The Mutual Fate of Brothers

In the tragedy of "The Seven Against Thebes" written by Aeschylus close to fifteen hundred years
ago, he tells the morbid fate of two brawling brothers. These brother were born twins to king Oedipus and one was given the crown and the other exiled. In anger and drive for dominion, the younger raised an army led by himself and six great generals against Thebes and his brother the king. Each of the generals led separate assaults against each of Thebes' seven gates. At the last gate the brothers faced off with the men they led. The aftermath was the gruesome death of both. The elder was given the kingly rights of burial and the latter's corps was treated in the way traitors and enemies are treated.

Fratricide is on of the most repulsive sins committable. This Cain and Able tradition is worse then the murder of a stranger and becomes more like the murder of self. I would not be like suicide, nor would it be like killing a clone; rather it would be like killing another person who is akin to oneself in many of the looks, likes, and heritage. The idea like that told of in the Bible of Cain and Able, of the wicked brother slaughtering the righteous brother, drives this point further. The fact that one version could kill the other which is not under his direction like he is to himself is heinous. This is an unfortunate example of breaking the second commandment given by Christ. That is to love thy brother.

It is grim to have to think, read, and write about such sickening topics, But it is important from time to time to confront the dark side of human nature, to see it's face and call it out, to not let the devil hide and sabotage one's efforts like a dastardly spy. These dark subjects bespatter the pages of the great Russian literature, perhaps inspiration for one such novel could be taken from "The Seven Against Thebes."

Image Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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