“Oh wretched me” Xerxes
