Asterisk denotes entries on real places.
*Argos.
Argos functions in The Suppliants as a place of asylum, and, as such, represents Athens, where the concept of asylum was a cherished value of the radical democracy. Like all dramas by Athenian poets, this play transposes subjects of topical concern to suitable locations in mythical sources.
*Egypt. Although a distant land across the Mediterranean, Egypt had long featured in Greek trade and history. Here, it is the strange “other” realm, where the bizarre story of the daughters of Danaus begins. The fifty suitors whom they are fleeing are the sons of Aegyptus, the hero after whom Egypt is named. In the play, Egypt embodies non-Greek customs and behavior, especially in the matter of marriage between sets of cousins.