Looking at Persians

Description

Aeschylus’ Persians is unique in being the only extant Greek tragedy on an historical subject: Greece’s victory in 480 BC over the great Persian King, Xerxes, eight years before the play was written and first performed in 472 BC. Looking at Persians examines how Aeschylus responded to such a turning point in Athenian history and how his audience may have reacted to his play. As well as considering the play’s relationship with earlier lost tragedies and discussing its central themes, including war, nature and the value of human life, the volume considers how Persians may have been staged in fifth-century Athens and how it has been performed today. The twelve essays presented here are written by prominent international academics and offer insightful analyses of the play from the perspectives of performance, history and society. Intended for readers ranging from school students and undergraduates to teachers and those interested in drama (including practitioners), this volume also includes an accurate, accessible and performance-friendly English translation of Persians by David Stuttard. Cover Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Contents Contributors Foreword Post Script Introduction: Persians in Context Historical context Persians and its tetralogy Persians: A celebration of victory? Staging Greek tragedy Persians: Afterlife 1 Persians on Stage 2 Athens and Persia, 472 bce Question 1: What did the Athenians know about the extent of the Persian Empire? Question 2: What did the Athenians know about Persian history? Question 3: What did the Athenians know about Persian queens? Question 4: What did the Athenians know about Persian religion? Question 5: What did the Athenians know about Persian language and culture? 3 Persians’ First Audience 4 Imperial Stirrings in Aeschylus’ Persians 5 Homeric Echoes on the Battlefield of Persians War in life and thought The ‘catalogues of Persians’ Xerxes as an epic hero 6 Individual and Collective in Persians 7 Land, Sea and Freedom: The Force of Nature in Aeschylus’ Persians Representing the physical world in the ancient Greek theatre A fatal yoking The land and seas of Greece Elemental and celestial allies Back to the earth – Persian and Athenian ‘Natural’ justice 8 The Persians Love their Children, too: Common Humanity in Persians What, as the play presents things, is the principal cause of the Persians’ defeat? There, but for the fall of the lot, go we? The wives and the mothers 9 Atossa Introduction Atossa and the Chorus Atossa and Darius 10 Theatrical Ghosts in Persians and Elsewhere 11 Words and Pictures 12 National Theatre Wales: The Persians (2010) Aeschylus’ Persians Bibliography Index