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Classical Greek Literature
The suppliants by Aeschylus is one of the most ancient classical Greek literature read in the modern day. The mythology expounds on Danaides, the fifty sisters, who, together with their father, are prompted to run away and seek asylum from king Pelasgus. The primary reason for the escape is that the daughters had been forced to marry their cousins. Therefore, they ran away to be saved from that ordeal (Rodriguez 1). However, the king offered no immediate help, primarily because he asked for the subject’s opinions. After they had decided to help the daughters, the king ensured to welcome them and protected them against their Egyptian cousins and forced marriage. Eventually, they were granted a room in the king’s empire to help protect them from the perpetrators. The modern-day issues in the suppliants are forced marriage and how many girls have to escape and seek protection to ensure that they have prevented such occurrences from being a reality.
Aristotle has specific criteria for defining a tragic hero, and king Pelasgus fits the description. Aristotle believes a tragic hero has many positive traits but also the power to develop his downfall. For instance, Pelasgus is a noble individual, but his downfall will be the Danaides that he has granted protection (Rodriguez 2). The cousins will wage war or develop a conflict with the king, which might be the key to his downfall. Another character, as defined by Aristotle, is that the tragic hero is extremely noble, and his action reflects it. The narration is introduced by showing how Pelasgus ensured to talk to his subjects before granting protection to the Danaides. That is a wise move primarily because they feel included in the empire factors and show that the leader is genuinely concerned about the people’s opinion.
Bibliography
Rodríguez, Verónica. “The open constructed public sphere: Aeschylus’ The Suppliant Women in a version by David Greig.” Humanities 9.1 (2020): 21.