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 ongoing significance of the work. Though it may have been born from production, few productions of "Fratricide Punished" have been undertaken since its discovery. In 1924, William Poel, a British actor and theater manager who had staged a production of Q1 Hamlet in 1881, mounted a production of the play in Oxford, England at the New Oxford Theatre. His promptbook, later published, contends that the audience met the characters with a derision and laughter far removed from the typical experience of "Hamlet" audiences. Joe Falocco argues that, by choosing to perform both Q1 and "Fratricide Punished," Poel was demonstrating a