Is The Persians A Proper Tragedy Or Just A Piece... Essay - 1,930 words

Is The Persians a proper tragedy or just a piece of dramatized military and civic propaganda? Can it be both? Illustrate your answer with close reference to the text. The Persians is the only Greek tragedy to focus on a subject other than mythology, and this fact in itself should tell us something about the playwrights concerns. Why did Aeschylus not turn to mythology if he had a point to make about war? Greek mythology is full of wars and heroes, and playwrights of the time could find ample raw material to turn into plays if they adapted stories from mythology. Perhaps it was because the play was so blatantly propagandist in nature that Aeschylus deliberately steered away from mythology to show his readers that he was interested in real life rather than fiction. One is tempted to do wonder if there is such a thing at all as a proper tragedy. The Greeks are undoubtedly the masters of the genre, or at least its inventors.


What makes a tragedy a proper tragedy? Let us examine Aristotles concept of tragedy and apply it to Aeschylus play, to see if it is really a tragedy, or if it does not fit the classical requirements for a proper tragedy. Aristotle defines tragedy as follows: Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its katharsis of such emotions. . . . Every Tragedy, therefore, must have six parts, which parts determine its qualitynamely, Plot, Characters, Diction, Thought, Spectacle, Melody. (McManus Section 1, paragraph 1) Aristotles famous definition sets up the following requirements for a work to be considered truly tragic: Pity and fear are the reactions that must be aroused in the audience by the action; Catharsis or purging of emotions must take place; The six vital parts, as cited above, must be part of the play.


Aeschylus may be said to be guilty of a kind of reverse orientalism. As Edward Said pointed out, the West created a construct of the orient by exoticizing it, and emphasizing the differences between the East and the West. MacFarlane points out that there was a fundamental difference between the Greeks and the Persians. In any great war story, the warring sides are seen to respect each other, and the message the writer gets across is usually that it is war that is to be despised, and not the people who are forced to become pawns in a gory game. MacFarlane, however, tells us that the Persians as they saw themselves were very different from the Persians as the Greeks saw them (captions to figures I and 2). The Persians saw themselves as disciplined warriors, but the Greeks saw them as an inferior race meant to be subjugated and abused. They had to be suppressed at all costs.


MacFarlane also gives us the following biographical details about the playwright, which show us that Aeschylus had something of a personal stake in the issue of the Greeks warring against the Persians, and that consequently, his idea of what was really happening could have been more than a little biased: The Persian Wars 490 BC - Aeschylus fought, and brother died, in Battle of Marathon 479 BC - Aeschylus fought in Battle of Salamis 478 BC - formation of Delian League, under Athenian leadership 472 BC: Production, and victory, of the Persians (tetrology) Phineus Persians Glaucus of Potniae Prometheus (Section 2, Paragraph 1) Since Aeschylus own brother died in the war, it is not unreasonable to assume that the writer was subjective about the issue. When a writer is unable to be objective, it is doubtful that what he writes will be universally applicable and unbiased. In any event, it is unwise to let biographical details rule ones judgment of a text; the text itself is the best referent for this assumption. The Persians is the second and only surviving part of a four-part series that Aeschylus wrote on the contemporary wars with Persia. The Battle of Salamis is believed to be the event that he was referring to in the play. The play begins with a chorus meant to represent Persians; it is obvious that the Greek is presenting the issue from the other sides point of view, and this in itself makes us wonder if his approach is likely to be biased. The Queen is seen to be an unworthy leader, begging for the council of the elders since she does not know what to do: Advise me then, you whose experienced age Supports the state of Persia: prudence guides Your councils, always kind and faithful to me. [Lines 171-73] Unusually, the play begins at the end of the war.


Soon after the beginning, a messenger runs in with the news that the Persians have been defeated. A gory description of how the Persian heroes died is outlined in the messengers speech, allowing the audience to wallow in the characters misfortunes. The ghost of King Darius is seen to be unaware of the loss, but when he does learn of it, he blames his son Xerxes for the failure. He places the blame for the defeat squarely in the hands of the Persians, stating that What is this unexpected ill that weighs the Persians down? [Line 694] Obviously, we are meant to accept his version of events: that there is an ill that is plaguing the country, and that that is why they have lost the batt ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: persian, aeschylus, greek, tragic hero, xerxes

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