Prometheus Bound and Other Plays: Prometheus Bound, the Suppliants, Seven Against Thebes, the Persians

The first of the great Greek tragedians, Aeschylus wrote a large number of plays, of which seven survive. Of the four included in this volume, "The Persians" is unique in Greek tragedy in having as its subject matter a recent historical event, the defeat of the Persians at the famous battle of Salamis. The other three, "Prometheus", "The Suppliants" and "Seven Against Thebes", were all written as parts of trilogies and take their themes from Greek legend, but in each Aeschylus' interpretation reflects the morality of classical Athens. Thus, in "Seven against Thebes" the fate of the two protagonists, Eteocles and Polyneices, is not entirely controlled by the gods, for Eteocles is free to choose whether or not he should fight his brother. In "Prometheus" and "The Suppliants" Aeschylus shows that although the struggle of reason against violence can never be an easy one, it is reason that is the proper principle of civilized life.

Aeschylus was born of noble family near Athens in 525 BC. He took part in the Persian Wars, adn his epitahp represents him as fighting at Marathon. He wrote more than seventy plays, of which only seven have survived.

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