The Phoenician Women
by Euripides, adapted into English verse by Brian Vinero

The curse upon the House of Oedipus has brought ruin not only to his family, but to the people of Thebes, enduring across generations.

Three generations of nobility have been caught in a web of violence and treachery, endlessly entangled by the will of Fate and the Gods.

The family of Oedipus now flounders, as his sons Eteocles and Polyneices are locked in a bitter dispute poised to erupt into full-scale war.

The Seven Against Thebes march toward the city's gates just as a group of women from Phoenicia, passing through on pilgrimage, find themselves trapped in a city on the brink — fearful they will be caught between the warring factions preparing for battle on both sides of the wall.

Only Jocasta and Antigone still hold any hope of swaying the men of their family, but their voices are unlikely to prevent the brothers from pursuing a path that will end in mutual destruction — and bring ruin to what remains of their broken house.

This translation is crafted in rhymed verse to create a close approximation of the rhythms and poetry of the original Greek text.