Looking at Persians

"Aeschylus' Persians is unique in being the only extant Greek tragedy on an historical subject: Greece's victory in 480 BC over the great Persian King, Xerxes, shortly before the play was written and first performed in 472 BC. Looking at Persians examines how Aeschylus responded to such a turning point in Athenian history and how his audience may have reacted to his play. As well as considering the play's relationship with earlier lost tragedies and discussing its central themes, including war, nature and the value of human life, the volume considers how Persians may have been staged in 5th-century Athens and how it has been performed today. The 12 essays presented here are written by prominent international academics and offer insightful analyses of the play from the perspectives of performance, history and society. Intended for readers ranging from school students and undergraduates to teachers and those interested in drama (including practitioners), the volume also includes an accurate and accessible English translation of Persians by David Stuttard."--

1. Introduction / (David Stuttard, Goodenough College, UK) -- 2. Athens and Persia, 472 BCE / (Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Cardiff University, UK) -- 3. Persians on Stage / (Paul Cartledge, University of Cambridge, UK) -- 4. Attending the Persians in 472 BCE / (Robert Garland, Colgate University, New York, USA) -- 5. Imperial Stirrings in Aeschylus' Persians / (Sophie Mills, University of North Carolina at Asheville, USA) -- 6. Warfare and the War Dead / (Laura Swift, The Open University, UK) -- 7. Land, Sea and Freedom: The Role of Nature in Aeschylus' Persians / (Rush Rehm, Stanford University, USA) -- 8. Individual and Collective in Persians / (Michael Carroll, University of St Andrews, UK) -- 9. Atossa / (Hanna Roisman, Colby College, Maine, USA) -- 10. The Persians Love Their Children Too: Common Humanity in Persians / (Alan Sommerstein, University of Nottingham, UK) -- 11. Ghosts on Stage / (Anna Uhlig, University of California, Davis, USA) -- 12. Picture This / (Carmel McCallum-Barry, formerly of University College, Cork, Ireland) -- 13. National Theatre Wales, The Persians (2010) / (Mike Pearson, University of Aberystwyth, UK) -- Translation of Aeschylus Persians / by David Stu…