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The Suppliant Maidens, the Persians, the Seven Against Thebes, the Prometheus Bound

aeschylus e.d.a. morshead

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This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

208 pages, paper

First published January 1,-0470

This edition

Format
208 pages, paper
Published
June 17, 2004 by Kessinger Publishing
ISBN
9781419150012
ASIN
1419150014
Language
English

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aeschylus

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Greek Αισχύλος, Esquilo in Spanish, Eschyle in French, Eschilo in Italian, Эсхил in Russian.

Aeschylus (c. 525/524 BC – c. 456 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is largely based on inferences made from reading his surviving plays. According to Aristotle, he expanded the number of characters in the theatre and allowed conflict among them. Formerly, characters interacted only with the chorus.
Only seven of Aeschylus's estimated 70 to 90 plays have survived. There is a long-standing debate regarding the authorship of one of them, Prometheus Bound, with some scholars arguing that it may be the work of his son Euphorion. Fragments from other plays have survived in quotations, and more continue to be discovered on Egyptian papyri. These fragments often give further insights into Aeschylus' work. He was likely the first dramatist to present plays as a trilogy. His Oresteia is the only extant ancient example. At least one of his plays was influenced by the Persians' second invasion of Greece (480–479 BC). This work, The Persians, is one of very few classical Greek tragedies concerned with contemporary events, and the only one extant. The significance of the war with Persia was so great to Aeschylus and the Greeks that his epitaph commemorates his participation in the Greek victory at Marathon while making no mention of his success as a playwright.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
38(38%)
4 stars
29(29%)
3 stars
33(33%)
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Profile Image for Kimberly .
ladyeofc
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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I am reviewing this as Prometheus Bound only
In the past year or so I have attempted to read through a few of Aeschylus' works though have struggled finishing any of them, this being the first, I think the idea of watching Prometheus suffer on a rock is interesting but I regret to say it doesn't hold the same appeal of the works of Euripides or Sophocles to me personally.
I will say that the setting lends very well to the fact that it is a play and it the first footnote is correct then it makes for a very compelling conversation in that regard.
Prometheus is a very cool guy, but in this he just seems like a cocky man who can't be wrong due to him falsifying his story to the chorus and whining to Io.
I will say that Aeschylus thrives on arguments with the climactic debate/argument between Hermes and Prometheus is especially well written
Despite the negativity of this review, maybe on a second reading I might feel a little different and more willing to enjoy Aeschylus play.
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kiiiiillllll
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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Tempi di rilettura.

Prometeo incatenato e I sette contro Tebe.

Tanta tanta roba.
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Bigdingaling
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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Quality Rating: Four Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Three Stars

I definitely preferred Prometheus Bound and The Persians to the other plays in this collection. Divine intervention is always more interesting for me, but even the plays I didn't like so much were still written very well. There's a level of eloquence classical writers are known for that you really don't find these days, and I think Aeschylus demonstrates this perfectly. I'm definitely enjoying studying this over some of the other texts, and I think it's a good way to go into classical plays if you're at al interested but slightly daunted by the idea.
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Momo33
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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i do enjoy the story of prometheus and i was very glad that we are discussing this in class, however prometheus is a pick me man who should learn to shut up because he is annoying!!!

book 1 for my drama and transgression: from prometheus to faust module
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Fayezinha
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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See four plays are all really fragments as they portions of larger cycles dealing the same characters or themes. Imagine sitting down to read Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and having only Volume 3 available. Or only being able to watch Attack of the Clones but knowing five other Star Wars films once existed. Frustrating. Like the lost plays of William Shakespeare, the plays contained in this slim volume only tease us with what the completed stories might have authored. These are good examples of dissecting the human condition, but they only hint at what the author may have truly had in mind in telling them.

Two of the four stood out for me.
Prometheus Unbound is an interesting fraction (?) of a larger play, the rest of the pieces have been sadly lost, but it still works well on its own. Prometheus is the prototype rebel against authority, but he is also the prototype of the teacher. This makes him a very fascinating character study. In this play we see the results of his struggles against Zeus's authority and the consequences of his delivery of fire into the hands of mankind. It's a pity the other two (?) plays detailing the Prometheus chronicle by Aeschylus have been lost.

The Persians was also very interesting. A tagedy written by a Greek but from the point of view of a Persian who wanted to enslave the Greeks. Not what I expected.one would think that a historical tragedy would portray the Persians as monsters, villains and the stereotypical political enemy. Instead the Persians are humanely noble; which, of course, make sthe tragedy work. It was also interesting that this was a historical tragedy, most (all?) Greek plays I am familiar with deal with mythological stories and characters. This is in many ways a very unique example of Greek theater.
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MaximusExtremus
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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This collection of plays contains 4 out of 7 of Aeschylus' surviving plays: Prometheus Bound, The Suppliants, Seven Against Thebes and The Persians. Of these I preferred Prometheus Bound and Seven Against Thebes over the other two, though they are all very good plays and are worth reading for anyone interested in Ancient Greece.
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Groenboys
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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As theater goes I have read nothing of higher caliber than this. Prometheus Bound especially stirs great emotion in the reader and would be amazing to see live. The conversations with the Ocean, the nature of the gods, mans relation to fire. It is all very poetic and lovely. It was a sheer pleasure to read these works of Aeschylus.
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