Quoted By:
A strange and wild thought enters your mind, as you guide your chariot around the pothole, and the laboring white-robed servants:
<span class="mu-i">Would it not be better if Polynices and Tydeus died before reaching Mycenae?</span>
Their deaths would end your uncle’s insane gambling, and also prevent the deaths of thousands of Argives and Thebans alike. You are one of the most dangerous men in the Argolid - perhaps the <span class="mu-s">only</span> one capable of successfully ambushing the two men. But to do so would be to violate Zeus’ unbreakable law of hospitality, violate your uncle’s rule, conduct a lesser form of kinslaying (for they are now married to your cousins), and finally, betray your principles as an Argive. You pass through crowds of your countrymen; honest Hellenes full of life and love for your family. Would you sacrifice your personal honor for them? You think of Euanippe - do you dare risk your life for your uncle's war, leaving her a widow and without a future?
Polynices and Tydeus are sure to be cursed by the gods if what Amphiarus says is true. Perhaps if you murder them, your violation of Zeus’ law would be overlooked by the gods of Olympus, if these men are truly so despicable. And if you do nothing, then the war with Thebes goes on as planned, and Argos could be brought to ruin if the war fails; the deaths of your entire family could easily follow in a counter-invasion. Could you risk such an outcome by letting the men live, and gambling on the war along with your uncle?
You can’t shake the idea, as you pass through the east gates of Argos. The princes will be leaving Argos this very afternoon, and tonight, will be camping in the wilderness – at best, thirty stadia distant from the city. It would be trivial for you to track the men, ambushing them in the dark; once slain, you could hide the bodies and it would be weeks or months before their absence is noted. You can seize control, right here, right now. But do you dare?
>This will be a short vote - will close at 9am tomorrow morning EST. Lurkers, chime in! This vote DEFINITELY matters.
>Abandon your oaths and attempt an ambush of Polynices and Tydeus – cut out the rot of Thebes from the Argive royal court before it dooms your country! You risk death and dismemberment from your opponents, and from the deities of Olympus besides, but you cannot stand by and let these men destroy your nation.
>Cast aside this poisonous notion and let Polynices and Tydeus travel as they may. You will win this war honestly, with well-trained troops and your oaths to your uncle and your household kept, or you’ll die trying. The sooner you forget this bizarre idea and return to the training of your troops, the better off you shall be.
