History, Collective Memory, and Aeschylus' Persians

TitleHistory, Collective Memory, and Aeschylus' Persians
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2003
AuthorsAttilio Favorini
JournalTheatre Journal
Volume55
Issue1
Pagination99-111
ISSN1086-332X
Abstract

Abstract Aeschylus' The Persians (472 BCE) affords an example of the interplay of history and memory, as these concepts have been articulated by twentieth-century historiographers such as Patrick Hutton and Pierre Nora. The play's diction links it to the oral memorialist tradition of epic exultation, while the spectacle of its defeated Persians offers a historical lesson to Athens and suggests empathy with all who mourn for loss in war. Twentieth-century productions of the play have tended to dissovle its carefully crafted ambiguity.

URLhttp://muse.jhu.edu/journals/theatre_journal/v055/55.1favorini.html
DOI10.1353/tj.2003.0019