Aeschylus: Suppliants

Student-oriented edition with commentary of a long-neglected Greek tragedy about refugees, gender, race, war, and political deception.

Alan H. Sommerstein (Edited by)

9781107058330, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 12 September 2019

414 pages
22.3 x 14.2 x 2.6 cm, 0.62 kg

Many of the themes of Aeschylus' Suppliants - the treatment of refugees, forced marriage, ethnic and cultural clashes, decisions on war and peace, political deception - resonate strongly in the world of today. The play was, however, for many years neglected in comparison to Aeschylus' other works, probably in part because it was wrongly believed to be very early and hence 'primitive', and this edition, aimed primarily at advanced undergraduates and graduate students, is the first since 1889 to offer an accessible English commentary based on the Greek text. This provides particular help with the peculiarities of tragic, especially Aeschylean, Greek. An extensive introduction discusses the Danaid myth and its many variations, the four-play production (tetralogy) of which Suppliants formed part, the underlying social and religious issues and presuppositions, the conditions of performance, and the place of Suppliants in Aeschylus' work, among other topics.

Introduction
1. Aeschylus
2. The Danaid myth
3. The Danaid tetralogy
4. Supplication
5. Marriage
6. Greek and barbarian
7. King, people and tyrant
8. Zeus and Io
9. Characters and choruses
10. Performance
11. Place in Aeschylus' work
12. Transmission and text
Sigla
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Commentary.

Subject Areas: Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1], Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB], Translation & interpretation [CFP], Theatre studies [AN]