Xerxes The Great: The Achaemenid King Who Began the Decline of an Empire

Xerxes I (known also as Xerxes the Great) was the fourth ruler of the Achaemenid Empire. In modern popular culture, Xerxes is perhaps best known as the main antagonist in Frank Miller’s 300, a film based on the comic series of the same name. In these modern works, Xerxes, as ‘the other’, is portrayed, amongst other things, as effeminate, despotic and decadent. In a way, these qualities serve to highlight the difference between Xerxes and his Greek adversaries, in particular the Spartan king who opposed him at Thermopylae, Leonidas.

Such negative portrayals of Xerxes (and the Persians in general), however, are not limited to modern times, and were already in existence during the king’s lifetime. As may be expected, these depictions were often made by his Greek enemies. One of the most famous of these can be found in Aeschylus’ play, The Persians.

Xerxes in The Persians

Aeschylus’ The Persians is a tragedy that was first produced in 472 BC, and was the second play in a four-play production that won first prize at the City Dionysia festival in Athens that year. The two characters said to have the most ‘airtime’ in the play are Atossa, Xerxes’ mother, and the ghost of Darius, Xerxes’ father. Nevertheless, the play (including the conversations of Atossa and Darius’ ghost) revolve around Xerxes’ expedition against Greece, and his defeat at the Battle of Salamis. Additionally, Xerxes makes an appearance towards the end of the play.