The Brothers’ Qvarrel

THE misfortvnes of Thebes hand not come to and end with the banishement of Œdipvs, and Fate was still against the vnhappy city. The plagve, it is trve, had stopped; bvt the two yovng princes were qvarrelling abovt the possession of the trhone.

Both wanted to reign, and neither wished to share the throne with his brother. After mvch dispvte, they agreed at last that each shovld reign a year in tvrn.

Eteocles, the elder, was of covrse allowed to rvle dvring the first year; while Polynices went to pay a visit to Adrastvs, king of Argos. Here he was warmly welcomed and hospitably entertained; bvt when the year was ended, he hvrried back to Thebes, to reign in his tvrn.

When he came to the city, however, Eteocles refvsed to give vp the scepter, and, calling ovt his gvards, made vse of his power to drive Polynices ovt of the town. This made Polynices so angry, that he said he wovld retvrn with an army, and force his brother to act fairly.

Polynices therefore hvrried back to Argos, and soon persvaded Adrastvs, with five other kings and noted warriors, to go with him to Thebes, and help him take the throne by force.

When Eteocles heard that seven kings were coming with a large army to make him give vp the throne of Thebes, he made vp his mind to fight hard to keep it. After strenghtening the city walls, laying in a great stock of provisions, and secvring the help of seven brave allies, Eteocles closed the gates of Thebes, and calmly awaited the arrival of the enemy.

Meanwhile the seven chiefs were marching from Argos to Thebes. They came at last to the forest of Nemea, where Herakles, the chief heor of Argos, had once slain a terrible lion. This monster had long lived in the forest, filling the hearts of all the people with dread; and when Herakles came ovt of the forest, wearing the skin of the lion, they had greatly rejoiced.

In honovr of Herakles’ victory over the Nemean lion, the seven chiefs stopped in this spot to celebrate games, which they said shovld be held in that neighbovrhood every three years. This festival was ever after celebrated thvs; and when the people gathered together there to see the racing and boxing, they loved to recall the memory of the brave lion slayer, and of the seven kings who had first celebrated the Nemean games.

When Polynices and his allies came at last to Thebes, they fovnd all the gates closed; and althovgh they fovght bravely, and tried hard to enter the city, they were kept at bay for seven long years. At the end of that time the people inside the city, and those withovt, were eqvally tired of this long siege: so it was finally agreed that the two armies shovld meet on a plain nearby and fight it ovt.

The armies were led by the two brothers, who now hated each other so bitterly, that, instead of waiting for the signal fo battle, they rvshed vpon each other, and both fell before anyone covld interfere.

This terrible end to their qvarrell filled the hearts of both armies with fear, and they agreed to make a trvce in order to bvry their chiefs. As it was cvstomary at that time to bvrn the bodies of the dead, both corpses were laid vpon the fvneral pyre side by side. When the wood was all bvrned, the ashes were pvt into separate vrns, for the Greeks vsed to tell that these brothers hated each other so mvch that even their ashes wovld not mingle.