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Septem Contra Thebas
''Seven Against Thebes'' ( grc, Ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ Θήβας, ''Hepta epi Thēbas''; ) is the third play in an Oedipus-themed trilogy produced by Aeschylus in 467 BC. The trilogy is sometimes referred to as the ''Oedipodea''. It concerns the battle between an Argive army, led by seven champions including Polynices who were called the Seven against Thebes, and the army of Thebes led by Eteocles and his supporters. The trilogy won the first prize at the City Dionysia. The trilogy's first two plays, ''Laius'' and ''Oedipus'', as well as the satyr play ''Sphinx'', are no longer extant. Background When Oedipus, King of Thebes, realized he had married his own mother and had two sons and two daughters with her, he blinded himself and cursed his sons to divide their inheritance (the kingdom) by the sword. The two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, in order to avoid bloodshed, agreed to rule Thebes in alternate years. After the first year, Eteocles refused to step down, leading Polynice ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aeschylus
Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is largely based on inferences made from reading his surviving plays. According to Aristotle, he expanded the number of characters in the theatre and allowed conflict among them. Formerly, characters interacted only with the chorus.The remnant of a commemorative inscription, dated to the 3rd century BC, lists four, possibly eight, dramatic poets (probably including Choerilus, Phrynichus, and Pratinas) who had won tragic victories at the Dionysia before Aeschylus had. Thespis was traditionally regarded the inventor of tragedy. According to another tradition, tragedy was established in Athens in the late 530s BC, but that may simply reflect an absence of records. Major innovations in dramatic form, credited to Aeschylus by Aristot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antigone (Sophocles)
''Antigone'' ( ; grc, Ἀντιγόνη) is an Athenian tragedy written by Sophocles in (or before) 441 BC and first performed at the Festival of Dionysus of the same year. It is thought to be the second oldest surviving play of Sophocles, preceded by ''Ajax'', which was written around the same period. The play is one of a triad of tragedies known as the three Theban plays, following ''Oedipus Rex'' and ''Oedipus at Colonus''. Even though the events in Antigone occur last in the order of events depicted in the plays, Sophocles wrote ''Antigone'' first. The story expands on the Theban legend that predates it, and it picks up where Aeschylus' ''Seven Against Thebes'' ends. The play is named after the main protagonist Antigone. After Oedipus' self-exile his sons Eteocles and Polynices engaged in a civil war for the Theban throne, which resulted in both brothers dying fighting each other. Oedipus' brother-in-law and new Theban ruler Creon ordered the public honor of Eteocles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has been narrated through many works of Greek literature, most notably Homer's ''Iliad''. The core of the ''Iliad'' (Books II – XXIII) describes a period of four days and two nights in the tenth year of the decade-long siege of Troy; the '' Odyssey'' describes the journey home of Odysseus, one of the war's heroes. Other parts of the war are described in a cycle of epic poems, which have survived through fragments. Episodes from the war provided material for Greek tragedy and other works of Greek literature, and for Roman poets including Virgil and Ovid. The ancient Greeks believed that Troy was located near the Dardanelles and that the Trojan War was a historical event of the 13th or 12th century BC, but by the mid-19th century AD, both ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mytheme
In structuralism-influenced studies of mythology, a mytheme is a fundamental generic unit of narrative structure (typically involving a relationship between a character, an event, and a theme) from which myths are thought to be constructed—a minimal unit that is always found shared with other, related mythemes and reassembled in various ways ("bundled") or linked in more complicated relationships. For example, the myths of Greek Adonis and Egyptian Osiris share several elements, leading some scholars to conclude that they share a source, i.e. images passed down in cultures or from one to another, being ascribed new interpretations of the action depicted, as well as new names in various readings of icons. Overview Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908–2009), who gave the term wide circulation, wrote, "If one wants to establish a parallel between structural linguistics and the structural analysis of myths, the correspondence is established, not between mytheme and word but between mytheme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphiaraus
In Greek mythology, Amphiaraus or Amphiaraos (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιάραος, Ἀμφιάρεως, "very sacred") was the son of Oicles, a seer, and one of the leaders of the Seven against Thebes. Amphiaraus at first refused to go with Adrastus on this expedition against Thebes as he foresaw the death of everyone who joined the expedition. His wife, Eriphyle, eventually compelled him to go. Family Amphiaraus was the son of Oicles. This made Amphiaraus a great-grandson of Melampus, himself a legendary seer, and a member of one of the most powerful dynastic families in the Argolid. The mythographer Hyginus says that Amphiaraus's mother was Hypermnestra, the daughter of Thestius. She was the sister of Leda, the queen of Sparta who was the mother of Helen of Troy, Clytemnestra, and the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux). Hyginus also reports that "some authors" said that Amphiaraus was the son of Apollo. Amphiaraus married Eriphyle, the sister of his cousin Adrastus (the grands ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Actor (mythology)
Actor (Ancient Greek: ; ''gen''.: ''Aktoros'') is a very common name in Greek mythology. Here is a selection of characters that share this name (which means 'leader', from the verb άγω: to lead or carry): * Actor, father of Eurytus who was an ally of Phineus during his fight with Perseus. *Actor, a king of Phthia, was said to be the son of King Myrmidon and Peisidice, daughter of Aeolus. Some say that Actor died childless, but others say that he is the father of Eurytion, his successor or of Irus, who was also called the father of Eurytion.Apollonius Rhodius, ''Argonautica'' 1.74 According to Diodorus, Actor without an heir, was succeeded by Peleus who fled to his country from Aegina for killing his half-brother, Phocus. The hero was then purified by the king for his sins. This story was usually attributed to Actor's possible son Eurytion who was slain accidentally by his son-in-law Peleus. This Actor married Aegina, daughter of the river god Asopus, and had several child ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parthenopaeus
In Greek mythology, Parthenopaeus or Parthenopaios (; Ancient Greek: Παρθενοπαῖος, ''Parthenopaîos'') was one of the Seven against Thebes, a native of Arcadia, described as young and outstandingly good-looking, but at the same time arrogant, ruthless and over-confident, although an unproblematic ally for the Argives.Euripides, '' Suppliant Women'', 890 ff. Mythology Early life Parthenopaeus was the son of Atalanta by either her husband Hippomenes (Melanion), or by Meleager, or Ares. A less common version makes him a son of Talaus and Lysimache (which makes him a close relative of the other members of the Seven and thereby motivates his involvement in the war). Hyginus writes that he was left exposed by Atalanta on Mount Parthenius ("virginal") in Arcadia, so that she could conceal the fact that she was not a virgin anymore; the name Parthenopaeus is accordingly interpreted by Hyginus as "seemingly-virginal" or the like, as if referring to the fact that his moth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyperbius
In Greek mythology, the name Hyperbius (Ancient Greek: Ὑπέρβιος ''Ὑpérvios'' means "of overwhelming strength") may refer to: *Hyperbius, son of Ares, reputedly the first to have killed an animal. *Hyperbius, son of Aegyptus, who married and was killed by the Danaid Celaeno, or by Eupheme. *Hyperbius, son of Oenops, a defender of Thebes in the war of the Seven against Thebes, appointed by Eteocles to defend the Oncaidian Gate against Hippomedon. He had an image of Zeus on his shield. *Hyperbius, an Athenian, brother of Agrolas or Euryalus. The two brothers were credited with inventing the technique of building with bricks, and with construction of the first brick houses in Athens,Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia'7.57/ref> as well as of the wall around Acropolis. *Hyperbius, a Corinthian credited with invention of the potter's wheel.Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia'' 7.57; Scholia on Pindar, ''Olympian Ode'' 13.27c Notes References * Aeschylus, trans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hippomedon (Seven Against Thebes)
In Greek mythology, Hippomedon {{IPAc-en, h, ɪ, ˈ, p, ɒ, m, ᵻ, d, ə, n (Ἰππομέδων, ''gen''.: Ἰππομέδοντος) was one of the Seven against Thebes.Pseudo-Apollodorus, '' Bibliotheca'', 3.6.3 He lived near the lake Lerna in Peloponessus; the foundations of his house on Mount Pontinus at Lerna were shown in Pausanias' times. In Euripides' '' The Suppliants'', he is characterized as a person uninterested in comfort and entertainments, eager to face hardships, and dedicating a lot of time to training for combat. Family Hippomedon's father was either Talaus, the father of Adrastus, or Aristomachus (a son of Talaus), or Mnesimachus.Hyginus, ''Fabulae'', 70, ''Seven Kings who set out for Thebes'' If he is the son of Mnesimachus, then his mother is Metidice, daughter of Talaus, which makes him Adrastus's sister's son.Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'', 10.10.3 By Euanippe, daughter of Elatus, Hippomedon was father of Polydorus, one of the Epigoni.Hyginus, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megareus Of Thebes
In Greek mythology, Megareus (; grc-gre, Μεγαρέας) or Menoeceus (Μενοικεύς) was a warrior of Thebes, who figures in the war of the '' Seven against Thebes'' – the struggle between Eteocles and Polynices, the twin sons of Oedipus, for the throne of Thebes. He was known for his large stature, and is considered an anthropomorphic representation of his father's pride by some literary scholars. Family Megareus was the son of Eurydice of Thebes and Creon, uncle of the two princes, and thus brother of Lycomedes, Haemon, Megara, Pyrrha and probably Henioche. Mythology Creon supported Eteocles, the incumbent king. Megareus wanted to fight for Eteocles, but Creon did not want him to, fearing for his safety. Also, Tiresias, the blind prophet, told Creon that Eteocles would win if Creon sacrificed Megareus, reinforcing his decision. Creon suppressed Tiresias' prophecy, and sent Megareus to be sheltered away from the city of Thebes. Despite this, Megareus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eteoclus
In Greek mythology, Eteoclus (Ancient Greek: Ἐτέοκλος) was the son of Iphis. Mythology Eteoclus participated in the war on Thebes by the Seven against Thebes, and was occasionally included on the list of the seven leaders. In Euripides' ''Suppliant Women'', Adrastus describes him as a young, poor yet dignified person who would reject luxurious gifts from friends and was highly honored by fellow Argives. In Aeschylus' play ''Seven Against Thebes'', Eteoclus is one of the seven champions who attack Thebes' seven gates. He attacks the Neistan gates, carrying a shield which displays a man scaling a tower with a ladder, on which shield it is written that not even Ares could cast him down. He is confronted by Megareus. However, in the '' Phoenician Women'', Adrastus is named as the assailant of the seventh gate of Thebes and Eteoclus is not mentioned. Other authors, among them Diodorus, Statius, and Hyginus, do not mention Eteoclus either. Eteoclus was said to have been ki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polyphontes
In Greek mythology, Polyphontes (Ancient Greek: Πολυφόντης) was the son of Autophonus, a warrior who figured in Polynices' war to regain the throne of Thebes from his brother, Eteocles. Mythology Polyphontes was mentioned in Book IV of the ''Iliad'', when Agamemnon reminds Diomedes of the deeds of his father Tydeus. In Agamemnon's story, Tydeus was an ally of Polynices. He entered Thebes, and challenged and defeated all the Theban leaders. Eteocles then sent Polyphontes and Maion with fifty men to ambush Tydeus on his way back to his army, but Tydeus killed all of them except Maion. In some translations the name is given as Lycophontes. In Aeschylus' play ''Seven Against Thebes'', however, Polyphontes is one of the seven Theban defenders who face the Argive champions at Thebes' gates. He faces Capaneus at the Electran gates.Aeschylus. ''Seven Against Thebes'', line 449. Notes References Characters in Seven against Thebes * Aeschylus, translated in two volumes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
