Aeschylus’ Persians – The Lament of the Others

In September of 1951, the exiled residents of the island of Ai-Stratis decided to stage a theatre performance there for the first time. They chose Aeschylus’ Persians. The censorship authorities allowed this because just four years earlier, the same play had been mounted by the National Theatre to celebrate the Dodecanese’s union with the rest of Greece. Moreover, Aeschylus’ text had always been used to underscore national supremacy and the continuity of a lineage dating back to ancient times. It was, therefore, considered the most appropriate choice in the process of reforming the leftist exiles. Besides, lines from the original drama, such as “Go ahead, Greek children” and “Now, you’re fighting for everything,” dominated the slopes of the “New Parthenon,” as the island of Makronisos (which also served as a place of exile) was called.

That performance on Ai-Stratis in 1951 was perhaps the first documented performance in Greece staged by those defeated in the official history—those whom the regime treated as the dangerous “Others” and whose struggle was condemned to fall into oblivion. It was perhaps the first time that instead of being used to celebrate the display of supremacy, Persians returned to its tragic origin.

The production “Aeschylus’ Persians – The Lament of the Others” took place on 5 and 6 July 2025 at the Ancient Theatre of Philippi, Kavala.

The filming of the production took place as part of the Project “Sub 3.29 Platform for managing cultural events in archaeological sites and museums”, which is included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0” and is funded by the NextGenerationEU plan.