Persians

Abstract

In the middle of the fourth century BCE Aristotle declared in his Poetics that the best kind of tragedy is that in which someone who enjoys great good fortune and reputation falls into the opposite unhappy state. Aeschylus was not to know that modern historians would be tempted to treat Persians as if it were primarily a source of information for us about the events of 480 BCE. Persians should be described as a tragedy based on history rather than as a historical tragedy. Nostos poetry has its own conventional themes and motifs, the significance of which in Persians would certainly be clearly understood by the original audience. It is now that Aeschylus's reliance on the audience's understanding of the conventions of nostos poetry becomes particularly crucial. It may be difficult for most modern readers or audiences to appreciate fully the ritual lamentation with which the play ends.