Tom's Learning Notes

The Persians (Greek: Πέρσαι, Latin Persae) by Aeschylus is the oldest surviving Greek tragedy and the only one to deal with recent historical events, portraying the Persian court during Xerxes' invasion of Greece, which ended with defeat at Salamis and Plataea in 480 BC. The play was produced at Athens only eight years later in 472 BC, with the statesman Pericles acting as choregos or producer. Aeschylus himself was a veteran of the Persian Wars, fighting at Marathon in 490 BC. The tone of the work is one of compassion for the defeated mixed with pride in the Greek victory.

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 Free online texts

Gutenberg: Πέρσαι. Greek text, multiple formats.

Gutenberg: Four Plays of Aeschylus; The Suppliant Maidens, The Persians, The Seven against Thebes, The Prometheus Bound, translated by E.D.A. Morshead. Multiple formats. 

Internet Archive: The Plays of Aeschylus, translated by Walter Headlam and C.E.S. Headlam. Multiple formats.

Internet Classics Archive: The Persians. English text, HTML and TXT formats.

Loebulus. L145 - Aeschylus -- Suppliant Maidens. Persians. Prometheus. Seven Against Thebes. PDF of public domain Loeb edition in Greek and English.

Perseus: The Persians. Greek text, edited by Herbert Weir Smith, Cambridge (1926). HTML and XML formats.

Perseus: The Persians, translated by Herbert Weir Smyth (1926). HTML and XML formats.

Poetry in Translation: Persians, translated by G. Theodoridis. HTML format.

Wikisource: Πέρσαι - Greek text, edited by Herbert Weir Smith, Cambridge (1926). HTML, other formats via bookcreator.

Wikisource: The Persians, multiple English translations. HTML, other formats via bookcreator.

Other Resources

The Guardian: The National Theatre of Wales does battle with Aeschylus' The Persians. Review by Charlotte Higgins.

History of Ancient Greece: Early Tragedy and Aeschylus, podcast by Ryan Stitt.

The Iris: A Guide to Aeschylus's 'Persians', by Shelby Brown, 13 August 2014.

KCET: The Persians - Performing Aeschylus' Tragedy Today by Victoria Looseleaf, September 18, 2014.

Librivox: The Persians. Public domain audiobook.

Literature and History: Episode 26 - Ancient Greek Theater. Podcast.

On Teaching Aeschylus' Persians, by K.O. Chong-Gossard. Essay in PDF format.

Theatre Database: The Persians, an analysis of the play by Aeschylus, from The Tragic Drama of the Greeks. A.E. Haigh. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1896. 

Wikipedia: Aeschylus - The Persians.

The Great Conversation: Related reading at Tom's Learning Notes.

Herodotus: The Histories - The classic contemporary account of the Persian Wars.

Aristophanes: The Frogs - includes an apparent reference to The Persians.

Aristotle: The Poetics.

A.E. Haigh: The Tragic Drama of the Greeks (1896).

 Ancient Greek resources: Learn to read Greek classics in the original.

Bloom's Western Canon: The Persians is listed.