Xerxes Flashcards
Appearance
Only appears at very end despite being king (Darius appears more)
Characterisation
- hubris
- admired
- wrong
- tyrannical
Hubris
highly confident and proud
->sits on mountain to watch battle
Does too much by invading Greece which father failed (therefore punished by the gods and looses) “yoking two continents”
“my bold son” goes over an above
“Xerxes, whose rashness emptied Asia of its men” even Atossa is sharp with him
his zeal and want to prove himself cost Persia the war
“with mans own zeal”
“man is mortal and must learn to curb his pride”
“divine prophecy” - gods are against him
“arrogant and boastful men”
Xerxes insulted the gods “affronting god”
desperate to prove himself and so does things to be like his father
“you [Darius] won gold […] while he […] a coward”
Admired
described as godlike on departure and lots of detail put into showing displays of force “himself the peer of gods”
highly respected by the chorus (until he looses) “Xerxes our king” “great king”
loved by his mother who deeply worries for him while he is away (dream and vision)
“Xerxes the king lives”
main concern for people & believe if he is alive then all hope cannot be lost
Wrong
fails to take account of Greek tricks/deception & believes Themistocles’ message “with no thought of man’s guile or the jealousy of gods”
->Greeks = smart & Xerxes = silly & deceived (contrast)
“tore his clothes, weeping and instantly dismissed”
->snap decision, not the best (emotionally attached - father failed and he wants to be like him)
parents degrade him but still loving because ‘he can learn’
“poor fool” “youthful recklessness” “god, I fear, robbed him of his wits”
->made to sound childlike even though 30 “Xerxes my son is young”
“Xerxes has won for us not vengence but a world of suffering” views of X change once he looses
chorus blame X (“but Xerxes?) repeatedly but still love Darius even though he lost (X= too bold)
Tyrannical
“from the darkness of his glance glares a gory dragons eye”
- unusual, scary
he is king and represents tyranny
When does Xerxes appear?
When does Xerxes appear?
When does Xerxes appear?
at the end of the play
Xerxes’ lines
fit into a formulaic exchange with the chorus
Xerxes’ emotions
expresses grief and shame at loss
Xerxes as feminine
such mourning of the dead is an act the Greek audience would naturally expect of women.
Xerxes’ relationship with the gods
blames the hatred of the gods but does not suggest that he might have caused their disfavoyr so there is no sense of any recognition of his failings earlie identified by both Atossa and Darius
