[Amnesty/#051: Shakespeare II] Seven Against Thebes - and death presses close upon death

[zdenka]

Title: and death presses close upon death
Author: Zdenka
Fandom: Seven Against Thebes - Aeschylus
Rating: T
Characters: The Fury (Erinys)
Challenge: Amnesty / Shakespeare II: "For which of my bad parts didst thou first fall in love with me?" (Much Ado About Nothing)
Warnings: referenced character death, referenced incest, foreshadowing
Notes: In Ancient Greek myth, Eteocles and Polyneices were the sons of Oedipus and Jocasta, part of that whole tangle of prophecy and tragedy.
Summary: Polyneices brings an army to challenge his brother Eteocles for the kingship of Thebes. The curse of their house follows them both.


The Fury spreads her dark wings over Thebes. The snakes hiss and writhe in her hair, whispering dark fates; she is strong with the breath of Oedipus’s curse.

She loves them both, these brothers, the one within the city and the one who comes against its walls: Polyneices, bringer of much strife, and Eteocles, true cause of weeping for his city. Both of them call upon radiant divine Justice to defend their cause; yet both are blind, blind as their father, hapless as their mother in what they do.

Thebes will be full of wailing. The Fury waits to strike.


also on AO3, with even more footnotes!