The first time I read Aeschylus’ plays, I did not get nearly as much out of them as I should have. Indeed, this was mostly due to the fact that I had read them on internet pdfs which I do not typically annotate or read as closely, so I was bound to not enjoy them as much. I am especially grateful, then, to have gotten the Penguin Classics edition for four of Aeschylus’ plays, Prometheus Bound, The Suppliant Women, Seven Against Thebes, and The Persians. The Suppliant Women I was particularly excited to get to, as I have a friend who told me they were very fond of that play, and, when I had first read it, I had gotten little out of it then. Reading the physical paperback of the Philip Velacott translation changed the play in a positive way for me, and I can now say that I both understand and love the play much more than I did originally. 

Similarly to Prometheus Bound, The Suppliant Women was the first play in a trilogy of plays, which can make The Suppliant Women seem a little weak, or unfulfilled, at its end. Indeed, much of the enjoyment of the play comes from imagining how Aeschylus must have used the ideas in this play to change things up in the future ones. But, to its credit, The Suppliant Women does still stand pretty tall on its own. The plot is the myth of the Danaids: 50 daughters of Danaus are forced to marry the 50 sons of King Aegyptus, but the women flee to Argos to prevent having to be wed to men they despise. After some hesitation, the King of Argos, Pelasgus, acquiesces to give them asylum, rejecting the Egyptians’ demands for the womens’ return. 

So far is the entirety of the play. The plot is not truly tragic with its happy ending, and most of the tragedy comes from the womens’ pleas and outcries not to be shunned by the king. However, as I previously said, The Suppliant Women would have been the first part in a trilogy of plays, and the Danaids’ story would not have ended there. 

One of my favorite things about Greek tragedy is how it plays with unsolvable moral paradoxes that change how we view the characters. The Oresteia is perhaps the best example of this, as Orestes avenging Agamemnon by killing his mother makes Orestes out to be boh villain and hero. The Suppliant Women would have been the same. Further into the myth, Argos is besieged by Egypt, leading to the women being recaptured and forced to marry the sons of Aegyptus. However, Danaus plots to save his daughters by convincing them to murder their husbands on their wedding nights, which would be a monstrous crime. This action would both villainize the Danaids and let you sympathize with them, just like Orestes in The Oresteia. 

Beyond predicting what would have happened in plays lost to time, The Suppliant Women is still a great play for its good writing, and tenseness at each turn. The Danaids’ bewailing and convincing of Pelasgus is wrought with passion, and lets you see that they have the passion to carry out the foredoomed, gruesome murder early on. Overall, The Suppliant Women is a great play, and I would recommend it to a fan of Greek tragedy!