Misunderstood Eteocles

The Phoenician Women – Euripides,

A variation on the dialogue of Eteocles

Following Polyneices’s account of his brother’s tyranny,

the Chorus declares:

Chorus

I think though I am not a Hellene born,

that what you say is argued very well.

Eteocles

Polyneices has brought war,

I retain power because he was fool enough                                      500

to yield it to me, and one so soft and trusting,

should not rule Thebes. 

And my offence, is nothing compared to his,

I have retained power, true,

But I did so, where it was yielded to me.

Polyneices has marched with foreign soldiers upon our home,

and what is the result if he is successful?

Thebes in ruin, sacked, plundered, our women enslaved.

And what result, if I remain?

Thebes prospers, the grain and grapes are harvested,

the bread is made, and the wine flows.

The weak give up power and clamor to get it back,

it was never theirs, if they yielded so easily.

There are enemies of Thebes,

like the Argives at our gates,

and there are enemies from within,

who would see Thebes in ruin. 

They will employ force and

they will employ trickery. 

To accept a sharing of the throne, and to accept

another sitting in the throne first, that is simpleminded

and unbecoming of a king.

I love my weak brother, Polyneices,

But under his rule, Thebes will fall.

Chorus

Can Polyneices not trust the word of his own brother?

Surely we are not accountable for the treachery of our own blood.

Eteocles

The duty of a king to his people must surpass

the duty to his blood, or he is no king at all.   

If Polyneices will live here on some other terms,

he can.  But what he asks I will not yield.

When I can rule, should I become his slave?

So-on with fire, on with swords of war,

harness the horses, fill the plain with chariots,

knowing that I will never yield my rule.

If one must do wrong, it is best to do it

to protect the City from those

who would have us ruined by their foolishness.