Page:The thirty-six dramatic situations (1921).djvu/27

FOURTH SITUATION 25 A father's death avenged upon the brother of the avenger. Upon his sister. Upon his mistress (or, in the case of a feminine avenger, upon her lover, for each of the cases enumerated has its double, according to the sex of the avenger). Upon his wife. Upon his son. Upon his daughter. Upon his paternal uncle. Upon his maternal uncle. Upon his paternal or maternal grandfather; his paternal or maternal grandmother. Upon half-brother or half-sister. Upon a person allied by marriage (brother-in-law, sister-in-law, etc.) or a cousin. These numerous variations may of course be successively repeated for each case : — the avenging of a brother, a sister, a husband, a son, a grandfather, and so on.

By way of variety, the vengeance may be carried out, not upon the person of the criminal himself, but upon some one dear to him (thus Medea and Atreus struck Jason and Thyestes through their children), and even inanimate objects may take the place of victims.