The Persians by Aeschylus – the lament of Others

Aeschylus’ The Persians will be presented on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 July at 20:30 at the Ancient Theatre of Philippi, as part of the 68th Philippi Festival.

The Persians by Aeschylus - the lament of Others

In September 1951, the political exiles on Ai Stratis decided to stage a theatrical production on the island for the first time. They chose The Persians by Aeschylus. Strangely enough, censorship permitted it, perhaps because only four years earlier it had been performed by the National Theatre to mark the celebration of the Dodecanese's union with the rest of Greece. Moreover, the Aeschylean text had long been used to emphasise national superiority and the continuity of blood with antiquity, and was thus considered especially suitable for the reformation of leftist exiles. After all, the phrases “Go forth, sons of the Greeks” and “Now is the struggle for all” adorned the slopes of the “New Parthenon,” as Makronisos was called.

The 1951 Ai Stratis performance is perhaps the first recorded production in Greek reality to have been staged by the losing side of official history, by those deemed the dangerous “Others” by the regime, whose struggle was condemned to oblivion. And thus, for the first time - perhaps - The Persians returned from being a commemorative display of superiority to their tragic origin.