Hellas by Percy Bysshe Shelley
In Constantinople, Sultan Mahmud hears reports of Greek resistance and consults Ahasuerus about his troubling dreams. His vision recalls the city's earlier conquest and presents Mahomet II's phantom foretelling imperial ruin. Cries of Ottoman victory interrupt the vision, while the captive Greek women's chorus imagines a renewed Greece and pleads for an end to killing.
By Percy Bysshe Shelley · Genre: Dramatic Poetry, Political Drama · 5 chapters · 17,622 words
First lines
A Lyrical Drama
MANTIS EIM EZTHLON AGONUN. -OEDIP. COLON.
Genres
- Dramatic Poetry — Verse dialogue, stage directions, and songs by captive Greek women organize Mahmud's troubled deliberations and visionary encounter.
- Political Drama — Reports of Greek revolt unsettle Mahmud's imperial authority, while the chorus condemns slavery, tyranny, and retaliatory bloodshed.
Tags
Greek independence · Ottoman Empire · captivity · imperial decline · dreams · tyranny · verse drama
What this Textopian page supports
Hellas is listed on Textopian as a play by Percy Bysshe Shelley, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Play
- Author: Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Dramatic Poetry, Political Drama
- Length: 17,622 words
- Structure: 5 chapters, 197 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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- Work identity for Hellas by Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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