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Symbols
In The Persians, eagles represent the Persians, falcons represent the Greeks, and the conflict between the two birds of prey symbolizes the Greek triumph over Persia at the Battle of Salamis. Early in the play, the Queen of Persia shares a dream that she thinks is an omen for her son Xerxes’s attempted invasion of Greece: she sees an eagle fleeing as a “falcon swooped upon him.” As the Queen tells it, though the falcon viciously attacks the eagle, the eagle fails to fight back, instead “cower[ing]” in fear. Just a few moments later, the Queen’s reading of this dream as a bad portent is borne out, when she learns that the Greeks have in fact decimated their Persian invaders, despite the Persian army’s giant size. In addition to providing dramatic foreshadowing, this eagle vs. falcon dream also helps signal an important political shift in the region. Eagles are birds of prey, known for their dominance and their power. But as this falcon attack proves, even birds of prey are sometimes vulnerable—just as the Persians, once the dominant imperial power across central Asia, have now fallen prey to the Greeks.
Eagles vs. Falcons Quotes in The Persians
The The Persians quotes below all refer to the symbol of Eagles vs. Falcons. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Persians Quotes
QUEEN: Thus in the night these visions
I dreamed: but when, arisen, I touched the springs’
fair-flowing waters, approached the altar, wishing
to offer sacrifice religiously
to guardian deities, whose rites these are,
then to Phoebus’ hearth I saw an eagle fleeing.
Dumb in dread I stood: a falcon swooped
upon him, its wings in flight, its claws plucked
At his head: he did no more than cower, hare-like.
Those were my terrors to see, and yours to hear.
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CHORUS LEADER: Queen mother, excessive fear
or confidence we do not wish to give you.
If your dreams were ominous, approach
the gods with supplications; pray that these
be unfulfilled, and blessings be fulfilled
for you, your son, your city, and your friends.
Next you must pour libations to the Earth
and the dead: and beg Darius, of whom you dreamed,
to send those blessings from the nether world
to light, for you and your son; and to hide
in darkness evils contrary, retained
within the earth. Propitious be your prayers.
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MESSENGER: Had numbers counted,
the barbarian warships surely would have won;
the Greeks but numbered thirty tens, and ten
apart from these a chosen squadron formed.
But Xerxes—and this I know full well—
a thousand, of which seven and two hundred
ranked supreme in swiftness. The count stood so.
Seemed we unequal? Some deity destroyed
our host, who weighing down the balance swung
the beam of fortune. The gods saved the city
of the goddess Pallas.
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Eagles vs. Falcons Symbol Timeline in The Persians
The timeline below shows where the symbol Eagles vs. Falcons appears in The Persians. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Persians
...as the Queen went to dip her fingers in the altar’s fountains, she spotted an eagle soaring through the air—only to see the eagle captured and killed by a falcon. The...
(full context)
