The Persians

The Persians invokes the ghost of Darius, the deeply respected historical ruler of Persia, as a contrast to his son Xerxes—an impulsive man whose overly ambitious schemes defy the gods. Darius came from a long line of glorious rulers whose reigns brought prosperity and fortune to Persia. When he is summoned by his widow Atossa and the chorus to bring them advice and relief, he is dismayed and ashamed at his son, whose defeat at Salamis has undone all of acts of his ancestors. Darius—alongside his contemporaries Atossa and the chorus—links the play’s action to Persia’s past, which Aeschylus paints as a storied and glorious period of increasing power and achievement. Faced with the revelation that his son has failed to follow in these footsteps, Darius brings dire warnings about Persia’s future. Tellingly, Darius does not ever confront Xerxes directly in the play; despite his lamentations, he cannot influence the future of the Persian Empire except through the memories of those who survive him. His final piece of advice applies very specifically to the play’s other elders, who will soon join him in death: to enjoy life because one cannot take their riches to the underworld.

There is little to distinguish any of the members of the chorus of old Persian courtiers and counselors from each other. Unlike the choruses of later tragedies, where an individual member could have a leading role, these old men are largely anonymous. In Greek tragedies, the chorus has a formal function: relaying exposition, emphasizing certain emotional beats, and sometimes explain moral developments in the plot. They can also be actual characters in the play, interacting with the principals. In The Persians, the chorus fulfills both of these jobs. In scenes featuring religious rites, such as Atossa’s summoning the ghost of Darius, or in the parodos and exodus, the chorus is a stylized feature: They sum up events leading up the play’s action and offer ritualized odes of praise and mourning akin to the “Mariandynian dirge-singer” (Line 941) dedicated to a culturally specific form of lamentation. At the same time, the chorus is composed of trusted members of the Persian court, governing in Xerxes’ stead. In this guise, they interact with the play’s protagonists: Atossa trusts them with the interpretation of her ominous dreams and gladly accepts their advice when they tell her to pray and pour libations on Darius’s grave, while Darius addresses them as “Trusted of the trusted, contemporaries of / my youth, elders of Persia” (Lines 681-82). When Xerxes returns, the chorus once more becomes an amplifying element rather than a character, following Xerxes’ instructions to enact a choreographed and stylized rite of sorrow, escorting the disgraced king off stage.

Historically, Xerxes was the king of the Persian Empire at the time The Persians was performed at the Athenian Dionysia festival. Aeschylus portrays him as a foolish leader, in stark contrast to his wise predecessors, especially his father, Darius the Great. In the play, Xerxes’ defining quality is his over-ambition, which soon turns into hubris. After setting out to do what his father could not—conquer the Greek city-states and subject them to Persian rule—Xerxes launched a two-pronged attack that separates his forces and stretches them too thin. In his unwillingness to accept failure, Xerxes naively trusted a lying Greek spy who told him what he wanted to hear, and then roped together boats to block a narrow strait in the Hellespont—something Darius claims goes against the gods’ will. In the play, the Battle of Salamis, in which Greek forces destroyed Xerxes’ navy and armies, is regarded as a decisive defeat, disastrous for the Persians and a triumph for the Greeks.

Xerxes returns to Susa during the last episode of The Persians, clad in torn royal robes and carrying only an empty quiver. His appearance comes after a succession of characters has dwelt on his disgrace: the Queen Mother having a dream and seeing an omen of Persian failure, a messenger bringing bad news from the war, and the ghost of Darius explaining that Xerxes has undone the successes of his predecessors. However, the play does not take away Xerxes’ dignity: He does not shy away from responsibility, recognizing that the defeat is his fault and imploring the chorus to engage in a ritualistic chant emphasizing his failures.