The Persians (play) by Aeschylus

E373746

*The Persians* is an ancient Greek tragedy by Aeschylus that dramatizes the Persian court’s reaction to their defeat at the Battle of Salamis, offering a rare contemporary Greek portrayal of their recent enemies.

All labels observed (3)

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Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf ancient Greek tragedy
play
theatrical work
addresses consequences of military ambition
relationship between victors and vanquished
author Aeschylus
chorus Persian elders
commissionedBy Pericles
countryOfOrigin Classical Greece
depicts consultation with the ghost of Darius
lamentation over Persian losses
return of Xerxes after naval defeat
firstPerformanceDate 472 BC
firstPerformanceFestival City Dionysia
firstPerformancePlace Athens
genre tragedy
historicalContext Greco-Persian Wars
influenced later historical drama
literaryTradition Athenian tragedy
mainCharacter Ghost of Darius I
Queen Atossa
Xerxes I
narrativeFocus Persian reaction to defeat at Salamis
notableFeature earliest surviving Greek tragedy based on a historical event
one of the oldest surviving plays in Western literature
originalLanguage Ancient Greek
partOf Aeschylus’ extant plays
portrays Persian perspective on Greek victory
setting Achaemenid Empire
surface form: Persian Empire

Achaemenid palace complex
surface form: Persian royal court at Susa
structure episodes
exodos
parodos
prologue
stasima
studiedIn classics
comparative literature
theatre studies
subject Battle of Salamis
survivesAs complete text
theme divine retribution
hubris
imperial overreach
limits of human power
suffering of the defeated
tone lamenting
somber

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Atossa culturalDepiction The Persians (play) by Aeschylus
Xerxes I appearsInWork The Persians (play) by Aeschylus
this entity surface form: The Persians (Aeschylus)
Straits of Salamis mentionedInWork The Persians (play) by Aeschylus
this entity surface form: Persians by Aeschylus