THE SUPPLIANTS BY AESCHYLUS

The Suppliants by Aeschylus

The Suppliants by Aeschylus

Introduction

Aeschylus' tragedy, the Suppliants, tells the story of the fifty Danaids who try to escape unwanted marriage to their cousins, the Aegyptids. They demand the protection of Argos, the home of their ancestress Io. Having fled by boat from Egypt to Argos, their cousins in hot pursuit, they place themselves in the city temple as suppliants, appealing to king Pelasgus. To prove their connection to Argos and their right to ask for help both from Pelasgus and Zeus, the Danaid maidens tell the story of Io, the cow maiden ravished by Zeus, tormented by Hera's gaddly, and finally brought to birth by the healing touch of her lover to stand at the head of a line of Greek heroes. Yet, the maidens do not realize that Io's story works against them; its moral is that no matter how unpleasant the thought of their impending marriage, women should accept their lot, for they may eventually be rewarded for their suffering by bearing an illustrious son. Though Io's story establishes the Danaids' right to appeal to Pelasgus, it also undercuts their appeal.

Discussion

It is in the context of the following story that Aeschylus plays with the imagery of birth incantations in the Suppliants: The chorus of Danaids begins the action by appealing to Zeus, characterizing him as one who makes things happen with a nod of his head, sitting on high on his throne.

When persuasion does not work, the chorus resorts to threats, claiming that they are ready to die rather than marry, that they will kill themselves there in the temple at the altar by hanging themselves from the statues of the gods. They warn him of the vengeance of Zeus who watches over suppliants; the suppliants' one weapon, the threat that their death will pollute the site, is a powerful one. Only then does Pelasgus consent to make their case before the assembled Argives. He leaves with Danaus to go plead the suppliants' case, telling the girls to appeal to the local gods with prayers. The maidens then perform the song in which they remind Zeus of Io's story, arguing from his past that, since he once responded to Io's appeals, he should now favor the “women's” cause and destroy their enemies by sinking them at sea. They begin this song with a series of Akkadian-sounding titles: “Lord of lords, most blessed of the blessed ones and most powerful of powers, felicitous Zeus.”

As West says, “Unprecedented and indeed almost unparalleled in Greek, this is an absolutely clear imitation of divine titles current in the Near East.” (1997, 557) Apparently the Danaids' arguments are as satisfactory to Zeus as Pelasgus's were to his people, for through some subtle demagoguery the king persuades the assembly to give them the status of metics (resident aliens) in Argos and protect them in the event of an attempted kidnapping, which is directly enacted on stage with the arrival of a herald of the suitors, who attempts ...