Greek Tragedy XXIII: Euripides’s The Suppliants, or How the Other Half Mourns

In today’s play, we learn what happens to the rest of the seven men who make up the famous Seven Against Thebes.

Discussion Prompts

1. Why would the suppliants be assembled at a temple of Demeter instead of some other god?
2. If you were directing this today, how would you cast your chorus? How many mothers would you include? Why? Who would you cast as Aethra? Why?
3. AP Credit:  “What really poisons life for the better class of person is when a man of no principles rises from obscurity to a position of great importance through using his tongue to control the people.”  How is this line still relevant today? Provide examples.
4. Given how political this play is, how would you design it for a modern audience? When and where would you set it? How would you cast it? Why?
5. Discuss the role of women in this play and how women are spoken of by the men in the play.
6. AP Credit: Funeral rites. Discuss.
7. What purpose do the characters of Evadne and Iphis serve in this story?