The Phoenician Women or Maidens (Ancient Greek: Φοίνισσαι, Phoinissai) as produced ca 412-408 BC. The play is Euripides' version of the Seven Against Thebes myth. This was around about the time when Athens suffered a major loss during the Peloponnesian War, the annihilation of the fleet and army which it had sent against Sicily.
Argument/Hypothesis
When Oedipus, king of Thebes, was ware that he had fulfilled the oracle uttered ere he was born, in that he had slain his father, King Laius, and wedded his mother Jocasta, he plucked out his own eyes in his shame and misery. So he ceased to be king; but, inasmuch as his two sons rendered to him neither love nor worship, he cursed them with this curse, "that they should divide their inheritance with the sword." But they essayed to escape this doom by covenanting to rule in turn, year by year. So Eteokles, being the elder, became king for the first year, and Polyneikes his brother departed from the land, lest any occasion of offence should arise. But when after a year's space he returned, Eteokles refused to yield to him the kingdom. Then went he to Adrastus, king of Argos, who gave him his daughter to wife, and led forth a host of war under seven chiefs against Thebes.
And herein is told how the brothers met in useless parley; by what strange sacrifice Thebes was saved; of the Argives' vain assault; and how the brothers slew each other in single combat.
Alternative Argument
Dramatis Personae
Jocasta, mother, and wife of Oedipus
Old Servant [slave], Tutor [paedagogus/therapon] to Antigone, daughter Of Oedipus
Chorus of Phoenician Maidens chosen to serve Apollo at his temple in Delphi but who have been trapped in Thebes because of the war.
Polyneices, brother of Eteocles, son of Oedipus and Jocasta, now exiled
Eteocles, king of Thebes, son of Oedipus and Jocasta
Creon, brother of Jocasta, advisor to Eteocles
Teiresias, a blind Theban prophet
Menoeceus, son of Creon
First Messenger, Eteocles' messenger who has observed the attack on Thebes and its defence,
Second Messenger, Also Eteocles' attendant who has observed the duel between Eteocles and Polyneices, each killing the other, and the suicide of Jocasta.
Oedipus, former king of Thebes
Silent/Mute Parts
Eteocles’ attendants.
Teiresias’ daughter Manto [his guide]
Attendants carrying corpses during the Exodos.
Possible Distribution of Parts
This play by Euripides has significantly a large cast.
Jocasta and Antigone have several lyric parts which would have needed a singer with some significant skill. Perhaps one special actor was required to perform them, the Protagonist.
The Deuteragonist may have played Eteocles, Teiresias, Oedipus, and the two Messengers.
The Tritagonist could have performed the roles of Polyneices, The Tutor, Creon, and Antigone [in lines 1270-1282]. The role of the First Messenger could also have been given to the Tritagonist.
Setting: The Skene is the royal palace at Thebes. The setting is in front of this palace on the acropolis of Thebes which overlooks the city wall.
Summary:
Prologue [Lines 1–201]:
Part 1 (Lines 1 to 87)
Enter Jocasta. She is in mourning.
Jocasta begins by relating the mythical story and founding of the House of Cadmus. Cadmus had originally come to Thebes from a coastal town (Tyre?) in Phoenicia. She tells us that the Sun dawned on an evil day in the history of Thebes when Cadmus came to this land [Thebes].
Jocasta:
They call me Jocasta, the name given to me by my father. I became Laius' wife, but our marriage proved childless, and after many years he went to Apollo, to ask about it, requesting male children for the good of the House of Cadmus. The god replied to him with a curse: 'you should not be trying to seed the childbearing furrow against the will of the gods. If you beget a child, the offspring will kill you and the future course of your whole house will be one of blood'.
Laius became drunk one day and impregnated her. She gave birth to a child, which was given to herdsmen to expose on Mount Cithaeron. An iron spike was driven through his ankles. But a herdsman of the king of Corinth took pity on the child and took it back to the house of his lord, and it was brought up by the queen of that land. That child was called Oedipus or Swollen-Foot.
When he grew up Oedipus became curious who his real parents were. He went to Apollo's Oracle at Delphi. So did Laius at the same time. They met on the road. The driver of Laius' chariot demanded Oedipus make way for a king, but Oedipus refused to listen. The outcome of this incident was that the son killed his father. And Oedipus took the chariot back to his stepfather.
A Sphinx was ravaging the city of Thebes. Creon [her brother] offered her hand in marriage to whomsoever could solve the Sphinx's riddle. Oedipus, her son, guessed the answer. And he became her husband and ruler of Thebes. Unknowingly he bedded his mother and she her son. She bore two further sons, Eteocles and Polyneices; and two daughters, Ismene and Antigone.
When Oedipus learned that she was both his mother and wife he blinded himself with two brooch pins. When his sons grew up, they locked him up behind bolted doors. He called out curses upon the House, that they would kill each other. Polyneices willingly agreed to go into exile. Eteocles stayed in Thebes and became its king. It was agreed that they should each rule for a year alternately.
But when the time came Eteocles refused to give up the throne and kept his brother in banishment from Thebes. Polyneices went to Argos and married the daughter of King Adrastus. Whilst he was there he mustered a strong force of spearsmen and brought them against Thebes seeking his share of the land.
Jocasta tells us that she has arranged for the two brothers to meet under a truce before they take up arms and that she hopes for peace.
Jocasta exits into the palace.
Prologue Part II
Antigone and her old Tutor appear on the roof of the palace overlooking the walls of the city [teichoscopia].
The
Tutor tells Antigone that her mother has given her permission to view
the huge Argive army arrayed against Thebes in the distance from the
roof of the palace.
Antigone and her Tutor have climbed up a cedar ladder behind the Skene onto the roof of the palace building. Antigone's mother, Jocasta, has given permission for her to go out on the roof of the palace to look over the walls of the city at the huge number of troops from Argos who are mustering in the plain before the city.
The Tutor [going up first] tells Antigone that he has to check to see if any Theban citizen is walking along the side footpath leading to the palace as if see her they might be critical that she had exposed herself in public. He is only a slave and it wouldn't matter, but she is a royal. The Tutor tells Antigone that he had accompanied her brother Eteocles to meet with Polyneices in the enemy camp offering him a truce if he wished to have one.
Tutor [to Antigone]: The path beside the palace is clear.
Antigone asks her Tutor to help her off the ladder onto the rook. She wonders if the gates to the city are secure. The Tutor tells her that they are, but that the army that Polyneices has brought with him now facing the Thebes is no feeble one. They have many horses and much weaponry and that they are already beginning to manoeuver into companies. But everyone inside the walls of Thebes is safe for they are strong.
Antigone starts to question the Tutor about some of the leaders of the columns she sees in the army from Argos.
Antigone: Who is that man wearing a white-crested helmet raising his shield of bronze high on his shoulder? the one who looks like a giant not at all resembling a mortal man, what is his name?
Tutor: He is a captain, king Hippomedon, he claims he was born in Mycenae, but he is from Lerna [south of Argos]. Do you see that other man, another captain crossing the River Dirce?
Antigone: His armour looks fashionably new. Who is he?
Tutor: He is Tydeus, son of Oeneus. The battle-fire of Aetolia lives in his breast.
Antigone: He wedded the sister of Polyneices' wife, didn't he? His equipment looks half-barbarian.
Tutor: Yes, all men of Aetolia bear shields. Their special skill is javelin throwing.
Antigone: How is it that you know all this so well?
Tutor: I saw and memorised the devices on their shields, when I went with your brother Eteocles to negotiate the truce. I noted them and the men who bore those arms.
Antigone: And who is passing by the tomb of Zethus: that young man with flowing locks he looks like a captain judging by his savage expression and the number men he is leading.
Tutor: He is Parthenopaeus, son of Atlanta.
Antigone: I pray that Artemis fells him with her bow for daring to come to lay waste to my city.
Tutor: I do so too, but this army has right on its side. The gods may see the truth in their cause.
Antigone: Where is he, that brother of mine, Polyneices?
Tutor: He stands next to Adrastus, near the tomb of Niobe. Can you see him?
Antigone: Yes, but not clearly. I wish I could fly on a cloud to him and fling my arms around his neck, poor exile. Look how his golden armour shines out like the sun.
Tutor: He is going to come here under a truce to the palace. He will fill your heart with joy then.
Antigone: Who is that man there, the old one holding the reins of a white horse?
Tutor: He's the prophet Amphiaraus. By his side are victims awaiting sacrifice to fill the ground with their blood.
Antigone: O how calm and restrained is his use of a goad to drive his team of horses. And where is that man, who hurls threats arrogantly at our city, Capaneus?
Tutor: He is there, measuring the height of the walls, calculating where to place the ladders to scale them.
Antigone: O Nemesis, and O Zeus and your thunderclaps, you both have the power to put to sleep this man who boasted of capturing the women of Thebes, and delivering them up to the maidens of Mycenae as slaves. May I never suffer the bonds of slavery.
Tutor: Come now, it's time for us to climb down and return to the palace, and for you to go the women's quarters where you will be safer, now that you have seen all that you wished to. Listen, can you hear it? Some women are coming along the sidepath leading to the palace and you know what women are like, if they want to be critical about anything they will choose to be so.
Antigone leaves the roof first climbing down the ladder behind the Skene followed by the Tutor.
Parodos [Lines 202–260]:
The Chorus of Phoenician Maidens file into the Orchestra via the Parodos. They are brightly dressed in strange costume [not Greek, but Phoenician]. They begin to sing [wishing they were in Delphi and not detained in Thebes]. They have a double identity: they are both foreign and share a common kinship with the Thebans.
Chorus:
We have travelled by ship from the island city of Tyre in Phoenicia. We were on our way to Delphi to serve in Lord Apollo's [Loxias'/Phoebus'] temple there to be his slaves. The ship we came on was rowed across the waves of the Ionian Sea and blown by the west wind over the barren waters that flow round Sicily.
Chosen as the fairest looking maidens that Tyre could offer, we came to the land of Cadmus [founder of Thebes] to the towers of Laius [turrets of Thebes] whose people are the illustrious descendants of Agenor, [our ancestor too]. We are like the golden statues dedicated to Apollo [Caryatids?]. Castalia's spring waters [the volcanic spring of Delphi] still await us to wash our hair in, the locks that are our virgin splendour.
O the rock [above Delphi] that blazes with the torches of Bacchus above the twin peaks that Dionysos haunts, and upon you, the vine that puts forth shoots, offering up your clusters of grapes; O holy cave of the serpent [reference to the Pythia herself, the prophetess of Delphi and also that Apollo's founded the Oracle at Delphi after he had killed the Python, the dragon/serpent which guarded the place], and you, O mountain rocks of the gods, and thou hallowed snowy mountain [Mount Parnassos above Delphi] would that we were the Chorus dancing the immortal dance Apollo by the Omphalos of the earth and have left behind the Dirce [river by Thebes] to be amongst you, free from the sounds of the alarms all around us.
Now we see that Ares [god of war] has advanced up to the walls of this city in fury kindling the blood of death to fire this city and may the gods help to avert this hostile war. O heaven forbid! griefs are shared by kinfolk and Phoenicia will suffer too if this city of seven gates [towers] falls. We share common blood and a common tribulation [with the Thebans] as the children of horned Io.
Around this city a dense cloud of shields are ablaze for the bloody battle to come. Ares will soon know if he brings upon the sons of Oedipus the curse of the Furies. Argos we fear your strength and fear the gods' will too, for this man of arms [Polyneices] comes with justice on his side.
First Episode [Lines 261–637]:
Enter Polyneices brandishing a sword.
Polyneices:
The guards on the gate have let me in. I am afraid that once I am inside their net: I am trapped; they won't let me go. That's why I have drawn my sword. I am afraid of trickery. This sword is my protection.
Who goes there? I put my trust in my mother who told me to come here under a truce. I see an altar at which I might seek supplication [sanctuary]. I sheathe my sword. Who are these women by the palace?
Chorus:
We are from Phoenicia. We were destined to go to Delphi to the temple of Apollo, but the men of Argos have come against the city. Who are you?
Polyneices:
I am the son of Oedipus and Jocasta who is my mother and I am her son. I am called Polyneices.
Chorus [Singing]:
O kinsman of Agenor. we do honour thee, our lord. You have returned to the land of your fathers.
O Royal Mistress [Jocasta] come quickly, your son is here. Come quickly do!
Jocasta enters
Jocasta:
Maidens of Phoenicia I have heard your cries.
I see my son, Polyneices. [To him] Come hold me in an embrace. Hug me closely as your mother. What should I say to you? How can I recapture the love we had in the past? You deserted the halls of your father when your brother sent you into exile. Thebes yearned for you, and I cut my hair in sorrow. I no longer wear white, dressing in dull rags instead.
In the palace is a blind old man [Oedipus] who is severed from the love of his family. He wants to kill himself, cursing his sons.
I hear you have wedded. May the pleasure of bearing offspring in a foreign home in a foreign land cherish you. There is curse on your mother and father, plagued by a marriage of old. I did not come to your wedding to light the customary torch, an act befitting a blessed mother. In the city of Thebes no word was spoken to greet your bride. I curse these woes. I curse the will and strife of the gods that have come down upon the House of Oedipus, and the sorrows that have fallen upon my head.
Chorus Leader: Offspring exert a strange power over women, perhaps because of the pain of childbirth. All women love their children.
Polyneices:
Mother, I have shown both sense and folly coming here. All men love the land of their birth. The man who disagrees with this, his thoughts are elsewhere. I came with misgivings. I feared treachery. I entered the city with my sword drawn, looking all around me. You promised me a pledge that no harm would be done to me in these ancestral walls. I shed tears as I came seeing my homeland, and the schools and temples of my youth. I was banished unjustly from these lands. I now live in a foreign land and city, and tears constantly flow from my eyes.
Enough however! I see you are wearing the clothes of mourning. Mother, my sufferings are to be pitied, but there is a greater pity when members of one's own family become enemies with no hope of reconciliation. Why is my father living in the palace with darkness in his eyes? And my two sisters, do they lament my banishment?
Jocasta: There is some cruel god destroying the family of Oedipus. I gave birth against the moral laws of decency, and your father wronged me when he married me and made you. What can be done? The will of heaven must prevail. How can I ask what I want to know without causing you pain? This is my dilemma.
Polyneices: Ask mother, I want to know the answer to this same question.
Jocasta: What grieveous pain does it cause to lose one's native homeland?
Polyneices: A hugely grievous loss, more in deed than in word.
Jocasta: Why does exile cause distress?
Polyneices: Above all it is the denial of the freedom of speech.
Jocasta: This is the condition of slavery.
Polyneices: A man has to bear the senseless acts of his rulers.
Jocasta: What pain to have to share in the folly of fools!
Polyneices: To avoid harm one has to deny one's natural instincts and practice servitude for gain.
Jocasta: Hope gives sustenance to exiles.
Polyneices: Hope looks with eyes that are fair but its promise is for the future.
Jocasta: Does not time expose its emptiness?
Polyneices: Hope has a kind of seductive charm that makes foul weather seem fair.
Jocasta: How did you feed yourself before you found security in your marriage?
Polyneices: Sometimes I had enough, sometimes not.
Jocasta: Did not the friends and former guests of your father help you?
Polyneices: Friends disappear once prosperity goes.
Jocasta: Did not your noble birth raise you to high estate?
Polyneices: Poverty is a curse; nobility did not feed me.
Jocasta: It seems that a man's homeland is his most precious possession.
Polyneices: You cannot even guess just how precious.
Jocasta: How came you to Argos, and with what plan?
Polyneices: Apollo gave Adrastus a certain oracle.
Jocasta: What did it say?
Polyneices: He was to marry his daughters to a boar and a lion.
Jocasta: What has my son got to do with wild beasts?
Polyneices: I know not. The gods called me to my fate.
Jocasta: The gods are wise. How did you meet with your marriage?
Polyneices: It was night. I happened upon the front door to Adrastus' palace.
Jocasta: As a wandering exile looking for a bed?
Polyneices: Just so. Then another exile came.
Jocasta: And who was he? As wretched as you were?
Polyneices: Tydeus, Oeneus' son.
Jocasta: Why did Adrastus think you were those beasts?
Polyneices: Because we fought over who would have the bed.
Jocasta: Then Adrastus understood the meaning of the oracle?
Polyneices: Yes, and he gave each of us one of his daughters.
Jocasta: Are you happy in your marriage?
Polyneices: Truly, my wife is faultless.
Jocasta: How did you manage to persuade the army of Argos to come here?
Polyneices: Adrastus swore on oath he would bring his two son-in-laws back from exile to their homelands, first me. Many chieftains of the Danaans and Mycenaeans are here, rendering me a favour which hurts me, but I need their help to fight against my home city. I call upon the gods to say that it is against my will that I should fight against my own kindred. But you can help undo this trouble. You can reconcile us with them and save you and me, and the city from these sorrows. This has been said before: "Men honour wealth above everything else. It has the greatest influence on human affairs. I have come here with a myriad spears behind me as a nobleman without wealth is merely a beggar."
Chorus-Leader: Here comes Eteocles for the reconciliation. Jocasta, say the words that will bring your children into harmony once more.
Eteocles enters accompanied with some attendants.
Eteocles: Mother, I am here at your bidding. Tell me what I must do. Let someone start the proceedings. I have come away from marshalling my warriors along the walls in order to listen to you and at your insistence concerning the talks about reconciliation for which I allowed you to let this man come inside the walls.
Jocasta:
Enough. Justice is not haste. Words must be measured slowly if they are to achieve the most. Hold back that rage and your fierce look. You are dealing with your very own brother who has come to you.
Polyneices, look at your brother too, for if you do so you will both speak and listen better. May I give you some advice. When a friend is angry with you having met with you face to face, look at your friend into his eyes and consider only the reason why you have come together, forgetting all former grievances. Then Polyneices you should speak first for you have come here at the head of an army from Argos claiming you have suffered injustice, and pray that some god will be your judge and reconcile your differences.
Polyneices: Truth is simple in the telling, and justice needs no sophistry: it has its own right measure. An argument which is unjust is naturally sick and needs clever medicine. I considered the curses that had been placed on my father's house and which Oedipus once uttered against both of us so I left this land of my own accord allowing my brother to be the ruler of Thebes for one year. I did this in expectation that I could return after that year and take my place as Thebes' ruler in my turn; and claim my share, and not have to clash with him in hateful envy, and nor by doing and suffering the evil that has now happened. He swore to this and called upon the gods to bear witness to the agreement between us. But he has not kept the promise he made. He has kept the kingship to himself and my share of our father's palace.
I have come here to take what is mine. I will send the army away from this land if I gain what is rightfully mine. I will give back to this man what is his after the same space of time that is set out in our agreement, and not lay waste to this land, nor ruin the towers of this city by scaling its walls on ladders, and which, if I do not meet with full justice, I will set into action. I call upon the gods to witness that this is what I will do, and that I would be fully justified in my deed. I am calling upon the gods to witness that I have been deprived of my country in a most unrighteous way. Mother, I declare my arguments to be just to both the wise and illiterate.
Chorus: It appears to us, although we are not Greek, that you have spoken with judgement.
Eteocles:
If all men agreed on what constitutes honour and wisdom the world would be free of contentious argument. But nothing on earth is equal except in name, but this is not reality. Mother, I would travel to the where the stars and sunrise, I'd go beneath the earth if I could to possess the greatest of the gods, Tyranny. This is what is precious. I have no wish to yield it up to another when I can keep it to myself. That would be cowardice. I consider it a disgrace that a man like this should win his ambition by coming here bearing arms to lay waste to our land. This would be an insult to Thebes if I were to abdicate in fear of Mycenaean spears. He had no right to seek arbitration by coming here in arms. Argument by reason can win all that can be achieved by the swords of enemies. If he agrees to live in this land on other terms he may, but I will not willingly resign what I already hold. When I already have the opportunity to rule why should I ever be the servant of this man? Therefore let fire and sword come; harness the horses and fill the plain with chariots. I will not yield the throne to him. If one has to do wrong it is best to do it in the cause of power.
Chorus-Leader: It is not so right to speak of evil, but is an offence to Justice.
Jocasta:
Eteocles, not everything about old age is bad. Experience can often speak more wisely than youth. Ambition is the worst of all. She is the goddess who despises Justice. Many are the homes and cities she comes to. She leaves when her worshippers are ruined. You honour her in your madness. It is better to honour Equality who binds friends to friends, and allies to allies. Equality is the natural law of mankind. Having "less" is always the enemy of "more" and only leads to hatred. Equality gave us weights and measures and defined numbers for men to trade fairly. The blind eye of night and the light of the sun pace equally through the sky during the year. Neither resents giving way to the other. Night and day serve equally. Will you not consent to share your home? Will you not give this man his right? Where is Justice? Why do you value Tyranny so highly? Is it really so precious? No, it is nothing. Do you want to have as many troubles in your home as possessions? What is having "more"? It is merely a word. Sufficiency satisfies men of worth. Mortals do not really possess wealth; they are merely the custodians of what the gods bestow upon them. They can take it all back whenever they wish. Prosperity only lasts for a day. I ask you do you want to be King of this city or its Saviour? Will you reply "King" and then if this man wins the battle and Argos' men beat Cadmus' you will see the city brought down and its daughters taken prisoner and raped by the enemy, and then the wealth you so much desire will prove costly to Thebes, yet you remain ambitious.
[To Polyneices] I say that Adrastus has shown you no favours. What a folly, what a thoughtless journey you have made coming here to sack your city. If you win - the heavens forbid - what trophies can you put on display for Zeus? Shields for the gods when you have burned down Thebes? what fame about you would spread throughout Greece? And if you lose you will go back to Argos leaving thousands of corpses behind you; the people of Argos will say to Adrastus what a wedding present for your daughter. For the sake of a marriage to one girl we have all been ruined.
[To both] You two are both pursuing an excess of evils when you converge in a single folly, of which this is the worst possible of all.
Chorus-Leader: O gods, avert these evils and make the sons of Oedipus come to terms.
Eteocles: Mother, it is too late for talking: time has been wasted and nothing can be accomplished. We cannot come to terms except on those which I have already laid out, namely that I solely will be King in this land. Mother, leave off advising me. As for you, Polyneices, leave the city or you will die.
Polyneices: And who will kill me and not himself find that I will kill him in turn?
Eteocles: I will kill you with my own hands.
Polyneices: How cowardly Wealth makes a man as he clings onto life.
Eteocles: Have you really brought an army here to this land to do battle with a nobody?
Polyneices: The general who avoids risk is the more prudent.
Eteocles: Boast on trusting that our truce is that which saves you from death.
Polyneices: It saves you too. For a second time I ask you to hand over the kingship to me and my share of Thebes.
Eteocles: Your demands are in vain. I will remain in the palace, which is mine.
Polyneices: ... with more than your rightful share?
Eteocles: Yes! Now get out of the land.
Polyneices: O gods of my city ...
Eteocles: ... that you have come to sack!
Polyneices: ... listen to me!
Eteocles: Which of them is going to listen to your prayer made by a man who brought an army against his homeland?
Polyneices: The temples of the gods who ride white horses [Amphion and Zethus, mythological founders of Thebes].
Eteocles: Who despise you!
Polyneices: ... I am being driven from my land wrongfully!
Eteocles: ... which you came to destroy. Don't call upon our gods here, but yours in Mycenae.
Polyneices: It is you are the gods' enemy.
Eteocles: But I am not the eenemy of my country like you.
Polyneices: He is driving me away without my proper share.
Eteocles: And more, I will kill you.
Polyneices: Father, do you hear how I am being treated?
Eteocles: He also hears what actions you have taken.
Polyneices: And you, Mother?
Eteocles: I forbid you to speak of her.
Polyneices: O my city!
Eteocles: Go back to Argos and pray amongst the marshes of Lerna [Home of the Hydra].
Polyneices: I am leaving. Thank you, Mother.
Eteocles: Leave the land!
Polyneices: I am going, but do let me see our father first.
Eteocles: No!
Polyneices: And our sisters?
Eteocles: You will never ever set eyes on them again!
Polyneices: O my sisters.
Eteocles: Why call on them when you are their enemy?
Polyneices: Farewell Mother.
Jocasta: I suffer a great deal.
Polyneices: I am no longer your son.
Jocasta: I was born to a life of misery.
Polyneices: This man has treated me with contempt.
Eteocles: I have been insulted too.
Polyneices: Where will you take your stand in defence of the towers?
Eteocles: Why do you ask?
Polyneices: Because I will array myself opposite you so that I can kill you.
Eteocles: I desire the same.
Jocasta: O woe is me, my sons! What will you do?
Polyneices: You'll see.
Jocasta: Run away from your father's curses.
Polyneices: It is you are the gods' enemy.
Eteocles: But I am not the enemy of my country like you.
Polyneices: He is driving me away without my proper share.
Eteocles: And more, I will kill you.
Polyneices: Father, do you hear how I am being treated?
Eteocles: He also hears what actions you have taken.
Polyneices: And you, Mother?
Eteocles: I forbid you to speak of her.
Polyneices: O my city!
Eteocles: Go back to Argos and pray amongst the marshes of Lerna [Home of the Hydra].
Polyneices: I am leaving. Thank you, Mother.
Eteocles: Leave the land!
Polyneices: I am going, but do let me see our father first.
Eteocles: No!
Polyneices: And our sisters?
Eteocles: You will never ever set eyes on them again!
Polyneices: O my sisters.
Eteocles: Why call on them when you are their enemy?
Polyneices: Farewell Mother.
Jocasta: I suffer a great deal.
Polyneices: I am no longer your son.
Jocasta: I was born to a life of misery.
Polyneices: This man has treated me with contempt.
Eteocles: I have been insulted too.
Polyneices: Where will you take your stand in defence of the towers?
Eteocles: Why do you ask?
Polyneices: Because I will array myself opposite you so that I can kill you.
Eteocles: I desire the same.
Jocasta: O woe is me, my sons! What will you do?
Polyneices: You'll see.
Jocasta: Run away from your father's curses.
Polyneices:
Let the whole House perish. Since it will be soon when my sword will be dowsed in blood and no longer be idle, I call upon the gods and the land which bore me to bear witness that I have been completely dishonoured and pitifully wronged. I am being expelled from this land like a slave, not as the son of Oedipus, like this man. Thebes, if you are harmed blame him and not me for I came unwillingly and unwillingly I am being driven away.
To you Apollo, lord of the highways, and to your shrine, I bid farewell. To you the friends of my youth I also say farewell. And to you altars and statues of the gods, upon whose altars we covered with offerings, I know not when if ever I shall address you again. But I have hope that if the gods are on my side and that if I kill him I shall become Lord in this land.
Exit Polyneices to rejoin his army.
Eteocles: Away with you from my country. Father did show some foresight when he named you, Polyneices meaning "Man of much strife", for querulous is what you are.
Jocasta goes into the palace. Eteocles and his attendants remain on stage.
First Stasimon [Lines 638–689]:
An attack on Thebes has become inevitable. The Chorus of Phoenician Maidens chants of Cadmus and the Founding of Thebes, of the sowing of the dragon's teeth and the myth of the Spartoi.
1. Cadmus came to this land from Tyre. The Oracle at Delphi had ordered him to follow a sacred cow to know where to found his city. It had laid down to rest in the plains of the Aeonians [upon land belonging to the Muses] in Boeotia [land of the cow], just as the Oracle had predicted. These plains were hugely productive of grain and had abundant streams of water springing from the River Dirce. He knew this was exactly the place where he would need to found his colony. This was also to become the land where Dionysos son of Zeus [and Semele, a daughter of Cadmus king of Thebes] had his second birth, where he lay hidden under an ivy covering for his safety. Here the Theban maidens danced for him in their frenzied Bacchic dances crying out "Evoé" [Évios - (Euius; Gr. Εὔιος, ΕΥΙΟΣ) Évios is an epithet of Diónysos referring to the ecstatic howl of joy, εὐαἵ, εὐοἱ, made by the God and those who worshipped him and participated in his orgies.]!
2. And here there was a bloody serpent [dragon] which guarded Ares' spring. Cadmus slew this beast when he came to collect ritual water, severing its head. At Athena's bidding, he sowed the teeth from the head of the dragon in the ploughed furrows of their fields. A huge army of autochthonic Spartoi sprung forth from these teeth. A bloody conflict ensued amongst them. Much blood flowed into the land of the mother earth around Thebes which became soaked and sodden with it.
3. The Chorus summon Epaphus [son of Zeus and Io, born in Egypt]. The Chorus call upon him, scion of their first Mother, Io. They call upon him with their foreign prayers, and barbarian cries to come to this land together with Persephone and Demeter to come as fire bearing goddesses to defend this land to their utmost, for all such things and matters are easy for gods.
Second Episode [Lines 690–783]:
Cleon and Eteocles discuss the strategy for the forthcoming siege and battle.
Eteocles is on stage with his attendants. The Chorus is in the Orchestra.
Enter a Messenger [captive Argive soldier].
Eteocles [to an attendant]: Go and fetch Cleon, son of Menocceus and brother of my own mother, Jocasta. Bring him here. Tell him that I want to discuss some private matters and affairs of state with him and I need his advice before we go to war. Never mind, I see him coming now.
Enter Creon from the side.
Creon: I have looked everywhere for you, king Eteocles. I have been around all the gates of Thebes and looked amongst those guarding them.
Eteocles: I wished to see you too. I found the terms of peace offered by Polyneices unacceptable.
Creon: I heard he was highly arrogant towards Thebes. trusting his new friends [Argos] and their army more. But there are some more immediate matters.
Eteocles: Tell me.
Creon: We have taken one of the enemy's soldiers captive.
Eteocles: What has he told you?
Creon: He has said that they are shortly going completely to encircle the old city with armed men.
Eteocles: Then we must take the battle to them, outside the city walls.
Creon: To where? Your youth is making you act rashly. Can you not see what action is needed?
Eteocles: Outside, beyond the trenches. That's where we should be fighting them.
Creon: We are few. They are many.
Eteocles: But their boldness is confined to words.
Creon: The power of Argos is famed amongst the Greeks
Eteocles: Fear not, I'll fill the plain with their dead.
Creon: I hope so. Much effort would be needed to accomplish this.
Eteocles: I won't keep my men cooped up inside these walls.
Creon: Victory lies in listening to good counsel.
Eteocles: What therefore do you counsel?
Creon: Any path, but not risking everything in one encounter.
Eteocles: What if we were to attack them by night, in some ambush?
Creon: Only if you can get back here safely if you fail.
Eteocles: The night evens up the odds and is advantageous to the daring.
Creon: The darkness can spell disaster if things go wrong
Eteocles: Then we should attack them when they are sitting down to dinner?
Creon: That would only create a brief panic. You need to win victory.
Eteocles: Dirce's streams are deep to ford when they are retreating.
Creon: It is better to hold onto sound precautions.
Eteocles: What if we charged against their camp with our cavalry?
Creon: There too their forces are protected by a circle of chariots.
Eteocles: What then should I do? Surrender the city to the enemy?
Creon: Certainly not! Think about it! You're a person of sense.
Eteocles: Then what is more sensible?
Creon: They have seven warriors.
Eteocles: That's only a very small number of men. What have they been assigned to do?
Creon: Each of them will lead a group of men each to attack one of our seven gates, all at the same time.
Creon explains to Eteocles, that the enemy, the Argives, was planning to send seven of its champion warriors (captains), each one to lead a company of men to attack and scale the walls at each one of the seven gates leading into Thebes. To defend Thebes he must do the same, and carefully select and send one of Thebes' own champions, the very best and bravest Thebes has and chosen for their judgement, each to lead his own company of men, one champion and his company, each to defend his own appointed gate and walls. He should also appoint seconds-in-command for each of Thebes'champions to assist each of them to keep an eye out as those champions cannot always be looking out every which way all the time.
Eteocles: Commanding companies or as single combatants?
Creon: As companies.
Eteocles: To repel attempts to scale our walls?
Creon: Exactly!
Eteocles: I agree. I will now go to each one of our seven gates and appoint one of my own to match each one of the enemy's champions. There isn't time to name all foes champions. We must not be idle. I pray that I will come face to face with my brother in battle and kill him with my spear. Your job now is to see that my sister, Antigone, and your son, Haemon, are married. And as I leave/ I beg you to take care of my mother, for you are her brother. But as for Oedipus, my own father, he deliberately put his own eyes out. I have no respect for him, for he is going to kill us all by his curses. I will also send your son Menoecoeus to fetch Teiresias, the prophet, here to see if he can offer any oracular advice. I have criticized his art before and he resents me for it. I also order you, Creon, should Polyneices be killed by me you are not to bury his corpse in the land of Thebes. And if anyone does that they are to die, even if they are related by blood to me. Now I must dress and prepare for battle, ready to face what may be. Justice is on our side. I pray to the goddess of Precaution to keep Thebes safe.
Eteocles exits with his attendants. Creon remains on stage.
Second Stasimon [Lines 784–833]:
The Chorus chant some of the ancient myths concerning Thebes.
The Second Stasimon contrasts the god Dionysus with that of Ares. It returns to the theme of the mythical history of Thebes, including Oedipus’ defeat of the Sphinx, and the glories to be won in the forthcoming battle.
1. Ares [god of war], bringer of suffering, why are you so filled with blood and death? You do not, like Dionysos, dance with virgin beauties, singing songs to the breath of an aulos. Rather you breathe lust into a host of armed warriors for the blood of Thebes. You dance a savage dance with no music. You do not whirl wearing fawnskins bearing a thrysus, rather you stand in your chariot ready with your team of four marshalled in bronze along the walls of Thebes, opposing the sons of the Sown-Men. It is your fearsome goddess Strife who has devised these sufferings for the kings of our land.
2. O glen of holy leaves upon snow-capped Cithaeron, never should you have fostered the one exposed to die, Oedipus, that child of Jocasta, cast out of his home as a babe with legs pinned. We wish the Sphinx had never come to this land with her unlyrical song, sent to ravage this land, swooping down from the walls of the city to devour the sons of Cadmus. Now there is further discord, misbegotten as the gods see it, between the sons of Oedipus. Shame is never honourable. The sons have brought pestilent pollution down upon their mother for having shared her bed with one of her blood.
3. O earth you brought birth to the teeth of the dragon, that beast which brought shame and glory to Thebes. In time the gods came to Harmonia's wedding, and to the sounds of Amphyion's lyre/ high rose up the walls of Thebes, upon the land between the two rivers, Dirce and Ismenus. Io, the horned one, became the ancestress of all the family of King Cadmus. This city now stands where Ares' finest honours may be gained.
Third Episode [Lines 834–1018]:
The Teiresias Episode
Teiresias, the aged seer, has been sent for in case he might be able to communicate something essential of relevance to the interest of Thebes. Teiresias has come, but he is reluctant to speak in the presence of Creon. He is urged to declare the truth and says that the only hope of victory for Thebes lies in the sacrifice of Creon's only son, Menoeceus. This will appease the wrath of Ares for the slaughter of the dragon by Cadmus. Menoeceus evades his father who doesn't want him sacrificed, and assents to a voluntary death; Thebes' victory is thus assured, the news of which is brought by a messenger to Jocasta.
Creon is on stage with some attendants
Teiresias, the blind seer and priest of Apollo, is led in from the side guided by his daughter Manto, together with Menoecus, Creon's son.
Teiresias: Lead on daughter like a guiding star for sailors. Have we much further to go? daughter, for we have come a long way and I have lost my strength. Keep safe the tablets bearing the oracles that I gave you and which I took from the holy seat where I noted the signs from the birds and where I divine what is to come. Menoeceus, how much further do we have to go before we reach your father?
Creon: Take heart for you are amongst friends. Give him support, son.
Teiresias: Well then, why have we been summoned so eagerly?
Creon: First rest from your journey, and get your breath back.
Teiresias: Well, I am tired. Yesterday I came from Athens. There, too, a war was in progress, against the hoplites from Thrace. The Athenians were victorious thanks to me. The crown I am wearing is my reward, taken from the spoils which the enemy had yielded up.
Creon: Your crown of triumph is a good omen. You know we are besieged by the sons of Argos, and that Thebes faces a great contest. Our king, Eteocles, has gone in full armour to face the might of Mycenae. I am ordered to discover from you what is the best thing to do to save the city.
Teiresias:
Had Eteocles asked this question I would have remained silent, and kept my oracles secret. But since it is you who have asked I will speak. This land has been sick ever since Laius, in defiance of the gods, fathered a son, Oedipus, the wretch who because his mother's husband.
The blinding of his eyes has been conceived by the gods as a warning to the Greeks. The sons of Oedipus wanting to hide this shame believed they could evade the gods, but instead have erred, by denying their father exile or privileges. His anger has turned to rage; tormented by illness and their scorn he cursed them terribly. And I did not give them advice.
Soon they will be dead, each killed by his brother. Many men will die, and corpse upon corpse, both Theban and Argive, will lie upon the land of Thebes, bringing much sorrow. The city will be reduced to rubble if you do not heed my words. It is best that none of Oedipus' offspring should live in this land for they are cursed and will only bring destruction down upon Thebes. But there is another way. But that way only brings harm to me and pain to those who are handed charge of destiny. So I will leave.
Teiresias turns to exit. Creon tries to pull him back.
Creon: Just a minute. Wait!
Teiresias: Take your hands off me!
Creon: Tell me what I need to know. How can I save our City?
Teiresias: Fortune is going to abandon you, Creon. You desire this knowledge now, but soon you will not.
Creon: Tell me how I can rescue the land of my ancestors?
Teiresias: So you wish to hear my oracles. You will, but first where is Menoeceus?
Creon: Standing beside you.
Teiresias: He must leave, and get far away from my augurs.
Creon: My son is true and will keep them secret. He will gladly take great interest in hearing how Thebes can be saved.
Teiresias: Well then, so be it. Listen. You must make a blood sacrifice of your son, Menoeceus, here and now for the good of Thebes.
Creon: What? This is pure evil.
Teiresias: I am only repeating the words of the gods and what they revealed to me.
Creon: I will not listen. Leave. I have no need for your oracles.
Teiresias: Has truth perished because of your misfortune?
Creon: On my knees I implore you.
Teiresias: Why kneel before me? Accept what cannot be changed.
Creon: Keep this secret. Reveal it to no one in the City.
Teiresias: You are ordering me to do wrong. I won't be silent.
Creon: Are you going to kill my boy?
Teiresias: Others must deal with action. I only speak words.
Creon: Why have I and my son been cursed?
Teiresias:
You are right to have called me to debate this. He must be slaughtered in that same cavern where the autochthonic dragon was born, overseer of Dirce's flowing waters. This is to give blood as a libation for Cadmus' crime, thereby appeasing Ares' wrath, who is now taking revenge for the death of his dragon. Do this and Ares will become your ally. If the earth receives fruit for fruit and the blood of a mortal for blood, you will have the Earth god's goodwill, the same god that sent the armed Sown-Men. However, one must die of this race, one born as a child of the dragon's teeth. You are the last in this line. You and your sons have pure-blood descent from these Sown-Men. However, Haemon's forthcoming marriage bars him from this.
When the boy's life has been given to the city, his death will save his ancestral land from harm. Pain and sorrow will come to Adrastus and the Argive army as they return home with their eyes veiled with the blackness of death. But Thebes will bask in glory. You have the choice: either save your city or your son. But you can't have both. Now you have heard all.
Daughter, now lead me home. A practitioner of divination is nothing but a fool. He earns nothing but hatred from those who hear misfortune. If he spares them the truth he only betrays the trust of the gods. Only Apollo should reveal oracles to men for he fears no one.
Tiresias is led off the stage by his daughter. Menoeceus remains behind with Creon.
Chorus-Leader: Creon, why are you silent? This shocks us just as much as you.
Creon:
What should one say? Never will I offer up my son in sacrifice for Thebes. All men love their children. No one would ever consent to his son's death. Let no one praise my patriotism after having spilt the blood of my child. I am ready to die for my country as I am in the prime of my life. Go son! before all Thebes hears the reckless prophecy of a seer. Escape the land at once, for he will go to each of the champions at the seven gates and tell of his prophecy. If we act immediately, you are safe, but if you delay, you are dead.
Menoeceus: Where should I flee to? To what city?
Creon: As far as your legs can take you.
Menoeceus: Tell me what to do.
Creon: Go beyond Delphi to Aetolia, then to Threprotia onto Dodona's sacred [dedicated to Zeus] shrine of prophecy.
Menoeceus: How will this give me protection. I shall need money.
Creon: The god will be your guide. I will give you gold.
Menoeceus: Thank you, father. I will go to my aunt, your sister Jocasta, who was my wet nurse after my mother had died, leaving me an orphan. After I have said my farewells to her, I will leave the city thereby saving my life. And you have much to do. Don't lose time.
Exit Creon. Menoeceus addresses the Chorus.
Menoeceus:
I have lied to my father. He has sought to save me from death, thereby robbing Thebes of its safety by aiding my escape. But I have chosen otherwise. I will not be a coward. An old man might be pardoned, but not I. I would have betrayed the city that gave birth to me. I will die for my city and its land. Think of the men who stand shield to shield without compunction or oracles fighting in defence of these towers and for their homeland, whilst I would have fled father and brother, and my own city like a coward, earning the contempt of men wherever I would go.
No, by Zeus and Ares, and the Sown-Men I will go and take my stand on the ramparts. There I will sacrifice myself over the dark and deep cavern of the dragon which was spoken of by the seer, and set my country free. I have made up my mind. I am offering the city my life, a gift of honour to Thebes. I will rid it of its sickness. If only everyone had this opportunity to serve their homeland, prosperity would bless them.
Exit Menoeceus.
Third Stasimon [Lines 1019–1066]:
The Chorus chant:
1. You came from under the ground you horrible creature to prey upon the sons of Cadmus. Bringer of death and lamentations savage monster, half woman and half-beast with wings and talons reddened by your victims. You snatched up young men by Dirce's banks, singing your hideous dirge above them. You brought a Furious god upon this land crying a murderous shriek. Blood was his trade, the god who brought these things about. Mothers mourned, maidens mourned filling our homes with grief. Each time the winged maiden made another man vanish from Thebes a cry of sorrow and pain rose up along the streets.
2. In time there came Oedipus, sent by the Pythian mistress of Delphi. He brought joy in that time of sorrow but grief in later days to come, for he solved the riddle, but alas poor man he took his mother for wife thus defiling the City and through his blood, he cast a curse upon his sons.
3. We praise him, he who dies to save his land. Creon laments, but to the seven-gated City, he brings a glorious triumph. O Athena, make us mothers of good sons such as this. You who brought death to the dragon by his hurling of a stone. You gave Cadmus the zeal for this deed, whence some heaven-sent doom has now brought a curse down upon this land.
Fourth Episode [Lines 1067–1283]:
Enter one of Eteocles' soldiers as a Messenger from the side of the palace. He calls at its door.
Messenger: Hail there, bring Jocasta to the door. Open it. Jocasta, come forth and listen. Leave behind your lamentation.
Enter Jocasta from the palace.
Jocasta: You haven't come to report disaster, Eteocles'death, have you? you who marched by his shield, guarding him from the enemy's arrows. Is he dead? Tell me.
Messenger: He is alive.
Jocasta: Are all the city walls secure?
Messenger: They stand unbroken. Thebes has not been sacked.
Jocasta: Was Thebes in danger of falling to their spears?
Messenger: It was a close-run thing, but the sons of Cadmus prevailed.
Jocasta: Tell me another thing. Is Polyneices alive too?
Messenger: They are both alive, your sons.
Jocasta: May the gods bring blessings down upon you. Tell me how did you force the Argives' spears back from the gates? Go inside and tell the blind old man too, now that the city is saved.
Messenger:
Creon's son gave his life for the city. He took his stand on the high tower and thrust his sword into his throat to save the land. Your son [Eteocles] assigned seven champions one to each of Thebes' gates. He arranged for horsemen to be in reserve to cover horsemen, and hoplites to be closely in reserve to cover other hoplites. From the tops of towers, we saw the Argive army with their white shields leave Teumessus. As they neared the trench they broke into a run closing in on the walls of Thebes, battle cries and trumpets sounded on each side, ours from the walls and theirs from the plain before the city.
Parthenopaeus with his troops was the first to attack the Neistian gate. He bore a shield depicting Atalanta subduing the Aetolian Bear with her long-ranging arrows. Attacking the Proetian Gate was Amphiaraus, the seer. He carried sacrificial victims in his chariot. He bore no flag of identification, nor were his arms emblazoned in any way. King Hippomedon advanced on the Ogygian Gate. His shield bore the image of Argus, the multi-eyed monster that sees all. After he was dead we saw that some of the eyes were looking upwards at the stars as they rose, and other eyes were closed as they set. Tydeus took his stand at the Homolodian Gate. His shield bore the image of the skin of a lion with a bristling mane and in his right hand he carried a torch just like Prometheus which to burn down the City with. Your Polyneices led the attack on the Crenaean Gate [Gate of Springs]. On his shield he bore the images of the mares of Potniae which were leaping and fleeing in panic. Beneath the handle on the inside of the shield was a device on pivots to turn these beasts round and round to make them seem as if they were possessed with madness. Capaneus led the attack on the Electran Gate. The iron markings on his shield were of an earth-born giant which carried on his shoulders a whole city torn away from its foundations to suggest what our city would have to suffer. Adrastus himself was at the seventh gate. A hundred snakes were depicted on his shield on which rode the Argive Hydra. He carried this shield on his left arm. The snakes were grabbing the children from the walls of Thebes in their jaws. I saw all this because I carried the secret password to the leaders who were defending each of the gates.
At first, we attacked their army with bows and javelins hurled by thongs, and long-distance slingshots with crashed down stones upon the enemy. When the battle was going our way Tydaeus and your son [Polyneices] shouted out: "Sons of Danaus, make haste before these missiles tear us to pieces. You light troops, horsemen and charioteers attack the gates all at once and with all your strength." When they heard this cry no one held back. They fell in large numbers with blood pouring from their heads. Others were seen falling to the ground breathing the last of their life away as they soaked the thirsty earth with streams of their blood.
Then Atalanta's son, no Argive but an Arcadian flung himself at the gates calling for pickaxes and torch-fire intent on razing the City to the ground. His furious assault was stopped by the son of Poseidon, Periclymenus, who hurled a wagon-load of stones at his head, and a stone torn from the city walls, dashing his head to pieces and crushing the bones that held him altogether. As a lifeless corpse he will be returned to his mother, the queen of archers, daughter of Maenalus. And your son [Eteocles] when he saw all was well at this gate to the others. I followed him. I saw Tydaeus with many shieldmen at his side hurling their Aetolian javelins at the tops of our defences so that many of the defenders abandoned their positions in panic. But your son [Eteocles] rallied them like a hunter does his hounds to man the battlements once again. We continued to the other gates now that this one was prevented from falling into the enemy hands.
How can I describe the fury of Capaneus' attack? On he came with a long scaling ladder boasting that not even Zeus and his thunderbolts could stop him from destroying the City. He cried this as they threw at him. And still he climbed the ladder coiled up under his shield. Step after step he took, rung after rung up the ladder he went. Just as he reached the ramparts at the top of the wall Zeus struck him with lightning. There was a most awful thunderclap filling all with fear. And he fell off the ladder and his body split apart and was scattered everywhere. To the skey went his hair, to the ground flowed his blood; and round and round his legs and arms spun; and he fell to earth as a flaming corpse. Adrastus saw that Zeus was his enemy he withdrew his troops back from the trench.
Our men saw the favour that Zeus had done them. and out of the City they poured: chariots, horsemen and hoplites all charging with their spears thrusting them into the ranks of the Argives. There was chaos everywhere with men leaping off or falling from their chariots. Wheels flying upwards, axles piling up upon axles, and corpses heaping up on the top of other corpses too, all in no particular order at all. Well, but we did succeed in stopping them from undermining our walls, but we will have to depend on the gods in the days to come: it will be they who will determine whether this land has good fortune or not.
Chorus-leader: It will be a fine for us if you were to gain victory and more so if the gods intend even better fortune for us. May we share in their blessing!
Jocasta: Fortune and the gods have given us their favour. My sons are still alive and Thebes has escaped destruction. Creon, alas, has lost his son because of my shameful marriage to Oedipus. This was good fortune for the City, but a bitter pain to his heart. But please do continue your story. What is happening to my two sons?
Messenger: Let the future take care of itself; up to now you have had good fortune.
Jocasta: Your words give me concern. I cannot ignore the future.
Messenger: Surely what more do you need to know than that your sons are alive.
Jocasta: I want to know that I have happiness in the future.
Messenger: You son [Eteocles]] needs me. I am his attendant.
Jocasta: You are hiding some evil truth from me.
Messenger: I would not add sorrow to your gains.
Jocasta: You must, unless by fleeing from me you want to fly off up into the heavens and disappear altogether.
Messenger:
O Heavens, why don't you just want me to report the good news and not have to tell of tales of woe. Your two sons are headstrong both shamefully bent on fighting the issue out in single combat before both armies. They have both uttered words to the Argives and Thebans that should never have been said.
Eteocles, standing on high from the parapets of a tower he commanded his herald to demand silence from both armies. He said "You, the noblest of warriors of Danaan [Argives], and leaders from the land of Greece, and to you the people of Cadmus [Thebans], cease battle. Do not throw away your lives for the sake of Polyneices' or mine, I will spare you this in by taking on my brother in single combat. If I kill him I will retain my throne and be sole ruler of my house, but if I lose, I will yield it all to him alone. Men of Argos, do not give up your lives here, but abandon this quarrel, depart from this land and return to your homes; enough of the Sown-Men [Thebans] have died today." After he had heard this, Polyneices, your son, rushed out in front of the ranks of the Argives praising his speech. All the Argives shouted their approval, as did the people of Cadmus, for they thought this plan was just. A truce was made between the chiefs in the space between the two armies, pledging an oath to abide by the outcome.
Now the two sons of old Oedipus put on bronze armour. The friends of both men assisted them and declared each of them to be their sides' champion. There they stood this resplendent pair, their armour each reflecting the sunlight, and impatient to cast their spears. The friends of both men came up to each. To Polyneices, his friends said that he now had the chance to raise a statue of Zeus confirming the glory of Argos. To Eteocles, his friends said that he now fights for his city: if he wins the sceptre will be his alone. They urged them on.
Priest-seers sacrificed sheep and examined the way their victims burned. They watched the tips of the flames how they flickered, and if the bladders burst putting out the fire, and how high the flames rose signifying victory or defeat for either side.
[To Jocasta] If you have any power, words of wisdom or soothing chant of incantation, go now and stop the contest between your sons, since great will be the danger of the outcome, namely tears for you and the loss this day of both your children.
Jocasta [with her head inside the palace door]: Come Antigone, let's go from the palace. It's your duty now to go together with your mother and stop these your two noble brothers from killing each other.
Antigone comes out of the palace.
Antigone: Mother, what fresh horror is happening?
Jocasta: Your brothers' lives are close to ruin.
Antigone: What are you talking about?
Jocasta: They have decided to fight one another.
Antigone: Oh what pain! What are you trying to tell me?
Jocasta: Come with me now.
Antigone: And leave the other women here in the house? Where are we to go?
Jocasta: To the army.
Antigone: I feel ashamed to appear before a crowd of people.
Jocasta: The time is not now to feel modesty.
Antigone: What are we to do?
Jocasta: To plead with your brothers to stop their feud. [To the Messeger] lead us to the battlefield without delay. [To Antigone] Hurry daughter before it is too late! If they kill each other I will lie together with them in death.
Exit Jocasta, Antigone, and the Messenger to the side.
The Chorus chant a lament for the forthcoming mutual killing of Eteocles and Polyneices by each other.
Chorus:
1. Our hearts tremble with horror. Pity streams through our flesh when we think of the mother. Which of her children will kill her child? O how Zeus suffers and Earth too, as brother slashes brother's throat spilling brother's blood. As for us which corpse should we mourn?
2. O woe, two wild beasts, two murderous souls brandishing spears will quickly come to stain with blood the fallen, wretches that they are that they ever came to think of dueling each other in single-combat. In a foreign tongue we will mourn with tears our elegy of groans due to the dead. Destiny is at hand, death is near; this day and the sword will decide what is to be. The curse of slaughter is fated driven on by the Furies.
Chorus: Wait! We see Creon approaching the palace with a cloud hanging over his face. We will cease our lament.
Exodos [Lines 1308–1766]:
Enter Creon from the side with attendants carrying the corpse of Menoeceus.
Part 1 [1308–1479] (sometimes considered to be the Fifth Episode) Opens with Creon lamenting his son.
[1332] Messenger scene
Enter the Second Messenger from the side
A messenger speech describes the duel, the fratricide, and the suicide of Jocasta over the corpses of her sons.
Part 2 [1480–1581] (sometimes considered to be the Fifth Stasimon)
It includes Antigone's dirge over the three corpses, followed by Oedipus’ appearance.
The Chorus chant the imminent arrival back at the palace of Antigone with the three corpses: Eteocles, Polyneices and Jocasta.
Enter Antigone with soldiers bearing the corpses.
Antigone sings and dances a dirge over the corpses.
As she dances and sings she is weeping. She feels pain. In her lament, she declares that Polyneices name has proved true [it means "much strife"], and has destroyed the house of Oedipus all in a terrible flood of blood.
She sings that she has brought the bodies of a mother and her two sons to the delight of a Fury. She chants about the day when Oedipus solved the Sphinx's riddle and her mother married him. This is the day that has sealed her lips in death. O what agony she [Antigone] feels. Woe be to her Father
Antigone has shaved all her hair off, and asks onto whose body she should toss the locks. Should it be onto the body of mother? Onto her mother's breasts now dry of their milk? Or onto the wounds of her brothers?
She calls out to her father to leave the palace, blind as he is, to him who wanders the corridors of the palace on his aged feet or lies miserably in his bed. He must show his face.
The Palace doors open and Oedipus comes out. He makes his way slowly forward feeling his way with a stick.
Oedipus and Antigone share the chant for the dead, each reciting lines in turn.
Oedipus: Why have you brought me into the light when I am blind and drag myself forward with a stick?
Antigone: You must listen to the awful news. Your sons are dead and so is your wife who guides your steps. O father, woe is me
Oedipus: Woe for my grief. Three lives all gone. I must cry out aloud. How did they leave the light? What befell them?
Antigone: The avenging power of your curse, with heavy swords and wicked battle fell upon your sons, Father.
Oedipus: Alas!
Antigone: Why lament?
Oedipus: They were my children.
Antigone: O you grieve, but Father, if you could see the sun and set eyes on these corpses.
Oedipus: It is clear to me why disaster came to my sons, but why my wife?
Antigone: Everyone heard her cries. She pulled out her breast offering it in supplication to her sons. She found them at the Elektran gate where they were lunging at one another with spears. She saw them continuing to battle despite their wounds. There they lay on the ground offering up their blood as it poured out from their bodies from the wounds like a libation for the god Ares. She seized the bronze sword from one of them and plunged it into her own flesh in grief for her dead sons. She fell on top of their bodies, for on this day the god that brings all things into being has heaped up a whole pile of sorrow.
Chorus Leader: Much evil has been let loose upon the House of Oedipus today.
Part 3 [1582–1766],
Creon announces the future exile of Oedipus, the future marriage of Antigone and Haemon, and the prohibition of the burial of Polyneices. Antigone defies Creon's orders.
The play ends with Antigone and her aged father in a lyric duet, sorrowfully departing for a life of exile and the rest is the actual exodos of the Chorus.
Creon: Cease your lamentation for it is now time to bury the dead and think of tombs. Listen Oedipus, your son Eteocles has given the land into my charge when he gave your daughter Antigone's hand in betrothal together with her dowry to my son [Haemon]. I now refuse to allow you to remain in the City any longer, for Teiresias has stated quite plainly that as long as you continue to stay here the City cannot prosper. So, be on your way!
Oedipus: Right from the outset, since my birth, I have been fated. Even before I was born Apollo warned Laius I would kill him. After my birth, whilst I was still pining for my mother's breast, my father tried to kill me, before I could kill him. He sent me away [to be exposed on the mountains] to become food for the wild beasts. But Fate kept me alive. Kithaeron should have finished me off. [but it didn't] Instead Fate made me the slave of Polybus [king of Corinth]. Poor wretch that I am I slew my father and afterwards came to wed my mother, to her sorrow. Sons were born to our union, sons who were my brothers. I bequeathed upon them the Curse of Laius that I had inherited. Nature did not deprive me of the understanding that I had devised all these horrors by myself without the intervention of some god. But let that be. Who will now become the guide for this blind man. Were she who has died were alive she would gladly have done this. My valiant sons? They are no more. Am I still young enough to find a means to sustain myself? How could I? Creon, you are intent on killing me by this banishment from this land, but I am not like a coward going to fall upon my knees in supplication before you wrapping my arms around your legs. Even in my state of misfortune I refuse to betray the nobility to which I was born.
Creon: You have spoken bravely when you refuse to hug my legs in supplication, but I am equally resolved to have rid of you. You are not to abide in this land. As for these corpses carry one into the palace, as for the other, he who came with a foreign force to attack his home city, the dead Polyneices, cast him forth unburied beyond the boundaries of our frontiers. Let all of Cadmus' people [Thebans] know that whosoever is caught covering his body with wreaths or burying it shall be punished by death. Let him lie unburied, unwept for as food for the carrion birds. As for you Antigone, leave off mourning for these corpses be and go inside and remain in your maiden state until tomorrow when Haemon will wed you.
Antigone: O Father, what cruel misery have we been cast into. For you, I mourn far more than for the dead. For you there is only trouble: universal sorrow is your lot. As for you, our new king, why are you mocking my father with banishment from the City? And why have you created new laws concerning a helpless corpse?
Creon: It was Eteocles who ordered these things, not I.
Antigone: They are foolish orders, and you are a bigger fool by executing them.
Creon: Why? Is it not right to obey orders once they have been proclaimed?
Antigone: Not if they are wicked.
Creon: Is it not right that this man's flesh should become victuals for dogs?
Antigone: The right you describe has no basis in custom.
Creon: It does, for he behaved towards Thebes as our enemy.
Antigone: Has he not already paid for this with his life?
Creon: Let him pay further with his "burial".
Antigone: He only came here to claim the rightful share of his inheritance.
Creon: This man will not be buried!
Antigone: I will bury him even if Thebes forbids it.
Creon: Then you too will be "buried" next to his corpse.
Antigone: There is no shame when two who have been bonded during life are buried together.
Creon [to his soldiers in attendance]: Seize her, and take her into the palace
Antigone throws herself onto Polyneices' corpse.
Antigone: I will not let go of this corpse.
Creon: Your wishes, young woman, run counter to the decrees of the gods.
Antigone: Know that it has also been decreed that one should not treat the dead with contempt.
Creon: Let no one pour libations upon the mound of this corpse.
Antigone: I beg you in the name of Jocasta, his mother who lies here.
Creon: Your efforts are in vain.
Antigone: Well then, give me leave to bathe his corpse.
Creon: This has also been banned to the citizens of Thebes.
Antigone: Then let me bind his wounds.
Creon: In no way will you do honour to this corpse.
Antigone: O dear brother, let me kiss your lips.
Creon: You are not to let your lamentation pollute your marriage.
Antigone: Am I really going to marry your son? not never while I still live.
Creon: You have no alternative choice. You cannot avoid the marriage.
Antigone: You will find that very same night I will become one of the daughters of Danaus.
Creon: Look how bold she has become with her insults.
Antigone: Let this sword which I swear by be my witness!
Creon: Why do you want to give up this marriage so desperately?
Antigone: I want to share exile with this most wretched of fathers.
Creon: Your wish is noble but also foolish,
Antigone: I will share his death too if that makes it any plainer.
Creon: Then begone, leave the land. I will not let you become the murderer of my son.
Exit into the background Creon with his soldiers.
Final Exodus[1683-1763]
Oedipus: It is fond and loyal of you to want to care for me.
Antigone: How would you feel if I were to wed and you had to go off into exile alone?
Oedipus: Remain here, and be happy. I will bear my own burdens.
Antigone: But who will be your guide for you are blind?
Oedipus: I will simply just fall over when fate intervenes and just lie on the ground where I fell.
Antigone: What has happened to the Oedipus who solved the riddle of the Sphinx?
Oedipus: Gone!
Antigone: May I not share your pain too?
Oedipus: Life would bring shame down to a young girl sent into exile with her father.
Antigone: No father, rather glory if her mind is noble.
Oedipus: Then guide me to your mother's corpse that I may touch her.
Antigone: Here father, embrace her aged form.
Oedipus: O my mother, my most unblessed wife.
Antigone: Such a pitiful corpse. All the evils lie in a heap next to her.
Oedipus: And where lie the bodies of Eteocles and Polyneices?
Antigone: They lie here before you, side by side.
Oedipus: Dear sons, wretched is the wretch of a man who fathered you.
Antigone: Polyneices is the brother who was dearest to me.
Oedipus: Now Apollo's oracle is being fulfilled.
Antigone: What oracle could possibly foresee worse?
Oedipus: That I am to die an exile in Athens.
Antigone: Where in Attica are you supposed to find refuge?
Oedipus: Colonus, a holy place, home of the horse god [Kolonos Hippeios]. Come, help your blind father. Let us take our flight into exile.
Antigone: Father, stretch out your arm, for I am now your guide.
Oedipus: I am on my way, child. Lead on sad guide.
Antigone: Indeed I am, the most miserable of all the girls in Thebes.
Oedipus: Where should I plant my foot?
Antigone: This way. Follow me this way.
Oedipus: That all should have come to this, an old man forced to flee from his homeland. How I suffer.
Antigone: Why speak of enduring suffering? Justice does not see the sinner, nor requites a man's stupidity.
Oedipus: I am the man whose high exploits are sung of, the man who solved the riddle of the maiden beast.
Antigone: Why do you refer to the Sphinx? Speak no more of the past. Exile from your homeland and death in a foreign land was in store for you right from the outset.
Oedipus: O people of Thebes, look upon Oedipus. I alone defeated the Sphinx. Now I am driven from your City in banishment, dishonoured, and in torment.
Oedipus supported by Antigone both exit slowly to the left from the audience's perspective. The Chorus Creon and his attendants carrying the corpse of Eteocles exit to the right.
There seems to have been a convention in Ancient Greek Theatre, from the audience's perspective, that the left (eastern) eisodos [passageway/Stage Right] led to the country, whereas the right (western) eisodos [passageway/Stage Left] was the route to the city.
References
The Phoenician Women - Wikipedia
Euripides: Phoenician Women (Φοίνισσαι) - - Major Reference Works - Wiley Online Library
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agenor
Io (mythology) - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelasgians
Manto (daughter of Tiresias) - Wikipedia
Euripides: Phoenician Women (Φοίνισσαι) - Wiley Online Library
The Phoenician Women by Euripides Greek Mythology.com
The Phoenician Women - Euripides - Ancient Greece - Classical Literature
Crowell's handbook of classical drama p. 270 The Phoenician Women
Literature and History Statius Thebaid, Books 1-6 (Thebaid Myth)
Thebaid (Greek poem) - Wikipedia
Oedipodea - Wikipedia
Amphion and Zethus - Wikipedia
The Tragic Dynasties — Thebes: The House of Cadmus - Cliff's Notes
The-Royal-House-of-Thebes-2-728.jpg
Cadmus and the Founding of Thebes - Wikipedia
Dragon's teeth (mythology) - Wikipedia
Spartoi - Wikipedia
Dionysus - Wikipedia
Euripidean drama : myth, theme and structure : p.227- Chapter 13 Phoenissae by Conacher, D. J - Internet Archive
Ancient Greek Theatre: Seven Against Thebes - Aeschylus
Jouan François. 20. Amiech (Christine), Les Phéniciennes d'Euripide. Commentaire et traduction. In: Revue des Études
Grecques, tome 118, Janvier-juin 2005. pp. 289-291;
https://www.persee.fr/doc/reg_0035-2039_2005_num_118_1_4616_t1_0289_0000_1
Arthur, Marylin B. “The Curse of Civilization: The Choral Odes of the Phoenissae.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. 81, Department of the Classics, Harvard University, 1977, pp. 163–85, https://doi.org/10.2307/311117.
Podlecki, Anthony J. “Some Themes in Euripides’ Phoenissae.” Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, vol. 93, [Johns Hopkins University Press, American Philological Association], 1962, pp. 355–73, https://doi.org/10.2307/283768.
Papadopoulou, Thalia. “The Prophetic Figure in Euripides’ ‘Phoenissae’ and ‘Bacchae.’” Hermes, vol. 129, no. 1, Franz Steiner Verlag, 2001, pp. 21–31, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4477399.
Burgess, Dana L. “The Authenticity of the Teichoskopia of Euripides’ ‘Phoenissae.’” The Classical Journal, vol. 83, no. 2, The Classical Association of the Middle West and South, 1987, pp. 103–13, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3297983.
Lamari, Anna A. “Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes vs. Euripides’ Phoenissae: Male vs. Female Power.” Wiener Studien, vol. 120, Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, 2007, pp. 5–24, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24752017.
[PDF] Family and fatherland in Euripides' Phoenissae
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[PDF] The shields of Phoenissae
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Euripides: Phoenissae - Euripides by D.J. Mastronarde - Google Books
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The Gorgon's Severed Head: Studies in Alcestis, Electra and Phoenissae - Cecelia Eaton Luschnig - Google Books
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Greek Versions
Teubner - Euripides - Phoenissae
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Phoenissae : Euripides ed D.J. Mastronarde - Internet Archive
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Euripides, Phoenissae - Gilbert Murray
https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=JnIMAAAAYAAJ&pg=GBS.PA105&hl=en_GB
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Phoenissae; : Euripides (Paley) - Internet Archive
The Phoenissae. Edited by A.C. Pearson : Euripides - Internet Archive
Euripides (1826). The Orestes and Phoenissae of Euripides; correctly printed from the text of porson: with a literal traslation and explanatory notes. By D. Spillan,
Phoenician Women - Euripides - Google Books Aris & Phillips, 1988 E. Craik and C. Collard
Translations
The Internet Classics Archive - The Phoenissae by Euripides (E.P. Coleridge)
Orestes, and other plays: Euripides - Internet Archive p. 233- The Phoenician Women tr by Philip Vellacott
The Phoenician Damsels translated by Woodhull
https://archive.org/details/nineteentragedi01wodhgoog/page/n179/mode/1up
The Phoenician Women by Euripides translated by Peter Burian
https://archive.org/details/phoenicianwomen00e uri
https://archive.org/details/phoenicianwomen00euri/page/n 6/mode/1up
https://archive.org/details/ionorestesphoeni0000euri
https://archive.org/details/phoenicianwomen00euri/m ode/1up
Phoenician Women (Euripides) - Wikisource
Tragedies of Euripides (Arthur Way): The Phoenician Maidens - Wikisource,
Euripides V : three tragedies p. 67 : Grene, David Internet Archive
The complete Greek tragedies : Euripides V : p.73 - Internet Archive
The Phoenician women : Euripides - Internet Archive
Ion ; Orestes ; Phoenician women ; Suppliant women p. 96 : Euripides - Internet Archive
Orestes, and other plays p. 233 : Euripides - Internet Archive
Phoenician Women Φοίνισσαι - Bacchicstage
Euripides V (1959 edition) - Open Library
Audio/Visual
Phoenician Women, Euripides - YouTube Center for Hellenic Studies
Ancient Greek theater performance: Phoenician women, Euripides, Thessaloniki theater
ΦΟΙΝΙΣΣΑΙ ΕΥΡΙΠΙΔΟΥ,1978, ΕΠΙΔΑΥΡΟΣ
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