Family
‹ 9 · Outline · 11 ›
10.Conflict and cruelty within the family
10a.Tyrannical and cruel fathers
See also: Tyranny 6a · Revenge 8d · Punishment 4d · Emotion 9d
Aeschylus, The Libation-BearersVol. 8
- p. 79–83Electra appeals to her dead father: his children sold by their mother, Orestes banished, and she reduced to slave's estate.read · scan
Aeschylus, Prometheus BoundVol. 8
- p. 190Inachos unwillingly drives his daughter from home under divine compulsion.read · scan
Sophocles, AntigoneVol. 8
- p. 292–293Haemon's suicide, with his blame of his father, begins the destruction of Creon's household.read · scan
- p. 294–296Haemon spits at his father and kills himself; Creon laments his son's death, caused by his own counsel.read · scan
- p. 297–298Creon's son and wife both dead; Eurydice curses her husband as murderer of their son.read · scan
Herodotus, An Account of EgyptVol. 33
- p. 63Cheops in need of money puts his own daughter in the brothel, and she builds a small pyramid from her clients' stones.read · scan
Euripides, HippolytusVol. 8
- p. 342–343A father curses his own son on the tablet's accusation, invoking his divine father's promised boon.read · scan
- p. 346–349Father and son clash: Theseus, wrathful, refuses to hear his son, who wonders at his father's temper.read · scan
- p. 350–351Hippolytus laments his wronged mother and bastard birth, while Theseus scorns him and rejects his kneeling.read · scan
- p. 351–353Hippolytus laments that his own father does not love him.read · scan
- p. 353–355The chorus pities the mother who bore him in vain; Theseus, a father, rejoices over his son's dying.read · scan
- p. 358–359A father's curse kills his innocent son; Phaedra's false letter destroys the household.read · scan
- p. 360–362Hippolytus laments the unrighteous curse of his father.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 70The father forbade his son's love for his foster-sister, fearing disgrace, separated them, and later adopts his nephew in the son's stead.read · scan
The Story of the Volsungs and NiblungsVol. 49
- p. 354–355Father kills son on false counsel; marriage alliance arranged between royal houses.read · scan
Jean Froissart, The Chronicles of FroissartVol. 35
- p. 100The bishop pleads that a father should not bear the fault of his son.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 437Maritornes speaks of the father's punishment for the daughter's honor; Quixote threatens the father.read · scan
- p. 501The father shuts his disgraced daughter in a nunnery and is comforted that she kept her chastity.read · scan
Francis Bacon, Essays, Civil and MoralVol. 3
- p. 50–51Royal wives and children as dangers to kings: poisonings, depositions, fathers' suspicion of sons ending fatally for their houses.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King LearVol. 46
- p. 216Lear demands professions of love from his daughters; Cordelia states her filial bond honestly, and Lear disowns her in rage.read · scan
- p. 221Lear repudiates Cordelia as daughter, withdrawing dower and favor; France marvels that such affection could turn so suddenly.read · scan
- p. 221–224Lear disowns Cordelia; Cordelia warns her sisters and entrusts the father to them; Goneril and Regan plot against his rashness.read · scan
Thomas Dekker, The Shoemaker's HolidayVol. 47
- p. 516–517The Lord Mayor disowns his daughter for eloping with a shoemaker, accusing her of forgetting birth and ingratitude.read · scan
Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, Philaster, or Love Lies A-BleedingVol. 47
- p. 733–734Marriage of Arethusa and Philaster; the King renounces the title of father to his daughterread · scan
Philip Massinger, A New Way to Pay Old DebtsVol. 47
- p. 898–901A father sacrifices his daughter's virtue to ambition, commanding obedience.read · scan
- p. 933–938Margaret asks her father's pardon and blessing for her secret marriage; he tries to kill her.read · scan
Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Life Is a DreamVol. 26
- p. 23He shuts up his own flesh and blood, his lawful heir, in a tower.read · scan
- p. 23The father is troubled by shame in wronging his son.read · scan
- p. 37Segismund learns Basilio is his father and protests that fathers do not use their children so.read · scan
- p. 45The King pleads his love for his child as second self and successor; Segismund accuses him of casting his own flesh to the dogs.read · scan
Pierre Corneille, PolyeucteVol. 26
- p. 121–123Pauline pleads with her father to be a father not a tyrant, protests parting husband and wife whom he joined.read · scan
- p. 127Pauline denounces her father as a tyrant who slew his son-in-law; Felix seeks to guard his child from harm.read · scan
Molière, Tartuffe, or The HypocriteVol. 26
- p. 255–257Orgon rages at his son and prefers Tartuffe.read · scan
Jean Racine, PhaedraVol. 26
- p. 168–170Theseus returns to a cold welcome from wife and son; Oenone says a father's anger remains fatherly.read · scan
- p. 170–171Theseus, returning from captivity, is stung by his family's fearful welcome and suspects his son.read · scan
- p. 172–174Theseus feels betrayal by his son who violated sacred ties of blood; love has poisoned his household.read · scan
- p. 174–175A father denounces his son for violating his marriage bed and shaming his name.read · scan
- p. 175–177A father forbids his son's love and disbelieves him.read · scan
- p. 177–180Father and son are estranged; Theseus laments a wicked son while Phaedra begs him to spare his offspring.read · scan
- p. 194–196Theseus mourns the son he condemned; Phaedra confesses to her husband.read · scan
Voltaire, Letters on the EnglishVol. 34
- p. 75Penn's conversion breaks with his father, who tries to make him conform and finally turns him out.read · scan
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 727–728A father's love for his child expressed through harshness; Leoline feels dishonored by his only daughter.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 150Parents coldly shun Gertrude with silent, contemptuous treatment to make her feel her subjection, excluding her from their confidence.read · scan
- p. 150–151Gertrude is isolated and denied affection at home unless she yields to the family's plan of the cloister; her father discovers her secret letter.read · scan
- p. 156The Prince, scarcely worthy the name of father, uses her fault to steer her toward the cloister.read · scan
- p. 172The Prince protects his daughter from the nuns' authority, having tyrannized over her himself.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 116Father cuts off his child's hands from fear; she submissively forgives him.read · scan
Percy Bysshe Shelley, The CenciVol. 18
- p. 273–275A father's hatred of his children and violation of his daughter destroy a noble family.read · scan
- p. 281Cenci's children shrink from him and his wife and daughter are shut away, victims of his shame and cruelty.read · scan
- p. 281–285Cenci curses his sons and wife, and Beatrice suffers under a father's cruelty.read · scan
- p. 285–288Beatrice laments having such a father, while her mother hopes for a change in him.read · scan
- p. 288A father rejoices at his sons' deaths while wife and daughter faint in horror.read · scan
- p. 288–290A father exults in the deaths of his sons and curses his children.read · scan
- p. 291Children and wife tortured by a father bound to love and shelter them; filial love and reverence destroyed by wrongs.read · scan
- p. 294–295Beatrice's terror of her father, appeal to her mother, and his cruelty to his children.read · scan
- p. 297–298A father hates his daughter and wife, accuses them of conspiring, and disowns his children.read · scan
- p. 313–314Giacomo tells how his father Cenci ruined his household, denying his wife's dowry and turning wife and children against him; parent and child are now foes.read · scan
- p. 318–320Cenci torments his wife and children, vows ruin for each and to leave Bernardo a legacy of evil memory.read · scan
- p. 320A father plans to destroy his daughter, cursing her name and leaving his own to strip its wearer as infamy.read · scan
- p. 323Cenci, a tyrannical father, hates his daughter Beatrice and curses her, invoking a parent's prayer against his child.read · scan
- p. 323Cenci curses Beatrice's motherhood, wishing her child grow wicked and repay a mother's love with hate.read · scan
- p. 341–343Beatrice recounts a father who poisoned her youth and wronged her; parricide charge rests on that wrong.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 266–267Her father fails to recognize her, and Eliza, cast out, weeps and longs for her brothers.read · scan
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the MastVol. 23
- p. 269The reefer's story: illegitimate son of a wealthy man, ill treated by his father, parents apart, education neglected, ran away from home.read · scan
10b.Stepmothers, stepchildren and unjust favoritism
See also: Emotion 9b · Virtue and Vice 8b
Euripides, HippolytusVol. 8
- p. 303Hippolytus is Theseus's bastard son, Phaedra is the queen; the tragedy is set within the royal house.read · scan
- p. 315–317Nurse pleads with Phaedra, invoking her children's inheritance threatened by Hippolytus, the Amazon's bastard son; Phaedra says she loves her children.read · scan
- p. 345A father accuses his son of defiling his wife and discusses stepmother hatred toward a bastard child.read · scan
Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of Marcus AureliusVol. 2
- p. 233Analogy of mother and step-mother is used to explain relation to philosophy and court.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 19The wife urges slaughter of her husband's own son; the herdsman brings news of the son's identity.read · scan
The Song of RolandVol. 49
- p. 103–104Roland proposes his stepfather Ganelon; Ganelon reminds him of the kinship and resents it.read · scan
The Story of the Volsungs and NiblungsVol. 49
- p. 276–277Queen Borghild, grieving her brother, offers poisoned drink to stepson Sinfjotli while Sigmund drinks it for him.read · scan
Traditional BalladsVol. 40
- p. 66–68Gregor's mother turned Annie from the door, causing the tragedy; a mother loses her infant son.read · scan
Sir Walter Raleigh, Preface to the History of the WorldVol. 39
- p. 80–82Division of kingdoms among four sons and the stepmother Judith's intrigue for Charles cause strife.read · scan
Jean Racine, PhaedraVol. 26
- p. 133–134Hippolytus seeks his absent father Theseus; tensions with stepmother Phaedra; relatives and household.read · scan
William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 606–608Ruth, left half orphaned, is slighted by her father's new marriage and grows up neglected.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 69–70A widower remarries; the stepmother favors her own daughter and grows cruel to her stepdaughter.read · scan
- p. 70–71The stepmother plots her stepdaughter's death by cold and hunger.read · scan
- p. 71–72The stepsister envies the girl's fortune, and the mother yields to her daughter's insistence.read · scan
- p. 72–73The stepmother and her daughter plot against the stepdaughter, throwing the young queen into the stream and substituting the ugly daughter.read · scan
- p. 98A dying mother's blessing, then a stepmother and stepsisters abuse the motherless Cinderella while the father is indifferent.read · scan
- p. 99–100The stepmother cruelly denies Cinderella permission to go to the festival, setting impossible tasks.read · scan
- p. 100Cruel stepmother and proud stepsisters exclude Cinderella; she turns to her dead mother's grave for help.read · scan
- p. 101Her father and stepfamily fail to recognize her, believing her at home in ashes.read · scan
- p. 103–104Mother again urges her daughter to mutilate her heel and hides Cinderella as too dirty.read · scan
- p. 104–105A widow favors her own idle daughter and makes the stepdaughter do all the work.read · scan
- p. 133The king loves his seven children above all; the stepmother jealously turns the six boys into swans, and the daughter tells of it.read · scan
- p. 135–136Mother-in-law's hostility to the marriage, stolen children, reunion of husband, wife, children and brothers.read · scan
- p. 146–147A mother wishes for a child and dies at its birth; the king remarries, giving a stepmother.read · scan
- p. 147–148A stepmother orders her stepdaughter killed.read · scan
- p. 149The dwarfs take in the fugitive girl and warn her against her stepmother.read · scan
- p. 206–207A mother and sisters hate and mistreat Two-eyes for being normal, starving and shaming her.read · scan
- p. 207–208The sisters grow suspicious of her untouched food and send One-eye to spy.read · scan
- p. 208–209The mother sends Three-eyes to spy on Two-eyes, continuing the household's hostility.read · scan
- p. 209–210The envious mother and sisters betray Two-eyes and kill her goat rather than let her fare better.read · scan
- p. 210The mother and sisters grow more cruel out of envy because only Two-eyes can pluck the fruit.read · scan
- p. 211The sisters hide Two-eyes under a barrel out of shame at her ordinary looks.read · scan
Percy Bysshe Shelley, The CenciVol. 18
- p. 291–294Lucretia's stepmotherly love for the children and Bernardo's devotion contrast with Cenci's cruelty; a domestic quarrel.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 265–266A king's children are turned against by a wicked stepmother, who slanders the princes to their father and sends Eliza away.read · scan
- p. 266Eliza longs for her brothers' kisses, while the stepmother hates her and the King wishes to see his daughter.read · scan
10c.Kin-slaying and curses on the house
See also: Fate 6a · Revenge 4a · Punishment 7b · Prophecy 3b
Aesop, FablesVol. 17
- p. 13The father's rage over his son's death fuels the feud.read · scan
Aeschylus, AgamemnonVol. 8
- p. 21–22Home and kin suffer under the burden of the sinner's crime; the bride-bed is empty.read · scan
- p. 46–48She sees the home cursed with kin smiting kin.read · scan
- p. 48–50Kin-murder runs through the house of Atreus: Thyestes fed on his children's flesh, a wife slaying her wedded lord.read · scan
- p. 52–54The house's curse: brother's incest and the slain children served to their father.read · scan
- p. 54–56Clytemnestra's plot against her husband, and Thyestes' feast on kindred flesh.read · scan
- p. 67–68Kindred blood, murdered children, Iphigenia and the murdered husband show the house's cycle of kin-killing.read · scan
- p. 69–70Clytemnestra denies burial rites; Iphigenia shall greet her father, and she prays the house's kin-murder end.read · scan
- p. 71–72The feud of brothers Atreus and Thyestes, children served to their father, and his son's revenge.read · scan
Aeschylus, The Libation-BearersVol. 8
- p. 98–100Orestes, nursed at the same breast, is the serpent-child who will kill his mother.read · scan
- p. 102–103Crimes of mother against son, daughter against father, wife against husband.read · scan
- p. 120The curse runs through generations of Atreus' house, Thyestes' feast on children and the king's murder.read · scan
Aeschylus, The FuriesVol. 8
- p. 123–126Clytemnestra's ghost complains she is dishonoured among the dead, slain by her own son.read · scan
- p. 126–127Clytemnestra's ghost complains she was slain by those who should have loved her, her own son, and no god avenges her.read · scan
- p. 134–136Their office concerns those stained with the blood of kin.read · scan
- p. 136–137They strike when the household's heart is slain by kindred hands and an ancient line falls.read · scan
The Book of JobVol. 44
- p. 104–105Job rejects that God stores a man's iniquity for his children; the dead care nothing for their house.read · scan
The Book of PsalmsVol. 44
- p. 285Curse extends to children, wife and the sins of his fathers and mother.read · scan
Sophocles, AntigoneVol. 8
- p. 272–275Creon dismisses his son's betrothed as a vile wife; the chorus laments the hereditary curse on the house of Labdacus.read · scan
Herodotus, An Account of EgyptVol. 33
- p. 50–52Sesostris's brother tries to burn him and his sons at a feast; two sons are sacrificed as a bridge over the fire.read · scan
Euripides, HippolytusVol. 8
- p. 317–320Phaedra's grief comes from her mother Pasiphae and sister Ariadne, a house cursed by love.read · scan
Euripides, The BacchaeVol. 8
- p. 412–415Pentheus is to be carried by his mother, an ironic prelude to her killing him.read · scan
- p. 419Pentheus begs his mother Agave for mercy, but she, possessed, kills her own son.read · scan
- p. 419–425A mother, mad, triumphs with her own son's head and fondles its hair unknowing.read · scan
- p. 430–432Agave's horror at killing her son; Cadmus mourns his beloved grandson and the wreck of their line.read · scan
Buddhist WritingsVol. 45
- p. 675Murder of a nephew for inheritance; he dies sonless and property escheats.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 80–85Brother kills brother, and Dido loses her husband, whose ghost warns her.read · scan
Luke, The Gospel According to LukeVol. 44
- p. 405–406Beloved son sent as heir and killed so the inheritance may be theirs.read · scan
Plutarch, CaesarVol. 12
- p. 309Caesar destroys the children and family of Pompey.read · scan
Chapters from the KoranVol. 45
- p. 996–997Fratricide of Adam's two sons, one refusing to retaliate out of fear of God.read · scan
BeowulfVol. 49
- p. 20Unferth is charged with slaying his brethren, kin whose murder brings hell's curse.read · scan
- p. 68–70Hrethel raised Beowulf as kin; Haethcyn accidentally kills his brother Herebeald, a horror of kin-slaying without vengeance.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 421–423The Moor's brother seeks vengeance for his slain brother, driving the plot of kinship and revenge.read · scan
Songs from the Elder EddaVol. 49
- p. 391–394Kin slay Sigurd; Gudrun asks her brothers where her husband isread · scan
- p. 397–400Grimhild and her sons seek to atone with weregild and gifts to win Gudrun's trust backread · scan
- p. 426–429They kill their half-brother Erp for mocking them and find their sister's son hanged.read · scan
- p. 429–430Hamdir regrets slaying his brother Erp.read · scan
The Story of the Volsungs and NiblungsVol. 49
- p. 258Kinsmen betray Sigi; Rerir slays his mother's brothers to avenge his father, making light of kinship.read · scan
- p. 286–287Fafnir murders his father Hreidmar; Regin loses his heritage and his brother's weregild.read · scan
- p. 337–338Brothers slew her husband; Grimhild and sons seek atonement with gold for kin-slaying.read · scan
- p. 347–348Atli laments slain kin and strife with his wife; Hogni charges he murdered his kinswoman.read · scan
- p. 356–357Three marriages, lost brothers and children; the sons slay their brother Erp despite his warning that kin help kin.read · scan
- p. 357–358Brothers regret killing Erp, their brother; the whole line of the Giukings ends.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, HellVol. 20
- p. 131Two brothers, sons of Alberto, are frozen locked together, hair mingled, in the round for kin-betrayers.read · scan
- p. 131–133Kinsmen betrayed or murdered kin: brothers from one body, Sassol Mascheroni killed his uncle.read · scan
Traditional BalladsVol. 40
- p. 53–55Eldest sister murders the youngest from jealousy over a suitor; father's ships and inheritance offered in vain.read · scan
- p. 59–60Discovery that the victims are his sisters brings remorse.read · scan
- p. 104–106A mother tries to save her sons; Care murders the eldest, and the family dies in the fire.read · scan
Sir Thomas Malory, The Holy GrailVol. 35
- p. 109–110Galahad's sword's history: Balin slew his brother Balan and wounded King Pelles, Galahad's grandfather.read · scan
- p. 120Wickedness is exemplified by fathers and sons who loved not one another.read · scan
- p. 124The brothers slew the duke and his eldest son and took his daughter, whose younger sister is now held captive.read · scan
- p. 185Adam and Eve beget Abel, and Cain slays his brother; Pelles is Galahad's grandsire.read · scan
- p. 190–192The brothers violate and kill their sister and imprison their father, a monstrous betrayal of kinship.read · scan
Niccolò Machiavelli, The PrinceVol. 36
- p. 31He betrays and kills the uncle who raised him, a parricidal crime.read · scan
Sir Walter Raleigh, Preface to the History of the WorldVol. 39
- p. 80Kinsmen murdered and blinded; Debonnaire's own sons rebel and depose him.read · scan
- p. 82Brothers, fathers, sons and nephews betray, blind and kill one another in Charlemagne's line.read · scan
- p. 84He killed his kindred and imprisoned his infant brothers, and his own brother killed him.read · scan
- p. 85–86Ferdinand's heirs suffer deaths, madness and extinction; his daughters' unhappy marriages.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of DenmarkVol. 46
- p. 114–117Brother's murder of the king and the incestuous seduction of the queen; the ghost tells Hamlet to spare his mother.read · scan
- p. 207Mother, father and son die; the King is called incestuous.read · scan
John Webster, The Duchess of MalfiVol. 47
- p. 826–827Ferdinand mourns his twin sister, admits he killed her for her treasure and her marriage; Bosola says kindred agree worse than strangers.read · scan
Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Life Is a DreamVol. 26
- p. 21–23The queen dies in childbirth, killed by the son she bears.read · scan
John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4
- p. 108–125Sin intervenes as daughter between father and son about to fight.read · scan
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's ProgressVol. 15
- p. 308–309Worldliness makes variance between parents and children, man and wife, neighbors.read · scan
William Penn, More Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 396Uncharity entails a curse on the possessors' posterity.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Tragedy of Faust, Part IVol. 19
- p. 152–154Margaret fears her light-sleeping mother and agrees to drug her with Faust's phial.read · scan
Friedrich Schiller, William TellVol. 26
- p. 477Kinsmen slay the king over a withheld patrimony; Agnes avenges her father on the murderers' descendants.read · scan
- p. 484–485Tell sends wife and children away so they will not hear or dwell under one roof with the murderer.read · scan
- p. 485Tell defends his children and fireside; John killed his uncle and kinsman over a withheld inheritance.read · scan
Charles Lamb, On the Tragedies of ShakspereVol. 27
- p. 305–306Lamb humorously protests the repeated staging of George Barnwell's uncle-murder as moral example for apprentices.read · scan
Percy Bysshe Shelley, The CenciVol. 18
- p. 301–305Beatrice disowns her father in madness, calling herself a parricide's kin; Lucretia tenderly cares for her.read · scan
- p. 326–328Wife and daughter conspire to kill the father who oppresses them.read · scan
- p. 328–329Cenci's sleeping words, a father's curse, unnerve Marzio, who hears his own dead father's ghost.read · scan
- p. 329Parricide is committed by the daughter, who feels freed from her father's darkness.read · scan
- p. 332–334Bernardo names his mother, sister and himself as those with the most interest in the father's death.read · scan
- p. 334Cenci's outrages created a gulf of hatred between father and daughter.read · scan
- p. 337Killing an aged father violates sacred bonds and kind nature.read · scan
- p. 351Pope cites parricide rife among the young to justify the sentence; Bernardo pleads for kin.read · scan
John Keats, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 884–885Feud between houses: the whole blood-thirsty race hates Porphyro's lineage.read · scan
- p. 886–887Feud: enemy lords curse Porphyro's house and land.read · scan
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1053–1054The old man laid a cruel snare that killed a friend; the father's pride and wrong echo through the houses.read · scan
10d.Incest and confused kinship
See also: Sin 6c
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 151–152Marriage of mother and son, the wooing of Chloris, and the lineage of Lede's sons.read · scan
Sophocles, Oedipus the KingVol. 8
- p. 218Teiresias warns of the fatal marriage and a parental curse on Oedipus and his children.read · scan
- p. 218–223Prediction that Oedipus is father and brother to his sons, husband and son to his mother.read · scan
- p. 228Incest and parricide dread: fear of killing Polybus and defiling the marriage bed.read · scan
- p. 237Oedipus fears killing his father and marrying his mother; news of Polybus's death, yet his mother lives, sustains dread.read · scan
- p. 242–245Oedipus learns he was born to Laius and Jocasta and lives in wedlock with his own mother.read · scan
- p. 245–246Jocasta laments the confusion of begetter and begotten, husband and son, and children borne to her own child.read · scan
- p. 246–248He laments being his father's murderer and joined in incest with his mother.read · scan
- p. 248Oedipus lists the confusion of kindreds: father, brother, son, mother, wife, daughter, and mourns his children.read · scan
Plutarch, CaesarVol. 12
- p. 271Caesar dismisses Pompeia; Clodius is accused of incest with his sister.read · scan
The Story of the Volsungs and NiblungsVol. 49
- p. 265–266Signy has her own sons killed and lies with her brother Sigmund in disguise to bear an avenger for the Volsungs.read · scan
- p. 267Signy's son by her brother Sigmund, Sinfjotli, is bred as a Volsung avenger; Sigmund still takes him for Siggeir's son.read · scan
Sir Thomas Malory, The Holy GrailVol. 35
- p. 128Launcelot jousts against his son Galahad without recognizing him, as Galahad is disguised.read · scan
Martin Luther, Address to the Christian Nobility of the German NationVol. 36
- p. 309Degrees of relationship forbidding marriage must be altered.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 62Luigi's father was beheaded for incest with his daughter.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 180Student jests of incest with cousins and sisters, increasing kindred beyond casuistry.read · scan
John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4
- p. 125Sin, Satan and Death as daughter, father and son; incestuous conception and violent birth.read · scan
- p. 125Sin, Satan and Death as mother, father and son; rape and monstrous offspring.read · scan
Jean Racine, PhaedraVol. 26
- p. 157–158Stepmother, stepson and absent husband: a stepmother's jealousy and adulterous longing violate marital and kinship ties.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 162A dying queen extracts a promise about remarriage; the king desires his own daughter, violating the bounds of parent and child.read · scan
- p. 162–163The daughter, horrified by her father's incestuous resolve, tries to delay him and finally flees his house.read · scan
Lord Byron, ManfredVol. 18
- p. 443Manuel contrasts Manfred with his father Sigismund and hints at Astarte, his companion bound to him by blood.read · scan
Percy Bysshe Shelley, The CenciVol. 18
- p. 306Beatrice, violated by her father Cenci, reels at his cruelty as a parent and cannot bear the name of daughter.read · scan
10e.Filial vengeance and divided duties
See also: Revenge 8a · Punishment 7a
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 10Adultery and murder of a husband; the son's duty of vengeance for his father.read · scan
- p. 35–38It is good for a dead man's son to remain to avenge his father.read · scan
- p. 39Orestes' vengeance for his father; Nestor warns Telemachus about his household and inheritance.read · scan
- p. 330–331Eupeithes mourns his son Antinous and would rather die than live without avenging sons and brothers.read · scan
Aeschylus, The Libation-BearersVol. 8
- p. 91–93Children mourn their father and pray to avenge him on their mother.read · scan
- p. 93–95Orestes and Electra denounce their mother's deed against their father; wolfish children born of her, unsoftened by her prayers.read · scan
- p. 110–111Orestes is urged to avenge his father even if his mother pleads.read · scan
- p. 114–115Mother and son trade accusations: she says she sent him to a friendly home, he says he was sold; parent's curse against father's fate.read · scan
- p. 118–119Son avenges his murdered father by killing his mother; kindred murder and the bond to a slain sire drive the scene.read · scan
Aeschylus, The FuriesVol. 8
- p. 140–142Orestes recounts Clytemnestra's murder of Agamemnon and his own killing of his mother to avenge his father.read · scan
- p. 144–147Debate whether Orestes was kin to his mother: the Furies call the womb the closest bond of love.read · scan
- p. 152–154Athena, born of no mother, sides with the father and discounts a wife's death who slew her husband.read · scan
Plutarch, AntonyVol. 12
- p. 335–336Kin sacrificed to hatred; Lucius Caesar's sister shields him; marriage alliance to seal the pact.read · scan
BeowulfVol. 49
- p. 6Healfdene's four children are listed; a coming feud between father and son-in-law is foretold.read · scan
- p. 32–34Hildeburh mourns her son and brother slain in the battle between her Danish kin and Frisian husband.read · scan
Songs from the Elder EddaVol. 49
- p. 361–363Dag slays his brother-in-law Helgi to avenge his father; Sigrun curses her brother, and he offers lands in compensation.read · scan
- p. 414–417Gudrun avenges her brothers by killing her own sons by Atli and feeding him their hearts, laments their loss.read · scan
- p. 418–421Gudrun goads her sons to avenge their sister Swanhild and recounts the losses of her husbands, brothers and sons.read · scan
- p. 424–426Gudrun, bereft of kin, urges her sons to avenge Swanhild, trampled by horses.read · scan
The Song of RolandVol. 49
- p. 117–119Stepson and stepfather, uncle and nephew: Ganelon's hatred of Roland and the Emperor's grief at sending him.read · scan
The Story of the Volsungs and NiblungsVol. 49
- p. 264–265Signy aids her brother Sigmund and sends her sons to him to avenge their father Volsung against her husband Siggeir.read · scan
- p. 269Sigmund and his sister Signy conspire to avenge their father Volsung.read · scan
- p. 272–273Sigmund's marriage to Borghild and the birth of Helgi and Hamund, with sons avenging a father.read · scan
- p. 288–290Sigurd resolves to show the Volsungs are not all dead, avenging his kin.read · scan
- p. 346–347Gudrun greets her brothers and fights beside them against her husband.read · scan
- p. 350–351Gudrun mourns her slain brothers, refuses atonement, and feigns kindness to Atli to plan revenge.read · scan
- p. 351–352Gudrun murders her own sons to avenge her slain brothers on her husband Atli, pitting kinship duties against each other.read · scan
- p. 355–356Gudrun urges kin-vengeance on her sons; Hamdir recalls her earlier kin-slayings.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, HellVol. 20
- p. 117–118Bertrand set father and son at war, likened to Ahitophel setting Absalom against David, breaking closely knit kin.read · scan
Traditional BalladsVol. 40
- p. 55–57Harp's songs farewell father, mother and sister; Edward confesses to his mother that he killed his father.read · scan
- p. 57–59The youngest sister threatens the murderer with her brother's vengeance.read · scan
- p. 102–104Armstrong's young son vows revenge on the treacherous Scots.read · scan
- p. 120–122Braikley's wife and young son are the stakes; the son vows revenge; two fathers compare their sons.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 215Kinsmen hired on opposite sides kill each other for money.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 73Cellini was nearly avenging his father against Salviati, who had grievously injured him.read · scan
Christopher Marlowe, Edward the SecondVol. 46
- p. 86–87Isabella reports her son grieving for his father and vowing vengeance on them.read · scan
- p. 87The son mourns his murdered father and suspects his mother; Isabella pleads for Mortimer.read · scan
- p. 87–89The king suspects his mother of complicity and commits her to the Tower; she pleads as his mother, he grieves for his father.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of DenmarkVol. 46
- p. 112–114Ghost charges son to avenge father's murder by his brother, who has seduced the queen into incestuous marriage.read · scan
- p. 138He is the son of a murdered dear father, prompted to revenge.read · scan
- p. 158–159Hamlet resolves to be cruel, not unnatural, toward his mother.read · scan
- p. 161–162Hamlet as sole son seeks vengeance for his father's murder.read · scan
- p. 162The Ghost of his father reminds Hamlet of his purpose and the Queen laments her son's rebuke.read · scan
- p. 174–177Hamlet has a father killed and mother stained; Ophelia speaks much of her father.read · scan
- p. 179Laertes demands vengeance for his father's death, saying calm blood would proclaim him bastard.read · scan
- p. 186Laertes must show himself his father's son in deed more than in wordsread · scan
- p. 199–202Hamlet's father was killed and his mother wronged by the king.read · scan
John Webster, The Duchess of MalfiVol. 47
- p. 786Brothers rage against their widowed sister's presumed lust and her bastard.read · scan
- p. 786Brothers' fury at their sister's supposed lover.read · scan
- p. 794–795Ferdinand discovers his sister's secret marriage and rages at her; the Duchess defends her right to marry.read · scan
- p. 795–799Brother's cruel rejection of his sister over her marriage; she resents being cased up like a holy relic despite youth and beauty.read · scan
- p. 805–807Ferdinand and the Cardinal plot against their sister, doubting her children were christened and informing her son by first marriage.read · scan
- p. 807–808Brother's revenge seizes her wedding ring and banishes her, her husband and children.read · scan
- p. 814Ferdinand disdains her children; she grieves husband and children shown as dead.read · scan
- p. 837The Cardinal orders Antonio killed so their sister the Duchess cannot marry as he plans.read · scan
Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Life Is a DreamVol. 26
- p. 7Rosaura vows to die rather than live unrevenged; ties of loyal companionship between mistress and servant Fife.read · scan
Friedrich Schiller, William TellVol. 26
- p. 413Melchthal finds his blinded father destitute among kinsmen and swears vengeance.read · scan
Percy Bysshe Shelley, The CenciVol. 18
- p. 314Giacomo recoils at the word parricide, yet learns of the outrage to his sister and consents to father's death.read · scan
- p. 316–318Beatrice and Giacomo, brother and sister, consent by a kiss to their father's death, she invoking brotherly love.read · scan
- p. 318Giacomo's conflict over killing his father, and his wife complaining that he denies the children sustenance.read · scan
10f.Children abandoned, exposed or destroyed by parents
Aeschylus, AgamemnonVol. 8
- p. 13–15Agamemnon agonizes over slaying his own daughter, his household's pride, with a father's hands.read · scan
- p. 15–17Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter, who pleads 'Pity me, Father' and recalls singing at her father's feasts.read · scan
Sophocles, Oedipus the KingVol. 8
- p. 228Laius and Jocasta cast out their infant son, maiming his ankles, to avoid the prophecy.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 392–393Children exposed by parents and preserved by others raise questions of their status and maintenance.read · scan
The Destruction of Dá Derga's HostelVol. 49
- p. 201Cormac forsakes his wife for barrenness and orders his infant daughter killed; she is fostered by cowherds and later bears a son.read · scan
The Story of the Volsungs and NiblungsVol. 49
- p. 269–270Signy sacrifices her own children to vengeance; Sigmund refuses to kill them but Sinfjotli slays them before King Siggeir.read · scan
- p. 270–271Signy reveals she sacrificed her children, bore Sinfjotli by her brother for vengeance and chooses to die with the husband she hated.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, HellVol. 20
- p. 123Athamas kills his child in frenzy; Myrrha's incestuous passion for her father is recalled.read · scan
- p. 135–136Ugolino recounts the starvation of his children and grandchildren in the tower.read · scan
Sir Walter Raleigh, The Discovery of GuianaVol. 33
- p. 322–324Aguirre kills his own children to spare them reproach.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of DenmarkVol. 46
- p. 135–136Hamlet teases Polonius as Jephthah who loved his one daughter; calls Claudius and Gertrude uncle-father and aunt-mother.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of MacbethVol. 46
- p. 370–373Lady Macduff and her son speak of the father's absence; the child is murdered protecting his mother.read · scan
- p. 377–378Macduff anxiously asks after his wife and children and is told of their slaughter.read · scan
John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4
- p. 90Moloch's worship costs parents' tears as children pass through fire.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 66Herod slew his own son among the innocents; Augustus preferred being Herod's pig to his son.read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among MankindVol. 34
- p. 169Children inherit their parents' constitution; contrasts societies where burdensome children are effectively murdered even in the womb.read · scan
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NationsVol. 10
- p. 5Among savages the poverty forces abandoning infants and the old, showing want strains kin obligations.read · scan
- p. 72–74In China marriage is encouraged by liberty of destroying infants, who are exposed or drowned.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Tragedy of Faust, Part IVol. 19
- p. 193–195Margaret's mad song of a murdering mother and father who ate the child.read · scan
- p. 197–200Margaret confesses she killed her mother and drowned her child, and asks to be buried beside mother, brother and infant.read · scan
- p. 200–202She sees her dead mother and remembers her lost bridal and child.read · scan
Walter Savage Landor, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 902–903Iphigenia pleads with her silent father Agamemnon, recalling childhood tenderness; the father's anguish as he prepares to sacrifice his daughter.read · scan
- p. 903–905Daughter comforts her grieving father before sacrifice.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 62–63The king's twin sons are demanded as the price of restoring Johnread · scan
- p. 63Parents willing to sacrifice their beloved sons; the children are restored and the family lives happilyread · scan
- p. 76A poor woodcutter and his wife plan to abandon their children in the forest; the father reluctantly yields.read · scan
- p. 77–78The children overhear the stepmother's plan and Hansel comforts Grethel; the parents lead them into the forest to abandon them.read · scan
- p. 78–79Stepmother pressures the weak father to abandon his children in the forest; the father grieves while Hansel comforts his little sister.read · scan
- p. 79Parents lead the children deeper into the forest to abandon them; Hansel cares for Grethel and Grethel shares her bread.read · scan
- p. 115–116The miller unwittingly pledges his daughter; his wife realizes it.read · scan
- p. 163She pleads as a poor child deserted by father and mother.read · scan
Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the BeagleVol. 29
- p. 33An owner would sell women and children apart from male slaves, breaking thirty long-united families without a thought.read · scan
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1016–1017Recalls father's rages and love in the mother's shriek; mother kills babe for burial feeread · scan
Algernon Charles Swinburne, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1201–1202The slain child Itylus and the mother's sorrow lie behind the lament.read · scan
- p. 1202–1204Grief over the slain first-begotten child's hands, feet and face.read · scan
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