The Emptiness of Asia : Aeschylus' 'Persians' and the History of the Fifth Century

"This is a vigorous and captivating book with a mighty sting in its tail. Tom Harrison does what many have done before, he reads Aeschylus' 'Persai' alongside Herodotus' 'Histories'. But whereas others have compared texts in the search for what actually happened at the battle of Salamis, he compares them to reveal the commonplaces and assumptions about Persia that shaped not only the writing of the play but the reactions of the audiences. The powerful account of the play's political and ideological force that results overturns a century of modern scholarship, unmasking the projections of their own views that literary critics have wished upon the play and questioning our romantic assertion of the uniqueness of classical Athenian culture". - Robin Osborne "This is a literary study of Aeschylus' Persians alongside Herodotus' Histories, which offers a comprehensive understanding what actually happened at the battle of Salamis and afterwards. Thomas Harrison examines the political and ideological motivating factors underpinning Persai in the context of the times. Aeschylus' Persians is not only the first surviving Greek drama. It is also the only tragedy to take for its subject historical rather than mythical events: the repulse of the army of Xerxes at Salamis in 480 B.C. It has frequently been mined for information on the tactics of Salamis or the Greeks' knowledge of Persian names or institutions, but it also has a broader value, one that has not often been realised. What does it tell us about Greek representations of Persia, or of the Athenians' self-image? What can we glean from it of the politics of early fifth-century Athens, or of the Athenians' conception of their empire? How, if at all, can such questions be approached without doing violence to the Persians as a drama? What are the implications of the play for the nature of tragedy?"--Bloomsbury Publishing This is a literary study of Aeschylus' Persians alongside Herodotus' Histories, which offers a comprehensive understanding what actually happened at the battle of Salamis and afterwards. Thomas Harrison examines the political and ideological motivating factors underpinning Persai in the context of the times. Aeschylus' Persians is not only the first surviving Greek drama. It is also the only tragedy to take for its subject historical rather than mythical events: the repulse of the army of Xerxes at Salamis in 480 B.C. It has frequently been mined for information on the tactics of Salamis or the Greeks' knowledge of Persian names or institutions, but it also has a broader value, one that has not often been realised. What does it tell us about Greek representations of Persia, or of the Athenians' self-image? What can we glean from it of the politics of early fifth-century Athens, or of the Athenians' conception of their empire? How, if at all, can such questions be approached without doing violence to the Persians as a drama? What are the implications of the play for the nature of tragedy? Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction Part 1. Framing the play 1. Aeschylus the historian? 2. Politics and partisanship 3. Aeschylus, Atossa and Athenian ideology Part II. Finding Athens 4. The use and abuse of Persia 5. Where is Athens? 6. Athens and Greece 7. The emptiness of Asia 8. Democracy and tyranny Part III. Conclusions 9. Themistocles and Aristides 10. Athens and Persia Notes Bibliography Index "Aeschylus' Persians is not only the first surviving Greek drama. It is also the only tragedy to take for its subject historical rather than mythical events; the repulse of the army of Xerxes at Salamis in 480 B.C." "Thomas Harrison here provides both a more satisfying literary reading of the Persians and a richer picture of fifth-century history - the history both of events and of ideology."--Jacket