Aeschylus’ The Persians
Student’s Guide | Classical Reference Library
Richer Resources Editorial Team
About This Guide
In Aeschylus’ The Persians, the audience hears about a great military defeat from the people who have lost. Instead of watching Greek soldiers celebrate victory, we meet a Persian queen, worried elders, and a king returning in grief.
This guide will help you follow the story and think about war, leadership, and the experience of defeat.
Before You Read
The play takes place at the Persian royal court in Susa, after King Xerxes has led an enormous army and fleet against Greece. The Greek victory at the naval battle of Salamis in 480 BCE is central to the story.
Aeschylus first presented the play in Athens in 472 BCE, only eight years later. It is the earliest complete Greek tragedy that survives today.
The Story at a Glance
The Chorus of Persian elders waits anxiously for news of Xerxes and his army. Queen Atossa, Xerxes’ mother, shares a troubling dream. A messenger then arrives with terrible news: the Persian fleet has been defeated at Salamis, and many men have died.
Atossa summons the spirit of Darius, the former king and Xerxes’ father. Darius warns that pride and disregard for limits have brought disaster.
Finally, Xerxes returns, devastated by the loss. The play ends with the king and Chorus mourning together.
Meet the Characters
Atossa — The queen mother, concerned for her son and her people.
Xerxes — The Persian king whose invasion ends in defeat.
Darius — Xerxes’ dead father, whose spirit interprets the disaster.
Messenger — A survivor who describes the battle and its losses.
Chorus — Persian elders who express the kingdom’s fear, grief, and uncertainty.
Important Themes
War and Loss
The play asks us to notice the suffering behind a military victory.
Leadership and Responsibility
A king’s decisions can affect thousands of lives.
Pride and Limits
Darius argues that Xerxes tried to reach beyond proper human limits.
Seeing the Other Side
The Persian characters are enemies of Athens, yet the audience hears their sorrow.
Fate and Choice
The play invites us to consider how human actions and divine judgment relate.
What to Notice as You Read
- Notice how long the characters must wait before they know what happened.
- Pay attention to Atossa’s dream and what it suggests about power.
- Compare the messenger’s description of the battle with Darius’ explanation of why it happened.
- Listen to the Chorus: its words make the defeat a shared loss, not just Xerxes’ personal failure.
A Literary Feature: The Messenger Speech
Greek tragedies often describe important events rather than showing them onstage. In The Persians, a messenger reports the battle of Salamis.
His account lets the audience imagine the disaster while keeping attention on the people who must live with its consequences.
Questions to Think About
- Why are Atossa and the Chorus worried before the messenger arrives?
- What makes the messenger’s report so powerful?
- How does Darius explain the defeat?
- What responsibility does Xerxes bear for the suffering of his people?
- Why might an Athenian playwright present the grief of Athens’ enemies?
- Does the play ask us to pity Xerxes, criticize him, or both?
After You Finish
Choose either the messenger’s report or the final scene with Xerxes.
Explain how the passage presents the human cost of war. Support your answer with two details from the play.
A Final Thought
The Persians shows that the same battle can be remembered as victory by one side and catastrophe by another.
Understanding both perspectives does not require us to think every decision was right.
Note to the Reader
This guide accompanies the Richer Resources Publications edition of Aeschylus’ The Persians, translated by Ian Johnston.
A printable PDF version of this resource is available by email.
