The Phoenician Women

Euripides’ The Phoenician Women dramatises the war of the Seven against Thebes, the same story as Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes, but it begins before the fighting, in the house of Oedipus. Jocasta, still alive, tells how her sons Eteocles and Polyneices agreed to rule Thebes in turn, how Eteocles refused to give up the throne, and how Polyneices has returned with an Argive army. The play follows the failed attempt to reconcile the brothers, the sacrifice of Creon’s son Menoeceus, the duel in which the brothers kill each other, and the suicide of Jocasta, and it ends with the exile of Oedipus (lines 1–1766).

Date and Historical Background

The ancient evidence for the first production of The Phoenician Women is fragmentary, and its year remains uncertain. Its subject, the war of the Seven, was already treated in Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes, and Euripides takes over the central episodes of that story: the seven gates, the champions at each gate, and the brothers’ death at each other’s hands. The chorus is a group of Phoenician women, slaves bound for Apollo’s shrine at Delphi, who are stranded at Thebes by the siege; they are kinsfolk of the Thebans through Cadmus, who came from Phoenicia (lines 202–249).

Characters and Setting

Characters

• Jocasta, mother and wife of Oedipus, daughter of Menoeceus and sister of Creon
• Old servant (the Paedagogus), an old attendant of Antigone
• Antigone, daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta
• Polyneices, son of Oedipus and Jocasta, exiled from Thebes
• Eteocles, son of Oedipus and Jocasta, who holds the throne of Thebes
• Creon, brother of Jocasta
• Menoeceus, son of Creon
• Teiresias, the blind Theban seer, led by his daughter
• Oedipus, former king of Thebes, blind and kept inside the house
• First Messenger and Second Messenger
• Chorus of Phoenician women on their way to Delphi

Setting

The scene is the front of the royal palace at Thebes, during the siege by the Seven. The palace roof is used for Antigone’s view of the Argive army (lines 88–201).

Summary of The Phoenician Women

Prologue

Jocasta begins with the history of her house (lines 1–87). Cadmus came from Phoenicia and married Harmonia, and from him descended Polydorus, Labdacus and Laius. Laius, married to Jocasta, was childless and asked Apollo for sons; the god told him not to sow a furrow of children against the gods’ will, for a son would kill him and the whole house would wade through blood. Laius, in a drunken lapse, fathered a child, then gave it to shepherds to expose on Cithaeron after piercing its ankles with iron spikes, whence the name Oedipus. Polybus’ horsemen found the baby and gave it to their queen, who brought him up as her own (lines 1–31). When Oedipus grew up he went to Apollo’s oracle to find out who his parents were, and at the same time Laius went to learn whether the exposed child was dead. They met at the branching road of Phocis. When the charioteer ordered the stranger out of the way, Oedipus walked on in pride, the horses drew blood from his feet, and he killed his father (lines 32–44).

Creon proclaimed that whoever guessed the riddle of the Sphinx would marry the widowed queen; Oedipus guessed it, became king and married his mother unknowingly (lines 45–54). Jocasta bore him two sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, and two daughters, Ismene and Antigone, the elder of whom was Antigone (lines 55–58). When Oedipus learned the truth, he blinded himself with a golden brooch. When the sons had grown up, they shut him away behind bars so that his misfortune might be forgotten. He is still alive in the house and prays that his sons may divide it with a sharp sword (lines 59–67). Afraid that the gods would fulfil the curse if they lived together, the brothers agreed that Polyneices should go into voluntary exile while Eteocles held the sceptre, and that they should change places each year. But once Eteocles was on the throne he would not leave it and drove Polyneices out. Polyneices went to Argos, married into the house of Adrastus, collected an Argive army and has come to the seven-gated walls to demand his father’s sceptre and his share of the land. Jocasta has persuaded Eteocles and Polyneices to meet under truce, and she prays to Zeus to save and reconcile her sons (lines 68–87).

Antigone, on the roof of the palace with her old servant, looks at the Argive army on the plain, and the old man names the leaders she points to (lines 88–201). He names Hippomedon of Mycenae, Tydeus the Aetolian, Parthenopaeus the son of Atalanta, the seer Amphiaraus on his chariot, and Capaneus, whom he sees measuring the walls; Polyneices stands beside Adrastus, near the tomb of Niobe’s daughters. Antigone wishes she could fly to her brother; she prays that Artemis strike down Parthenopaeus and that the thunder and lightning of Zeus put an end to the boasting of Capaneus, who has said that he will give the Theban girls to the women of Mycenae as slaves (lines 126–192). The old servant sends her indoors, because a crowd of women is coming (lines 193–201).

Parodos (Entrance Song)

The women of the chorus come in. They are Phoenicians who were chosen from their city as first-fruits of spoil for Apollo and were sailing to Delphi to serve him when the Argive army came against Thebes. They sing of the sea voyage, of Delphi and Parnassus, and of their kinship with the Thebans, descendants of Agenor: “a friend’s pain is shared, and if this land with its seven towers suffers any mischance, Phoenicia’s realm will share it” (lines 202–260).

First Episode

Polyneices comes in alone, sword in hand, and is afraid of treachery. He asks the women who they are and tells them his name (lines 261–290). They call Jocasta, who comes out and embraces her son (lines 291–354). She asks him what exile is like and he answers that the worst thing is not being able to speak one’s mind. He tells her how he came to Argos: Apollo had told Adrastus to marry his daughters to a boar and a lion; Polyneices and Tydeus came to blows at his door, he took them for the boar and the lion, and gave each a daughter. Adrastus swore to restore them both to their countries, Polyneices first (lines 355–435). Polyneices says that wealth is what men value most and that a man well-born but poor is worth nothing (lines 438–442).

Eteocles arrives and Jocasta calls on them to speak (lines 443–468). Polyneices says that he left of his own free will to avoid the curse, on condition that he should rule in turn after a year; he is ready to dismiss the army if he is given his share, and to give up the house again after an equal time (lines 469–496). Eteocles answers that “fairness and equality have no existence in this world beyond the name,” that he would go to the rising of the sun or beneath the earth to win tyranny, “the greatest of the gods,” and that it is cowardly to lose the greater and win the less; Polyneices may live in Thebes on any terms but sharing the throne (lines 499–525). Jocasta speaks in praise of Equality and against Ambition. She asks Eteocles whether he wishes to rule or to save his city, and she warns Polyneices that if he wins he will have burnt his own city and if he loses he will have left countless dead in Argos (lines 528–585). Neither will yield. They quarrel in short exchanges, each vowing to meet the other at the gates, and Polyneices leaves, calling his native land and the gods to witness the wrong done to him (lines 588–636).

First Stasimon

The chorus recall the history of Thebes: Cadmus, the heifer that showed him where to settle, the birth of Dionysus to Semele, the dragon of Ares killed by Cadmus, and the Sown-men who sprang from its teeth and killed one another. They call on Epaphus and on Demeter and Persephone to help the city (lines 638–689).

Second Episode

Eteocles sends for Creon, and the two take counsel on the defence of the city (lines 690–747). A prisoner from the Argive army has reported that they intend to attack the seven gates, and after rejecting several plans, they agree that Eteocles should appoint seven captains to hold the gates (lines 703–747). Eteocles says he will go to the towers, and hopes to meet his brother and kill him, and in case he dies he gives Creon charge of the marriage of Antigone to Creon’s son Haemon, to whom she is already betrothed (lines 748–765). He asks Creon to send Menoeceus to fetch the seer Teiresias, since Eteocles has insulted the seer before. He orders that if he wins, Polyneices’ body shall be given no grave in Theban soil, and that whoever buries it shall die, even if a friend (lines 766–782).

In the second stasimon the chorus cry out against Ares for turning the Argives against the Thebans, lament the exposure of the baby Oedipus and the coming of the Sphinx, and recall how the walls of Thebes were raised to Amphion’s lyre at the wedding of Harmonia (lines 784–833).

Third Episode

Teiresias comes in, led by his daughter, and says he has just arrived from Athens, where he gave victory to the Athenians in their war with Eumolpus and received a golden crown (lines 834–857). Creon asks him how to save the city (lines 858–864). Teiresias says that for Eteocles he would not have answered, but he will tell Creon: Laius’ crime has long afflicted the country, the sons of Oedipus will die at each other’s hands, and the best course would have been never to allow a child of Oedipus to be citizen or king, but there is one other way of safety (lines 865–895). At last he says it: Menoeceus must be sacrificed, over the cave where the dragon of Ares guarded the spring of Dirce, to atone for the dragon’s death. The only survivor of the Sown race who can do it is a pure-blooded descendant of the Sown-men on both sides, and Haemon is already betrothed (lines 896–952). Creon cries out, “I renounce my city!” and says that all men love their children and he will never give his son to die for the city (lines 919–969).

Creon urges Menoeceus to flee with all haste, to Delphi, Aetolia and Thesprotia, to Dodona, and promises him money. Menoeceus pretends to agree and goes to say farewell to Jocasta, but as soon as his father leaves he says he has tricked him: those who are bound by no oracle stand shoulder to shoulder in front of the towers, and he will not be a coward and a traitor to his city. He will stand on the battlements and kill himself above the dragon’s den, and says: “if each were to take and expend all the good within his power, contributing it to the common good of his country, our states would experience fewer troubles” (lines 970–1018).

Third Stasimon

The chorus sing of the Sphinx and the grief of Thebes at her cruelty, of Oedipus’ arrival and his unholy marriage, and of the curses that set the brothers at strife. They praise Menoeceus, who has died for his country, and wish to be mothers of such children (lines 1019–1066).

Fourth Episode

A messenger calls Jocasta out and reports that Eteocles is alive and the seven towers stand (lines 1067–1086). He tells how, after Creon’s son had killed himself on the battlements, Eteocles posted a captain at each of the seven gates, and the Argive leaders attacked. He names each gate and each shield device: Parthenopaeus at the Neitian gate, with Atalanta shooting the boar; Amphiaraus at the gate of Proetus with a plain shield; Hippomedon at the Ogygian gate, with Argus covered with eyes; Tydeus at the Homoloian gate, with a lion skin and Prometheus with a torch; Polyneices at the Fountain gate, with the mares of Potniae; Capaneus at the gate of Electra, with a giant carrying a city; and Adrastus at the seventh gate (lines 1090–1140). Parthenopaeus is killed by a stone thrown down by Periclymenus (lines 1153–1162). Capaneus climbs a ladder, boasting that not even the fire of Zeus will stop him, and is struck by a thunderbolt (lines 1172–1186). Adrastus withdraws and the Theban cavalry charge, and the Argives are driven off for the day (lines 1187–1198).

Jocasta rejoices that her sons are alive, but the messenger, pressed, admits that they have decided on single combat: Eteocles has proclaimed from a tower that the armies should not die for him and Polyneices, that he will fight his brother and the winner will have the house alone, and Polyneices has accepted. The armies have agreed to a truce and sworn an oath (lines 1199–1262). He urges Jocasta to stop them. She calls Antigone out and they hurry to the army (lines 1263–1283). In the fourth stasimon the chorus fear the coming murder and call it the work of the Furies (lines 1284–1306).

Exodos (Exit Song)

Creon comes in carrying the body of Menoeceus, which he has taken from the dragon’s den, and asks for Jocasta to wash and lay out the corpse; the chorus tell him she has gone to the battlefield (lines 1307–1331). A second messenger arrives and tells Creon that the sons of Oedipus are dead and that Jocasta has also died (lines 1332–1355). He tells how each brother prayed, Polyneices to Hera of Argos and Eteocles to Athena; how Eteocles was wounded in the leg and then drove his spear into Polyneices’ breast; how both spears were broken and they fought with swords; how Eteocles used a Thessalian trick and thrust his sword through the navel of Polyneices; and how, as Eteocles bent to strip the body, Polyneices, still breathing, drove his sword through his heart (lines 1364–1424). Jocasta and Antigone arrived as they lay dying. Polyneices asked his mother and sister to bury him in his native land and to appease the city, and to close his eyes, and both brothers died; Jocasta took a sword from the dead and drove it through her throat (lines 1427–1459). The armies quarrelled about who had won, and the Thebans attacked the Argives and routed them (lines 1460–1479).

Antigone comes in with the three bodies, laments the house of Oedipus and calls her blind father out of the palace. She tells him that his sons and his wife are dead, and that his curse has fallen on his sons (lines 1480–1581). Oedipus asks how Jocasta died, and Antigone tells him (lines 1565–1581). Creon now speaks as ruler: Eteocles left him to rule the land, by giving it as dowry to Haemon with Antigone’s hand. Oedipus must leave, because Teiresias said that the city would never prosper while he lived there (lines 1584–1594). Oedipus laments his fate from Laius’ oracle onward but refuses to touch Creon’s knees (lines 1595–1624). Creon orders that Eteocles be buried and that Polyneices be cast out unburied, on pain of death for anyone who buries him (lines 1625–1634). Antigone argues that the order is wrong, says she will bury him whatever the state forbids, refuses to marry Haemon, and says she will share her father’s exile; Creon leaves (lines 1635–1682). Oedipus, with his hand laid on the faces of his dead sons and wife, recalls the oracle that he would die at Athens, at Colonus, and the two leave Thebes together; Antigone promises to bury her brother secretly even if it costs her life (lines 1683–1763). Oedipus turns to the citizens and says: “I am Oedipus, who solved the famous riddle, and was the greatest of men,” and now he is driven from the land in dishonor and misery, and as a mortal he must bear what the gods decree (lines 1758–1763). The chorus end the play with a prayer to Victory (lines 1764–1766).

A Brief Analysis

Compared with Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes, Euripides lets Jocasta and Oedipus live, and has Jocasta try to reconcile her sons and then kill herself over their bodies (lines 1455–1459). He also adds the story of Menoeceus, which comes from Teiresias’ demand that a descendant of the Sown-men die for the dragon of Ares (lines 930–952).

The quarrel of the brothers is a dispute over power. Polyneices says that wealth matters most (lines 438–442); Eteocles says that he would do anything for tyranny, and that if one must do wrong, it is best done for tyranny (lines 503–525). Jocasta answers with praise of equality and with the question whether Eteocles wants to rule or to save the city (lines 528–567). The play contrasts them with Menoeceus, who dies for his city when no oracle compels the others and who says that if every man gave all the good in his power to his country, there would be fewer troubles (lines 997–1018). Creon, who tries to save his son, shows the opposite impulse: “all men love their children, and no one would give his own son to die” (lines 965–966), a position the chorus does not condemn, since they then praise Menoeceus and wish for such children (lines 1054–1062).

Teiresias also names the real cause of the curse that falls on Thebes: Laius had a child against the will of the god (lines 867–870), and the sons’ imprisonment of Oedipus, which they hoped would let the matter be forgotten, goaded him to curse them (lines 871–877).

The Phoenician Women Sources

Euripides, Phoenician Women, lines 1–1766: Jocasta’s prologue (1–87), Antigone on the roof (88–201), the debate of the brothers (261–636), Teiresias and Menoeceus (834–1018), the messengers’ reports of the battle and the duel (1067–1263, 1332–1479) and the exile of Oedipus (1480–1766). Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes, for the earlier treatment of the same war.

See Also: Oedipus at Colonus, Oedipus Rex, Seven Against Thebes, Euripides, Antigone, Jocasta, Creon