About the work
Tragedy by Euripides, probably first performed around 423 BC. Under the German title 'Die Hilfeflehenden' the play is also distributed to German-language theatres, for instance by the Berlin publisher henschel SCHAUSPIEL, in a translation by Dietrich Ebener.
Plot
After the failed siege of Thebes by the 'Seven against Thebes', the Thebans refuse burial to the fallen Argive warriors. The mothers of the dead, joined by Aethra, mother of the Athenian king Theseus, plead for help; after a debate on democracy versus tyranny, Theseus forces Thebes to surrender the bodies. Evadne, widow of the fallen Capaneus, finally throws herself onto his funeral pyre.
Cultural significance
The debate between Theseus and the Theban herald over Athenian democracy is considered one of the most explicit political statements in surviving Greek tragedy, reflecting Athens' self-image during the Peloponnesian War.