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The Battle of Salamis
Libations were an essential part of everyday religious practice in ancient Greece (and throughout the ancient world). To give libations typically involved pouring a liquid—usually wine, but also honey and milk—onto the ground, as a way to honor the dead and offer human bounty up to spirits. It is telling that while Aeschylus’s rendering of the Queen of Persia sees libation as central to prayer, in reality, libation was a custom more associated with the Greeks than with the Persians. The presence of libations in The Persians is thus another sign of just how much Aeschylus’s depiction of another culture in fact reflects on his own cultural mores.
Libations Quotes in The Persians
The The Persians quotes below are all either spoken by Libations or refer to Libations. For each quote, you can also see the other terms 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
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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QUEEN: Ah! woe is me, the army all destroyed.
O bright night’s spectacle of dreams,
how clearly you foresaw my woe,
and you, my counselors, how poorly you have judged.
But yet, as you counseled thus,
first to the gods I’ll offer prayer; and then
to Earth and the dead I’ll come to offer gifts
from the house, a rich libation. I know I pray
for what is done and gone, but a brighter
fortune, in time to come, may there yet be.
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QUEEN: My friends, if one’s experienced in troubles,
One knows that, when a flood of evil comes,
we tend to fear for everything; but when
a god provides an easy voyage, we think
that fortune’s never-ending wind will blow
forever. So now, to me all things are full of the fear
and visions from the gods assail my eyes,
and my ears already ring with cureless songs:
thus consternation terrifies my sense.
Therefore I departed from the palace,
returning here, unaccompanied
by chariots, by pomp and ceremony:
to the father of my son I bring
libations, propitious offerings for the dead.
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DARIUS: All human beings suffer human troubles;
and many woes arise, some from the sea,
and others from the land, to those who live
a longer span of life.
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