The Phoenician Women by Euripides
"The Phoenician Women" by Euripides is a tragic play set against the backdrop of Thebes, exploring themes of familial conflict, destiny, and the consequences of war. The narrative revolves around Jocasta, the mother of King Eteocles, who prays for a peaceful resolution between her two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, as they vie for control of Thebes. Their struggle is deeply rooted in a history of familial tragedy, including the shame of their father, Oedipus, who was tormented by the horrific truth of his lineage. The play unfolds as Eteocles and Polynices engage in a fratricidal conflict, each unwilling to yield to the other’s claim to the throne.
Amidst the tension, Jocasta attempts to orchestrate a truce, but her efforts are thwarted as the brothers choose to settle their differences through single combat. The unfolding events lead to devastating loss, with the deaths of both brothers and Jocasta’s subsequent suicide, illustrating the tragic consequences of their family's cursed fate. The aftermath sees Creon assume control of Thebes, navigating complex moral dilemmas as he enforces harsh penalties in the name of order. This poignant drama not only highlights the intricacies of human emotion and familial bonds but also serves as a commentary on the inescapable nature of destiny and the tragic flaws within human society.
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The Phoenician Women by Euripides
First produced:Phoinissai, 409 b.c.e. (English translation, 1781)
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Tragedy
Time of plot: Antiquity
Locale: Thebes
Principal characters
Jocasta , Oedipus’s wifeAntigone , Oedipus’s daughterPolynices , Oedipus’s exiled sonEteocles , Polynices’ brother and the king of ThebesCreon , Jocasta’s brotherMenoeceus , Creon’s sonTiresias , the blind prophetOedipus , the deposed king of ThebesChorus of Phoenician Maidens ,
The Story:
Before the royal palace of Thebes, Jocasta, the mother of King Eteocles, prays to the sun god for aid in reconciling her two sons and avoiding fratricidal war over the kingdom of Thebes. In her supplication she recalls that her family has already suffered unbearable horrors; her husband, Oedipus, plucked out his eyes upon discovering that in marrying her he had married his own mother and had conceived two sons and two daughters by her. At first the sons had confined their father in the palace in order to hide the family shame and had decided to rule the kingdom between them in alternate years. However, Eteocles has refused to yield the throne to Polynices, who, after marrying the daughter of Adrastus, king of Argos, has raised a host from seven city-states and is already at the gates of Thebes to win his rightful place by force of arms.
Antigone, viewing the besieging armies from the palace tower, recognizes the justice of Polynices’ claim but prays that Thebes will never fall. In desperate fear, Jocasta cuts off her hair and dresses in mourning. Then, in the hope that war can be averted, she arranges a meeting under a truce between her two sons. Eteocles is willing to receive Polynices back in Thebes, but not as an equal to share the throne; Polynices, unable to endure exile and equally unable to accept such ignoble terms, remains bent on war.
Eteocles then sends for his uncle Creon to work out battle strategy. The two, agreeing that the situation is grave, finally decide not to attempt any counterattack with their vastly outnumbered troops; instead, they will post men at the seven gates of the city in a defensive action. Creon also sends his son Menoeceus to summon the blind prophet Tiresias for further advice. The prophet, after warning Creon that the means for saving Thebes will be something he will be unwilling to accept, announces that Menoeceus must be sacrificed. Horrified, Creon refuses and urges his son to flee at once. Menoeceus pretends to agree, but shortly after his departure a messenger hurries to Creon with the news that his son plunged a sword into his own throat at the very moment that the Argives launched their first fruitless assault against the gates of the city.
Jocasta, upon hearing that her two sons have decided to determine the fate of Thebes by a single combat apart from their armies, rushes off with Antigone to the battlefield to stop them if she can. As she departs, Creon arrives carrying his son’s corpse; he has come to seek Jocasta’s aid in preparing for Menoeceus’s funeral. A second messenger brings him word that Jocasta has gone outside the walls of Thebes and there found her two sons dying, each the other’s victim. Eteocles, unable to speak, bade his mother farewell with his eyes, and Polynices with his dying breath begged his mother to bury him in Theban soil. Then the grief-stricken Jocasta seized a sword and thrust it through her own throat. Upon that stroke, the Theban warriors fell upon the surprised Argives and drove them from the field. Menoeceus’s sacrifice has not been in vain.
Antigone, returning with servants bearing the bodies of her mother and her two brothers, is met by blind King Oedipus, who has emerged from his confinement in the palace and who begins to express his grief in groans and lamentations. Creon, resolutely taking over the rule bequeathed to him by Eteocles, commands Oedipus to cease and to prepare for exile. Determined to restore order in the tragic city, Creon is compelled to put aside personal feelings in submitting to the prophecies of Tiresias. Antigone, the new king insists, must prepare to marry his son Haemon; furthermore, while the body of Eteocles is to be given burial fit for a king, Polynices’ corpse must be left to rot as a warning to all who might contemplate taking up arms against the city. Oedipus, refusing to beg, prepares to leave at once, but Antigone flouts Creon’s commands. Rather than marry Haemon, she is determined to accompany her father into exile and to bury the body of Polynices with proper religious rites. As father and daughter set out from Thebes, Oedipus laments the sad history of his life but courageously submits to the fate that the gods have decreed for him.
Bibliography
Collard, Christopher. Euripides. New York: Oxford University Press, 1981. Provides a short overview of textual and critical scholarship of Euripides’ work, with the emphasis on directing attention to bibliographical resources in each area. Written for high school students.
Euripides. The Phoenician Women. Edited with translation and commentary by Elizabeth Craik. Warminster, Wiltshire, England: Aris & Phillips, 1988. This edition of the play contains the Greek text with literal English translation on facing pages, more than one hundred pages of detailed textual commentary, and an excellent introductory essay.
Luschnig, C. A. E. The Gorgon’s Severed Head: Studies in “Alcestis,” “Electra,” and “Phoenissae.” New York: Brill, 1995. Examines three plays from various periods in Euripides’ career and concludes that all three demonstrate his use of innovative dramatic techniques and traditional stories, his depiction of characters who create themselves and each other, and his treatment of gender issues. The chapters on The Phoenician Women focus on the elements of space and time in the play.
Melchinger, Siegfried. Euripides. Translated by Samuel R. Rosebaum. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1973. Offers a clearly written introduction to Euripides’ work. Includes brief summaries and interpretations of all the extant plays.
Morwood, James. The Plays of Euripides. Bristol, England: Bristol Classical, 2002. Presents concise overviews of all of Euripides’ plays, devoting a separate chapter to each. Demonstrates how Euripides was constantly reinventing himself in his work.
Papadopoulou, Thalia. Euripides: “Phoenician Women.” London: Duckworth, 2008. Companion to the play discusses Euripides’ dramatic technique, use of rhetoric, and characterization as well as the function of the chorus. Explains aspects of the play’s performance and traces its critical reception over the years.
Vellacott, Philip. Ironic Drama: A Study of Euripides’ Method and Meaning. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1975. Important study of Euripidean drama as veiled social criticism deals with all the extant plays and offers interpretations of them in the context of Athenian civic and military history from approximately 438 b.c.e. to the posthumous production of Bakchai (The Bacchae, 1781) in 405 b.c.e.
Webster, T. B. L. The Tragedies of Euripides. New York: Methuen, 1967. Discusses the development of Euripides’ career as an artist through detailed examination of the complete plays and the existing fragments. Provides summaries and interpretations of all pieces of Euripidean text that have survived; one of the most complete works of its kind.