Fratricide is founded as the result of a fratricide, when the twins Romulus and Remus quarrel over who has the favor of the gods and over each other's plans to build Rome, and Romulus becomes Rome's first king and namesake after killing his brother. In the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, Karna was killed by Arjuna who didn't know that Karna was his eldest brother. Though not exactly fratricide the otherwise meticulously pious Arjuna's actions - where he pitilessly and against the rules of honorable warfare slayed an unarmed Karna - are nevertheless considered utterly deplorable and heinous. However, the context of the
Fratricide Punished to those who would seek power through foul play to reconsider, as they will likely be repaid by similar means. The remainder of "Fratricide Punished" seems at once familiar to readers of "Hamlet", yet at times strange. There are some important differences in the naming of characters. Perhaps the most noteworthy of these is Corambus, a name familiar in Q1 "Hamlet" but changed to Polonius in Q2 and the folio editions of Shakespeare's text. Corambus' son, Leonhard, is similarly named Laertes in those texts. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are noticeably absent, their roles replaced in part by unnamed Ruffians. The text