The Persians
Πέρσαι
A classic of antiquity. First published 471 BC, written in Ancient Greek
The Persians is an ancient Greek tragedy written during the Classical period of Ancient Greece by the Greek tragedian Aeschylus. It is the second and only surviving part of a now otherwise lost trilogy that won the first prize at the dramatic competitions in Athens' City Dionysia festival in 472 BC, with Pericles serving as choregos. It is Aeschylus' oldest surviving play, and, by extension, the oldest surviving piece of ancient Greek drama.
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Where it is set
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Its heirs
Later works that draw on The Persians.
The Waste LandGreat book
T. S. Eliot, AD 1922
'I had not thought death had undone so many', Eliot's line for the crowds crossing London Bridge, comes from Dante; and behind Dante stands the messenger in Aeschylus' Persians, reporting that never had so many men died in a single day.
Source: Wikipedia, The Persians
“Eliot, in The Waste Land, "The Burial of the Dead", line 63 "I had not thought Death had undone so many" echoed line 432 of the Messenger account in The Persians: "However, you can be sure that so great a multitude of men never perished in a single day", which is also similar to Dante's line in Inferno, Canto III, lines 56–57: ch'i' non averei creduto/Che morte tanta n'avesse disfatta.” Read it there
