The Phoenicians

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The Phoenicians (also: Die Phoenizierinnen , Die Phoinissen , Die Phoinikerinnen , Greek  Φοίνισσαι ) is an ancient tragedy of the Greek poet Euripides . Their dating is controversial, but is now around 409/408 BC. BC. The tragedy was probably part of a tetralogy , with no certainty about the names of the other pieces. In the past it was put together with Chrysippos , Oinomaos and an unknown satyr play , today it is more likely to be associated with Antiope , Hypsipyle and another piece, possibly Orestes .

The surviving text shows numerous interpolations , which significantly impaired the reconstruction of the original and led so far that the question of the Euripidean aspect of the tragedy was rejected or a post-Euripidean creation was assumed. The material comes from the myth of the Labdakids and is set in the mythical prehistory in the Boeotian city-state Thebes . With the Phoenicians , Euripides took up the theme of the seven against Thebes of Aeschylus in his own interpretation and at the same time treated the prehistory of Antigone by the Greek tragedian Sophocles anew.

characters

  • Iokaste , wife of the dead Theban king Laios , mother and wife of Oidipus
  • educator
  • Antigone , daughter of Oidipus and Iokaste
  • Choir of the Phoenician Girls
  • Polynices , son of Oidipus and Iokaste
  • Eteocles , his brother
  • Creon , brother of the Iokaste
  • Teiresias , the blind seer
  • Menoikeus , son of Creon
  • Two messengers
  • Oidipus, former king of Thebes
  • Armed men
  • The daughter of Teiresias

action

At the center of the tragedy is the power struggle of the brothers Eteocles and Polynices for rule in Thebes. In a grand opening monologue, Iokaste tells the prehistory: the curse-laden fate of the Labdakids. According to an oracle, Oidipus killed his father Laios and married his mother Iokaste. Oidipus blinded himself when he learned of his guilt. Oidipus fathered four children with Iokaste: Antigone, Polynices, Eteocles and Ismene . The sons locked Oidipus in the palace, whereupon he placed a curse on their inheritance. To avoid violence, Eteocles and Polynices made an agreement: they would take turns to rule in Thebes. Polynices went into exile in Argos and there married the daughter of King Adrastus . However, Eteocles refused to cede rule to Polynices after the deadline. This recruited an army from the people of Argos and is now standing at the gates of Thebes to enforce his claim.

Iokaste forces a truce to mediate between their sons. While Polynices is ready to withdraw the army if his brother goes back to the original agreement, Eteocles does not want to relinquish power under any circumstances. At the same time he cleverly manipulates Iokaste with the argument that Polynices had forfeited his claim to rule because he was ready to destroy his hometown. Iokaste shows Polynices that he can only lose in this struggle: if he had won, he would have destroyed Thebes. In the event of defeat, many of the Argives' army would have to lose their lives, which would make it impossible for them to continue living in Argos. Iokaste's attempt at mediation fails; the brothers wish each other death.

Creon, Iokaste's brother, advises Eteocles before the battle. In the event of his death, he decreed that Creon should marry off his son Haimon to Antigone. Should Polynices die, he should not be buried within the walls of Thebes. Whoever honors him for the dead should atone for this with his death.

The blind seer Teiresias foretells Creon the imminent death of Eteocles and Polynices. The only means of salvation is that Creon sacrifices his son Menoikeus. Creon resists, drives his son to flee and tries to prevent the oracle from becoming public. However, Menoikeus does not want to appear as a coward and sacrifices himself to save the city.

In battle the Thebans hold out against the argivers. Eteocles and Polynices prepare for a duel. Iokaste calls on Antigone to make one last attempt at arbitration with her. You are late; the brothers killed each other. Iokaste commits suicide. The battle begins again; the Thebans emerge victorious.

Creon uses the power vacuum to gain control over Thebes. He banished Oidipus from the city on the pretext that Teiresias had advised this. He also claims that Eteocles made him his successor in the event of his death. Both of these do not apply in the literal sense; Creon manipulates events in his favor. When he orders the body of Polynice to be thrown in front of the gates, Antigone resists. Undaunted, she declares war on Creon: she wants to bury Polynices and accompany Oidipus into exile.

reception

Although received rather critically at the first performance, The Phoenicians was already one of the most frequently performed dramas by Euripides in antiquity. One reason for this may have been that this piece reflected historical processes from the time it was made. The Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta formed the background of the reception, against which the conflicts and decisions of the tragedy had an immediate relevance for the audience.

In the Middle Ages, The Phoenicians belonged to the Byzantine triad of Euripides, which was intended for school reading and was provided with scholia . Around 1300 the Byzantine scholar Demetrios Triklinios combined all the nineteen Euripides dramas in one manuscript. Friedrich Schiller translated a few hundred verses of the piece and owed him the inspiration for the relationship between mother and son in his bride of Messina .

In more recent times, The Phoenicians have been one of the rarely played pieces by Euripides, despite their complex dramaturgy, the modern-looking tension build-up and the multi-layered characters. Well known are Medea , Die Troerinnen and Die Bakchen .

Translations (selection)

  • Dietrich Ebener : The Phoinikerinnen . In: Euripides. Works in three volumes . Edited by Jürgen Werner and Walter Hofmann. Construction of the Berlin and Weimar publishing houses in 1966
  • Euripides, The Complete Tragedies and Fragments. Volume 4: Iphigenia in the Taurerland, Helena, Ion, The Phoenicians. Translated by Ernst Buschor , edited by Gustav Adolf Seeck . Heimeran, Munich 1972 (original Greek text and German translation).

Literature (selection)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ For the dating see for example Donald J. Mastronarde : Euripides: Phoenissae. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1994, pp. 11-14; dating to 409/408 BC Chr .: Christian Mueller-Goldingen : Investigations on the Phoenis of Euripides (= Palingenesia. Vol. 22.). Steiner Verlag, Wiesbaden 1985, pp. 7-14; Dating to 408 BC Chr. Wolfgang Luppe : On the dating of the Phoinissai of Euripides. In: Rheinisches Museum für Philologie . Volume 108, 1987, pp. 29-34; Christiane Zimmermann follows him: The Antigone myth in ancient literature and art (= Classica Monacensia. Volume 5). Narr, Tübingen 1993, p. 139.
  2. ↑ In this grouping for the first time compiled by Carl Werner Müller : Zur Datierung des Sophokleischen Oedipus. Steiner, Wiesbaden 1984, pp. 66-69; Donald J. Mastronarde: Euripides: Phoenissae. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1994, pp. 13-14 rejects Orestes in the grouping, but Christiane Zimmermann agrees: The Antigone Myth in Ancient Literature and Art (= Classica Monacensia. Volume 5). Narr, Tübingen 1993, p. 140 with note 165.
  3. ↑ On the interpolations and their history of discovery see Donald J. Mastronarde: Euripides: Phoenissae. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1994, pp. 39-48.
  4. ^ Hypothesis zu den Phoinissai, Scholion zu Euripides, Phoinissai 1692.
  5. ↑ Jan M. Bremer: The Popularity of Euripides' Phoenissae in Late Antiquity. In: János Harmatta (ed.): Actes du VIIe Congrès de la Fédération Internationale des Associations d'Études Classiques. Volume 1. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest 1984, pp. 281-288.
  6. ^ Joachim Latacz: Introduction to the Greek tragedy. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-8252-1745-0 , p. 258.
  7. ^ Friedrich Schiller: The Phoenicians . In: Thalia . Volume 2, Issue 8, 1789, pp. 1-41.
  8. ↑ Euripides. Works in three volumes. Edited by Jürgen Werner and Walter Hofmann. Aufbau Verlag, Berlin and Weimar 1966, p. 277.