PERSAE

How sympathetically does Aeschylus present the Persians in his play Persae?

How sympathetically does Aeschylus present the Persians in his play Persae?

Introduction

Like Rodney Dangerfield as Baltimore/D.C. area groups proceed, the Persians got no respect, despite chopping seven singles on ABC-Paramount, GWP, GWP Grapevine, and Capitol Records. They were the soulful quintet from Baltimore similar to the Persuaders ("Thin Line between Love and Hate"), who dressed up their rather mundane stage outfits with smarmy turbans. The constituents were James Ellis (first tenor), Leroy Priester (baritone), Freddie Lewis (bass), James Harlee (baritone), and William June Brown (second tenor); Louis Crawley restored Brown in 1971. Although some of their releases have surfaced on compilation CDs (e.g., GWP NYC TCB), to date there has not been an whole compact computer disc of the Persians' tracks.

"Too Much Pride," their debut on ABC Paramount, issued in the summer of 1968, is their most memorable recording. They explored the DJ circuit, managing little television shows at strange hours to encourage the record. Turbans (usually the only part of apparel they was dressed in that matched) and hard passionate singing were the group's trademarks. the second ABC single in 1968, "I Only Have Eyes for You," the remake of the standard characterised by the Flamingoes, flopped.

The Persians (Greek: ???sa?, Persai) is an Athenian tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus. First made in 472 BCE, it is the oldest surviving play in the history of theatre. It dramatises the Persian response to news of their military defeat at the Battle of Salamis (480 BCE), which was the decisive episode in the Greco-Persian Wars; as such, the play is also notable for being the only extant Greek tragedy that is based on contemporary events.

 

Historical Context

The Persians was the second part of the trilogy that won the first reward at the dramatic competitions in Athens' City Dionysia festival in 472 BCE, with Pericles serving as choregos. The first play in the trilogy was called Phineus; it presumably dealt with Jason and the Argonauts' rescue of King Phineus from the torture that the monstrous harpies imposed at the behest of Zeus. The subject of the third play, Glaucus, was either the mythical Corinthian monarch who was consumed by his horses because he angered the goddess Aphrodite (see Glaucus [son of Sisyphus]) or else the Boeotian farmer who ate the magical herb that transformed him into the sea deity with the gift of prophecy (see Glaucus).[1] In The Persians, Xerxes invites the gods' enmity for his hubristic expedition against Greece in 480/79 BCE; the focus of the drama is the defeat of Xerxes' navy at Salamis. Given Aeschylus' propensity for composing attached trilogies, the topic of divine retribution may attach the three. It has been argued by some that these plays would have obscurely forecast events of the Persian invasion. Based on their presumed content, Xerxes' stride through Thrace and his beat at the assault of Plataea in 479, respectively, are likely candidates. The satyr play next the trilogy, Prometheus the Fire-lighter, ...