Persians (2)

A tragedy written by the Athenian playwright, Aeskhylus (Aeschylus).

The Persians is the story from the Persian point of view of the utter defeat of the Persian army and navy under the leadership of Xerxes after his failed invasion of Greece in 480 BCE; the play is unique in that it deals with a historical event and is not, as is common with the other extant plays by Aeschylus, mythological.

To me, the most amusing aspect of this play is that the Persians refer to themselves as “barbarians” which was not a term the “real” Persians used to describe themselves; the term barbarian was what the Greeks called all foreigners but particularly the Persians.

If you wish to read this play I suggest The Complete Greek Tragedies, Aeschylus II, edited by David Grene and Richmond Lattimore, ISBN 0226307948; you can find this book at your library in the 800 section or you can order it through the Book Shop on this site which is linked to Amazon.com.