Sibling Rivalry

It all started when......8 Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let us go out to the field." And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. 9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?" 10 And the LORD said, "What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand." (Image is Cain and Abel by Tinzio) Cain and Abel
Rivalry is one of those innate, animalistic aspects of human nature that always adds a little spice to your average love story.  (This is a image from Goethe's Faust written in 1598 called Mephistopheles and Valentine.  The Valentine in this story is killed by the man with whom his sister Margaret has fallen in love.)  
Romulus and Remus of Roman mythology, were born of a mortal mother and Mars, the god of war.  King Amulius gave the order to drown the kids as punishment to his wife .  The servants instead placed them in a basket and put them on the river where a wolf found them and suckled them, and then a herdsman took them and raised them until they grew up and wanted to build a town.  Neither of them could decide which of them should rule, so they asked the gods for signs.  Each of them claimed to have seen signs and the argument escalated until Romulus ended up slaying his brother.  He built the town  and named it ROME after himself.

Romulus and Remus
 
GET READY FOR MY OPINION....One of the things that made Shakespeare such a great writer was his ability to use myths and stories that have already been written and rewrite them in an interesting manner.  The dramatic concept of rivalry was invented long before Shakespeare employed it in Two Gentlemen of Verona.  The way he combines dramatic concepts, like Beethoven writing a five part fugue, is where the true genius lies.  And that's my opinion.

 

  
Different links on Sibling Rivalry:

 

 
Is Birth Spacing (waiting a year or two or three before having your next child) an answer to sibling rivalry?

 
Sibling Rivalry puts parents in court

 

  
I thought this was cute...Amanda Connell's Unofficial Rules on Sibling Rivalries (age 12)

 

  
This is a very comprehensive guide to Sibling Rivalry, including its origins and transcendental social importance