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The Suppliants (Aeschylus)

Play by Aeschylus

  • 6 min read
  • 4 chapters

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Greek tragedies—The Suppliants and Sophocles' Philoctetes, for example—do not always end with the downfall of the protagonist. Rather, the agony of the Danaids in fleeing a forced marriage is essentially tragic. And Pelasgus is faced with the choice of protecting the suppliants, which would likely involve a war with Egypt; or rejecting their plea for protection, which would mean offending Zeus, who supports suppliants, and who might well punish him and his country in response. Furthermore, the suppliants threaten to commit suicide if their plea is rejected, which would bring ritual pollution on the city and its people and draw down the anger of Zeus upon them. The plays ends with the success of the suppliants and the deferral of any war with Egypt. But this is only a temporary reprieve, and the following plays of the tetralogy continue, probably, with a war between Argos and Egypt, followed by other tragic events and dilemmas.

Plot

The Danaids form the chorus and serve as the protagonists. They flee a forced marriage to their Egyptian cousins. When the Danaids reach Argos from Egypt, they take refuge in a sanctuary of several gods, outside the city, and they entreat King Pelasgus to protect them. The girls are descended several generations back from Zeus and Io, an Argive princess seduced by Zeus and then driven by Hera to Egypt, so they claim Argos as their ancestral homeland, and they recognize and supplicate the Greek gods. The Danaids tell King Pelasgus that if he refuses their plea, they will commit suicide by hanging themselves on the statues of the gods at the sanctuary. Pelasgus wants to help them, but he doesn't want to start a war with Egypt. He gives the decision to the Argive people, who unanimously decide in the favour of the Danaids. Danaus rejoices at the outcome, and the Danaids praise the Greek deities. Almost immediately, a herald of the Egyptians comes to attempt to force the Danaids to return to their cousins for marriage. Pelasgus arrives, threatens the herald, and urges the Danaids to remain within the walls of Argos. The play ends with the Danaids retreating into the Argive walls, protected.

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