SOURCE: Murray, Gilbert. “The War Plays, Persae and Seven Against Thebes.” In Aeschylus: The Creator of Tragedy, pp. 111-30. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1940.

In the following excerpt, Murray contends that in addition to being one of the earliest plays by Aeschylus, the Persians is also significant because of the historical record it contains, making high poetry out of a public celebration of a victory.

With the Persae we seem to be on firmer ground than with the Supplices or Prometheus. For one thing it is not only a play: it is a direct historical record of one of the great events that have decided the destiny of Europe, the repulse of the invasion of Greece by Xerxes. It gives a detailed account of a great sea-battle fought more than two thousand four hundred years ago by one who was not only an eyewitness but a combatant, and...