The Suppliants (Greek Tragedy in New Translations)

By Aeschylus

Book Overview

A shrine is stronger than a tower to save, A shield that none may cleave. Step swift thereto, And in your left hands hold with reverence The white-crowned wands of suppliance, the sign Beloved of Zeus, compassion's lord, and speak To those that question you, words meek and low And piteous, as beseems your stranger state,

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195019334
• ISBN13: 9780195019339
• Release Date: June 1975
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 104 Pages
• Weight: 0.89 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 0.6" x 6.4"

Customer Reviews

Sisters fleeing cousins.

This is the first play of a trilogy by Aeschylus (c. 525-456 B. C.), the other two being lost (Aeschylus wrote over seventy plays of which only seven are extant). It begins the story of the daughters of Danaus. The brothers Aegyptus and Danaus were descendents of Io. Aegyptus had fifty sons and Danaus had fifty daughters and the sons are determined to marry their cousins. The daughters flee to Argos, seeking sanctuary from Pelasgus, King of Argos. The play, which contains very little action, is really serving as a prologue to the other two missing members of the trilogy.