We use a forward numerical model to analyze the intra-plate stress field in an area of active extension of continental lithosphere: the Aegean region. Recent tomographic images of the Hellenic subduction zone offer the unique opportunity to address the relation between the evolving Aegean stress field and temporal variations in the subduction process. To this extent we apply our model to both the present-day and the Late Pliocene situation. Regarding the current situation it is found that subduction-related forces largely explain the observed pattern of tension. Results obtained for the Pliocene indicate that detachment of the slab subducted below western Greece may have controlled the observed temporal variation in the pattern of tension. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1996