The Phoenician Women

The Phoenician Women
Farewell of Oedipus to the Corpses of His Wife and Sons by Édouard Toudouze
Written by	Euripides
Chorus	Phoenician Women
Characters	Jocasta Tutor Antigone Polynices Eteocles Creon Teiresias Menoeceus First Messenger Second Messenger Oedipus
Mute	daughter of Teiresias guards attendants
Place premiered	Athens
Original language	Ancient Greek
Genre	Tragedy
Setting	Before the royal palace of Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)

The Phoenician Women (Ancient Greek: Φοίνισσαι, Phoinissai) is a tragedy by Euripides, based on the same story as Aeschylus' play Seven Against Thebes. It was presented along with the tragedies Hypsipyle and Antiope. With this trilogy, Euripides won the second prize. The title refers to the Greek chorus, which is composed of Phoenician women on their way to Delphi who are trapped in Thebes by the war. Unlike some of Euripides' other plays, the chorus does not play a significant role in the plot, but represents the innocent and neutral people who very often are found in the middle of war situations. Patriotism is a significant theme in the story, as Polynices talks a great deal about his love for the city of Thebes but has brought an army to destroy it; Creon is also forced to make a choice between saving the city and saving the life of his son.