Stars: Alberto Terrani, Gabrielle Giacobbe, Massimo Foschi
Director: Carlo Rivani
Writer: Aeschylus
The Persians is an ancient Greek tragedy written during the Classical period of Ancient Greece by the Greek tragedian Aeschylus in 472 BC
It is the second and only surviving part of a now otherwise lost trilogy that won the first prize at the dramatic competitions in Athens' City Dionysia festival in 472 BC, with Pericles serving as choregos.
The first play in the trilogy called Phineus, presumably dealt with Jason and the Argonauts' rescue of King Phineus from the torture that the monstrous harpies inflicted at the behest of Zeus.
The subject of the third play, Glaucus, was either a mythical Corinthian king who was devoured by his horses because he angered the goddess Aphrodite (see Glaucus (son of Sisyphus)) or else a Boeotian farmer who ate a magical herb that transformed him into a sea deity with the gift of prophecy.
Summary:
The Persians takes place in Susa, which at the time was one of the capitals of the Persian Empire, and opens with a chorus of old men of Susa, who are soon joined by the Queen Mother, Atossa, as they await news of her son King Xerxes' expedition against the Greeks.
Expressing her anxiety and unease, Atossa narrates "what is probably the first dream sequence in European theatre."This is an unusual beginning for a tragedy by Aeschylus; normally the chorus would not appear until slightly later, after a speech by a minor character. An exhausted messenger arrives, who offers a graphic description of the Battle of Salamis and its gory outcome.
He tells of the Persian defeat, the names of the Persian generals who have been killed, and that Xerxes had escaped and is returning. The climax of the messenger's speech is his rendition of the battle cry of the Greeks as they charged:
On, sons of Greece! Set free
Your fatherland, set free your children, wives,
Places of your ancestral gods and tombs of your ancestors!
Forward for all.
In the court of the fake, deceitful, and manipulative Dragons.
There's nothing easier than to become a legendary god of the ancient pantheons.
And after a heavy thunderstorm, lots of thunder and rain
eventually now behold the serenity of the calm sea shore.
Everybody is welcome to the shore of creativity and madness
as long as they know their places.
St. Alien.
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