It is the year 458 BCE, and Aeschylus presents The Suppliants at the theatre of Dionysus in Athens. The plot of this tragedy brings a chorus of the daughters of Danaus to Argos, fleeing from a forced marriage to their Egyptian cousins, and Aeschylus places Egyptian words in the Greek speech of the actors. The Athenian audience had some knowledge of their southern neighbor. Not only had Herodotus and others described the marvels and rarities of the Land of the Nile, but there were also Egyptian born residents in Athens working at the harbor and the markets. Sofia Torallas Tovar joins us for a lecture that invites you to hear the ancient Egyptian voices in Athens, by exploring The Suppliants and other sources that attest to the linguistic contact between Greece and Egypt before Alexander’s conquest.

The OI welcomes Sofia Torallas Tovar, Professor of Classics and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago, for this Members Lecture.

Our lectures are free and available to the public thanks to the generous support of our members. To become a member, please visit:

2022, OI
Music credit: bensound.com

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