Suppliants

In Suppliants, fifty daughters of Danaus flee Egypt and arrive in Argos, seeking protection from forced marriage to their cousins. They appeal to King Pelasgus, who must decide whether to shelter them and risk war with their pursuers. The chorus is the central character, and much of the play is made of its prayers and songs. It treats the duties owed to refugees, the limits of a ruler's power and the role of public consent, and it is among the earliest surviving Greek plays.