A chorus of Persian advisors selected to guide the Empire in his stead anxiously awaits the return of Xerxes, Darius’s son and successor, from his military campaign against Greece. They recall the many great warriors from across the Persian empire who went with Xerxes. The invading army crossed into Greece “by means of a boat-bridge tied together with flaxen cables,” effectively “placing a yoke on the neck of the sea” (Lines 69, 70). While they are confident in the battle capability of the Persian host, the old men worry that Xerxes’ actions may be an affront to the gods. They are worried, too, that the Persian capital of Susa is vulnerable because it has been emptied of men, leaving its women alone. As the chorus ponders the fate of Xerxes and his army, Queen Atossa, widow of Darius and mother of Xerxes, arrives. The chorus prostrates itself in reverence.

Like the chorus, Atossa is anxious about the results of her son’s enterprise. She worries “that great wealth may make the dust rise from the ground by tripping up the prosperity that Darius, not without the aid of some god, had built up” (Lines 163-65).