The Persians (Prentice-Hall Greek drama series)

The earliest of his plays to survive is The Persians (Persai), performed in 472 BC and based on experiences in Aeschylus's own life, specifically the Battle of Salamis.[29] It is unique among surviving Greek tragedies in that it describes a recent historical event.[2] The Persians focuses on the popular Greek theme of hubris by blaming Persia's loss on the pride of its king.[29] It opens with the arrival of a messenger in Susa, the Persian capital, bearing news of the catastrophic Persian defeat at Salamis to Atossa, the mother of the Persian King Xerxes. Atossa then travels to the tomb of Darius, her husband, where his ghost appears to explain the cause of the defeat. It is, he says, the result of Xerxes' hubris in building a bridge across the Hellespont, an action which angered the gods. Xerxes appears at the end of the play, not realizing the cause of his defeat, and the play closes to lamentations by Xerxes and the chorus.[30]