Secondary sourceBook472 BC
The Persians
Aeschylus · 472 BC
Aeschylus's 472 BC Greek tragedy, whose ghost of King Darius praises Cyrus as a fortunate and gracious ruler, the earliest surviving Greek judgement of him.
The ghost of Darius in this play offers the earliest surviving Greek praise of Cyrus as a favoured, gracious king.
About this source
What it is
The Persians is a tragedy by the Athenian playwright Aeschylus, first performed in 472 BC. It is the oldest surviving piece of ancient Greek drama. The play dramatizes the Persian court's reaction to the defeat of King Xerxes's navy at Salamis, including a scene where the ghost of King Darius is summoned.
Why it matters
Within the play, Darius's ghost looks back and praises Cyrus as a fortunate and gracious king favoured by the gods — making this the earliest surviving Greek judgement of Cyrus, written within two generations of his death. The play as a whole shows how Greeks viewed Persian royal power and hubris during their wars with Persia.
Look closer
- Why would a Greek audience, at war with Persia, want to hear a Persian king praised?
- What does contrasting Cyrus with his descendants suggest about how the Greeks judged different Persian rulers?
- Aeschylus may have fought against the Persians himself — how might that have shaped his portrayal?
This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Cyrus the Great, Pericles and Darius the Great on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.
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