Already o'er the adverse strand

In arms the monarch's martial squadrons spread;

The threat'ning ruin shakes the land,

And each tall city bows its tower'd head.

Bark bound to bark, their wondrous way

They bridge across the indignant sea;

The narrow Hellespont's vex'd waves disdain,

His proud neck taught to wear the chain.

The Persians is one of a trilogy of unconnected tragedies presented in 472 BC. Written during the Classical period of Ancient Greece, it dramatizes recent history rather than events from the distant age of mythical heroes.. The play treats the decisive repulse of the Persians from Greece in 480, in particular their defeat at the Battle of Salamis.

Asechylus(525/524 BC–456/455 BC): the first of classical Athens' great dramatists, who raised the emerging art of tragedy to great heights of poetry and theatrical power. Aeschylus wrote approximately 90 plays, including satyr plays as well as tragedies; of these, only seven survived. According to the philosopher Flavius Philostratus, Aeschylus was known as the “Father of Tragedy.”Aeschylus' influence on the development of tragedy was fundamental. Previous to him, Greek drama was limited to one actor and a chorus engaged in a largely static recitation. By adding a second actor with whom the first could converse, Aeschylus vastly increased the drama's possibilities for dialogue and dramatic tension and allowed more variety and freedom in plot construction.