CLA 2323 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Seven Against Thebes, Eteocles, Adrastus
19 Jun 2018
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CLA 2323: Greek Mythology
Week 5: Thursday, May 31, 2018
The Theban Cycle Continued, Tales of Troy, The Nostoi and The End of the Age of Heroes
King Oedipus of Thebes: proud, rich, young, competent king to a blind beggar (due to his own energies)
oSophocles: Oedipus at Colonus (401 B.C.)
Imagines the end of his life, where Oedipus has wandered to outskirts of Athens and is
welcomed by King Theseus
Here he was "religiously cleansed" by King Theseus
Oedipus has 4 children: Polyneikes, Eteokles, Anitgone, and Ismene
oThe boys are princes of Thebes, and when they come of age, there is a dispute over who should
be king
The boys agree that they will alternate years
Polyneikes: "Much strife" or "much turmoil"
Eteokles: "True glory" or "true fame"
oEteo: old
Kluein: to hear/listen
Eteokles is king for the first year, then sends his brother off ("get lost")
oPolyneikes is sent to Argos
People agree to help him, and send an army to attack Thebes
This is the famous adventure of "The Seven Against Thebes"
Major source of this tale comes from Aeschylus, 467 B.C. (pg. 166)
King of Argos is Adrastos, who leads the expedition to Thebes
Amphiaraos is the most famous of the seven attackers
oA champion warrior, and a seer --> he can see the future
oHe sees the seven attackers and their army being defeated
If he is part of this expedition, he foresees that he will be killed
Polyneikes wants Amphiaraos to be on the expedition, so he bribes Amphiaraos' wife with a magically
beautiful necklace to induce Amphiaraos to join the adventure
oThe necklace belonged to Polyneikes' ancestor, Harmonia
Daughter of Ares and Aphrodite, wife of Kadmos
Amphiaraos agrees to join the expedition
The army of Argos, led by the seven champions, attacks Thebes
In Aeschylus' play, Thebes has 7 gates
oEach attacker meets a corresponding defender at each of the gates
The two brothers square up against each other
In the attack, all seven attackers are killed, except for Adrastos
oThe brothers kill each other
Most striking detail of the combat involves Tydeus of Kalydon
oA champion, not from Argos
oFavoured by Athena, the goddess who regularly favours heroes
Detail: Tydeus is grievously wounded, but he has killed his opponent. He is so enraged at
being wounded and his pain that he rips off the bronze helmet of his adversary and begins to
gnaw at his head. Meanwhile Athena approaches him, and realizes what he's doing.
She is so disgusted that she withdraws, with the original intention of saving him
Only Adrastos returns home alive
Mycenae and Thebes might have gone to war in reality (story behind this tale)
This expedition was a failure
pg. 1
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Antigone is a princess of Thebes, one of Oedipus' daughter
Now she has two dead brothers (after the expedition)
To keep city running, there is a region: someone appointed as king by gov't, named Creon (not part of the
royal family, but takes control of Thebes)
oHe orders that the bodies of all the defenders be brought into the city to bear last luxuries
oAs for bodies of attackers, don't touch them --> let nature take care of them
Greeks put a lot of importance on the idea that a dead body would receive some sort of
funeral/processing (burial or cremation)
oThere should be some treatment to show it respect
oOnly if this was done, could the ghost go contently to the underworld
Or else they may wander around unhappy forever
Greeks were very afraid of dying in shipwrecks: bodies were not recovered, devoured by
ocean, and spirits would be roaming around for eternity
Antigone becomes the story of civil disobedience, meaning a principle stance against the law because a
person wants to challenge the law legally, which begins with not obeying it
oA principle defiance of the law
Antigone decides to ignore Creon's order, sneaks out, and sprinkles dirt on Polyneikes
oThis would assure his ghost a trip to underworld
She is apprehended and locked up by Creon
What follows is a busy come-uppance for Creon
oShe hangs herself in her jail cell
oIn this time, Creon's son was engaged to marry Antigone who then kills himself, followed by his
mother who killed herself because her son is dead
Back in Argos, there is a second expedition against Thebes: the Epigonoi
oExpedition of the "descendants" of the seven, when they grow up
oThe leader is Alkmaion, son of Amphiaraos
Leads the expedition which indeed captures Thebes
Meanwhile, Alkmaion has a second adventure: his mother tried to send his father to his certain death
oAlkmaion now becomes one of two great Greek heroes, who Oracle says will kill his mother
He is ordered by heaven to kill his mother for engineering his father's death
The other hero in this position is Orestes, who also has to kill his mother
After killing his mother (avenging his father), he is cursed by heaven (you're not supposed to kill your
mom) and is pursued by the Erinyes ("Furies")
oThe Furies are bird-like female, bad news creatures
oWhen you sinned against nature, the Furies pursue you, drive you mad, keep you from sleeping,
torment you
Alkmaion now has to find some kind of religious purification so he can rid himself of the Furies
oAll versions send him to northwest Greece, to the Acheleos river
According to one version, he was given a prophecy: he could be purified at a land that
doesn't exist
He wanders the world, and reaches the mouth of the Acheleos river
River god agrees to purify him, he does, and he marries the local princess
Tales of Troy
Troy is imagined as a rich and powerful kingdom
oNot Greek
Trojans are imagined as foreigners who are viewed positively in Greek myth, along with Phoenicians and
Lydians
The Greek mythology distinguishes between 2 types of foreigners: civilized and uncivilized
oThracians and Amazonians: dangerously wild
pg. 2
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