The next section, 78-286, similarly contains parallel motion on several levels at once. the family, sanctioning the norm by the nature of their appeals to the gods of both genders who hold sway in Thebes. bei den Dionysien in Athen siegte. To accomplish this the author provides the character with personality traits that help define who he will be and how he will behave in a given situation. At that moment, the Scout enters with news that the enemy is just outside the walls and is preparing for battle. The keen interest itself is beyond doubt. At the news of each opponent’s assignment, Eteocles assigns one of his men to defend that particular gate. The Chorus, which has entered as the Scout has related his news, begins a lament as they hear the approach of the armies. For the sake of brevity historians speak of Themistocles or Cimon or Pericles as doing this or that; yet these greater men were but agents of the will of the people, even though they may first have been the moulders of that will. This book provides original and fresh translations of several of Sophocles’ tragedies. It should be obvious that to force the lines into a criticism of his fellow-dramatist is to do an injustice to Euripides. She appears at the end of the play to mourn her brothers’ passing. Aeschylus also views this moral lesson as an important role for the dramatist and so he emphasizes important lessons in his plays. In Seven Against Thebes, Eteocles teaches the audience that hatred is destructive in its blindness. Conflict in the Seven is literally war, while the antithesis is a pairing of opponents with antithetical names. Of the shield of Achilles in the eighteenth book of the Iliad, Leaf remarks that ’though of course beyond the power of early Greek, as of any human art, to execute, it yet requires to explain it only such works of art and technique as we know to have been accessible to the Greeks, at least in foreign imports, in pre-Homeric times.’ He illustrates by the dagger-blades found by Schliemann at Mycenae. The potential loss of Eteokles’ name carries a double jeopardy. It is practically certain therefore that both Aeschylus and Euripides are led to their descriptions primarily by the Thebais. Try to research this story and determine its origin and source. plural noun Greek Legend the seven heroes (Adrastus, Amphiaraus, Capaneus, Hippomedon, Parthenopaeus, Polynices, and Tydeus) who made an expedition against Thebes to seat Polynices on the throne. This is exogamy in its most negative form as unlawful appropriation of women which accompanies and is homologous with the pillaging of the goods of the city and its homes. for all time demonstrates precisely the status of Eteocles as a child of an incestuous union.” As the child of such a union, Eteocles has felt the abhorrence his parent’s marriage has produced. I divide the play into five major parts [with line numbers referring to the original Greek text]: 1-77 (Eteocles’ opening speech and his exchange with the messenger); 78-286 (the parodos and Eteocles’ dialogue with the chorus); 287-791 (the great central scene, including the balancing odes which enclose the selection scene); 792-821 (the short dialogue between the messenger and the chorus); 822-1004 (the lamentation over the death of the two brothers). (Second Persian War), were a contemporary event in Aeschylus’s life, who had fought during the wars himself. Source: William G. Thalmann, “Imagery I: The City,” in Dramatic Art in Aeschylus’s “Seven against Thebes,” Yale University Press, 1978, pp. Aeschylus could count on his audience knowing the story depicted in the tragedy without his having to fill in a lot of details. At the very beginning of the Messenger’s report we are told that the operations of the enemy are suspended, [And the seer does not allow him to cross the Ismenus passage, for the sacrifices are not coming out good.]. The Scout began his observations with the first approach of the Argives, and they would not all reach their gates at the same moment. The female Chorus has sound reasons for their fright, but Eteocles is unmoved by these images of feminine doom. It is not merely that the Scout is himself carried away by the characteristic Greek gusto for the technical wonders which he has seen (although no Greek would be surprised at such behaviour on his part); it is also that his descriptions of the blazonry are part of his descriptions of the men. It is an entirely false notion that the Scout and the King are wasting time in talk while the enemy may be taking advantage of the situation. He appoints Theban commanders (Creon, Megareus, Poriclymenus, Melanippus, Polyphontes, Hyperbius, Actor, Lasthenes and himself) to defend the seven gates of the city against the seven attacking leaders. Is Eteocles’ death to be seen as a sacrifice willingly undertaken in order to save the city? In addition, Parthenopaeus is more fully individualized than are the four previous champions. Concept is fully embedded in image, and figure is inseparable from idea. Apart from its choruses the Septem is in a large measure epic put upon the stage. At the same time, Eteocles is becoming increasingly involved on a personal as against a merely strategic level, a movement that effectively begins at 282, that accelerates in the responses to Parthenopaeus and Amphiaraus, and that leads ultimately to the impassioned outburst at 653 f. At the end of the central scene, as at the end of the second section of the play, Eteocles is at center stage in dispute with the chorus, the one against the many, his mind focused on a danger that is Theban rather than foreign. In this essay, Zeitlin discusses autochthony in relation to Eteokles, as well as the structure and identity of his role in the play. The Oath Of The Seven Chiefs - Project Gutenberg eText 14994.png 480 × 254; 23 KB. In Greek life honor is the virtue that governs man’s actions. When Eteocles is killed, the council rewards his bravery with an honorable burial. He set a formidable example for other dramatists, such as Sophocles and Euripedes. CONCEPT IS FULLY EMBEDDED IN IMAGE, AND FIGURE IS INSEPARABLE FROM IDEA.”. As Antigone wonders where they will bury the brothers, a Herald enters with an announcement that the council has met. This article has been rated as B-Class: This article is of interest to the following WikiProjects: WikiProject Theatre (Rated B-class, Mid-importance) This article is part of WikiProject Theatre, a WikiProject dedicated to coverage of theatre on Wikipedia. Antigone exits at the play’s conclusion with Polyneices’ body, intent on burying him. Does the play fall into two imperfectly linked sections, the first dealing with the conflict between Thebes and the Argive invaders, the second with the effects of Oedipus’ curse on his sons? When Dionysus asks in the Frogs, [and what did you do, Aeschylus, that you taught them to be so noble. Because they fear they will be made slaves, the Chorus is very loud in their lamentations. Genre is a French term that means “kind” or “type.” Genre can refer to both the category of literature such as tragedy, comedy, epic, poetry, or pastoral. Wise, Jennifer, Dionynsus Writes: The Invention of Theater in Ancient Greece, Cornell University Press, 1998. A passage of [elengchos/rebuke], or a scene of argument in which a certain mental [pathos/feeling] is produced, removed, or changed, is sufficient in its ’action’ for the Athenian, who loved these altercations, so long as the degree of [dianoia/thought] exhibited on either side was sufficiently keen or solid to maintain his intelligent admiration. Instead, the deflection of heroism to fratricidal combat fulfills the hidden, sinister significance of his name, i.e., “truly bewept,” or “true cause of weeping” [klaio= weep, lament]. After the failure of the assault the Scout reports, [And the city is both in calm weather and has not taken on any bilge-water from the many blows of the wave.]. He lived near the lake Lerna in Peloponessus ; [2] the foundations of his house on Mount Pontinus at Lerna were shown in Pausanias ' times. Eteolcles, ruler of Thebes, is one of the surviving sons of Oedipus. March 11, 2020: The start of the COVID-19 era A brief argument with the Herald ensues, but Antigone will not be threatened, and finally, the Herald leaves to report to the council. Tragedy was intended to teach a lesson, reveal a moral truth, or create an emotional response in the audience, such as pity or fear. The Seven Against Thebes (Epigoni Wars) Explained Origin of the War. As already mentioned, the dominant theme in these last scenes is that of the curse, just as the dominant theme in early scenes was that of the war. Doubtless the question of dramatic fitness is not settled by this consideration. His body is seen at the end of the play, and he has no lines to speak, but his presence in leading the attack on the seventh gate is a significant cause of the deaths that follow. In the Oedipus myth, Laius defied the gods. Nor is the tour de force in Scut.233, of the Gorgon’s head in a net, beyond execution. There are several single scenes in Shakespeare which are as long, and some which are longer. Many early Greek poets saw themselves as the purveyors of moral and ethical wisdom. In Seven, the spark of patriotism is kindled by the opening flourish of bugle calls.