Posted by dylan on Thursday, June 1, 2017 in 2017 Blog post.

On Wednesday, we went to Siracusa’s ancient theatre and saw a presentation of Phoinissai (“The Phoenician Women”) by Euripides, which follows a similar plot to “Seven Against Thebes” by Aeschylus. Both plays depict the conflict between Polynices and Eteocles for the Theban throne; because the brothers had attempted to hide their father away for his shame in marrying his mother, Oedipus cursed them that neither should rule without killing his brother. In an attempt to avoid this, they initially agreed to rule for a year at a time, switching between the two of them, but the Eteocles got too power-hungry and exiled his brother, leading Polynices to raise up an army.

Seven Against Thebes focuses on dialogues between Theban citizens and their king Eteocles; it mainly consists of listing the seven attacking generals and Eteocles appointing defenders to stand against each attacker, then when Polynices is listed as the last attacking general, Eteocles chooses himself as defender and challenges his brother to single combat, remembering their father’s curse. They kill each other offstage (as was tradition in Greek theatre), and their bodies are brought out and mourned by the chorus.

The Phoenician Women focuses more directly on the competition between the two brothers: early in the play, Jocasta (Oedipus’ mother and wife) calls a truce and talks to the quarreling brothers. Polynices claims that he deserves the throne as per their agreement, but Eteocles refuses to surrender unless he is forced to. Jocasta tells them both off: Polynices for bringing an army against his motherland, Eteocles for his excessive ambition. They argue farther, and Polynices exits, set on attacking. Eteocles then calls in Creon, Jocasta’s brother, for advice. Creon mentions the seven attacking generals and the two decide to appoint defending generals (very briefly compared to Seven Against Thebes). Creon suggests consulting the seer Tiresias, who says that Creon’s son must be killed for Thebes to have victory. Creon urges his son to flee, but the son decides to take his own life—on stage—to save his city. By the end of the play, both brothers, their mother, and their cousin have died, with only Antigone and Oedipus left of Oedipus’ family. Creon, now king of Thebes at Eteocles’ request, expels Oedipus from the city. The play closes with Antigone quickly covering her brother’s body (which you know to be a big deal if you’ve ever read her eponymous play) and leaving the city, guiding her father.

I think Euripides’ version really reflects his later era of tragedy. Aeschylus kept the mythical figures fairly pristine (as pristine as Oedipus’ family can be, at least); it focuses a lot more on personal glory and other traditional Greek values. Euripides rejected the untouchability of mythological figures, humanizing them and drawing out very well the conflict among this troubled family. He questions the virtues of patriotism and ends with a realization that family truly does need to rely on each other to survive, a point the early Aeschylus is less likely to make.