The Argive Decision in Favour of the Danaids in Aeschylus’ Suppliants

Abstract

This paper examines Aeschylus’ Suppliants as the prototypical suppliant tragedy which both links religion and politics and foreshadows the development of the ideological construct of Athens as the protectress of the weak and as the champion of justice in Euripides’ Children of Heracles and Suppliants. In attempting to account for the reasons for the Argives’ favourable response to the Danaid cause, it is argued that the link between Aeschylean Argos and Euripidean Athens begins with autochthony and culminates in the democratic constitution. By discussing a number of parallel texts, the paper goes on to explore how democracy creates a liberal mentality by promoting values that inform both domestic and foreign policy.