Epigoni (epic)
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''Epigoni'' (, ''Epigonoi'', "Progeny") was an early Greek epic, a sequel to the ''
Thebaid The Thebaid or Thebais (, ''Thēbaïs'') was a region in ancient Egypt, comprising the 13 southernmost nome (Egypt), nomes of Upper Egypt, from Abydos, Egypt, Abydos to Aswan. Pharaonic history The Thebaid acquired its name from its proximit ...
'' and therefore grouped in the Theban cycle. Some ancient authors seem to have considered it a part of the ''Thebaid'' and not a separate poem.


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According to one source, the epic extended to 7,000 lines of verse. It told the story of the last battle for Thebes by the
Epigoni In Greek mythology, the Epigoni or Epigonoi (; from , meaning "offspring") are the sons of the Argive heroes, the Seven against Thebes, who had fought and been killed in the first Theban war, the subject of the ''Thebaid'', in which Polynices an ...
, the children of the heroes who had previously fought for the city. Only the first line is now known: :Now, Muses, let us begin to sing of younger men ... Additional references, without verbal quotations, suggest that the myth of the death of
Procris In Greek mythology, Procris (, ''gen''.: Πρόκριδος) was an Athenian princess, the third daughter of Erechtheus, king of Athens and his wife, Praxithea. Homer mentions her in the ''Odyssey'' as one of the many dead spirits Odysseus sa ...
and the story of Teiresias's daughter Manto formed part of the ''Epigoni''. The epic was sometimes ascribed to
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
, but
Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...
doubted this attribution. According to the
Scholia Scholia (: scholium or scholion, from , "comment", "interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of the manuscript of ancient a ...
on
Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...
there was an alternative attribution to "Antimachus." This presumably means
Antimachus of Teos __NOTOC__ Antimachus of Teos () was an early Cyclic poets, Greek epic poet. According to Plutarch, he observed a solar eclipse in 753 BC, the same year in which Ancient Rome, Rome was founded. The epic ''Epigoni (epic), Epigoni'', a sequel to the T ...
(8th century BC), and for this reason another verse line attributed without title to Antimachus of Teos is conjecturally thought to belong to the ''Epigoni''.Fragment 2 West;
Clement of Alexandria Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria (; – ), was a Christian theology, Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen and Alexander of Jerusalem. A ...
, ''
Stromata The ''Stromata'' (), a mistake for ''Stromateis'' (Στρωματεῖς, "Patchwork," i.e., ''Miscellanies''), attributed to Clement of Alexandria (c. 150 – c. 215), is the third of a trilogy of works regarding the Christian life. The oldest ...
'' 6.12.7.
An alternative explanation for the naming of Antimachus here would be that the later epic poet Antimachus of Colophon (4th century BC) had been accused of stealing the traditional ''Epigoni'' by incorporating its plot in his literary epic ''Thebais''. The story of the Epigoni was afterwards told again in the form of a tragedy by
Sophocles Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...
, ''
Epigoni In Greek mythology, the Epigoni or Epigonoi (; from , meaning "offspring") are the sons of the Argive heroes, the Seven against Thebes, who had fought and been killed in the first Theban war, the subject of the ''Thebaid'', in which Polynices an ...
'', and in a now-lost play of the same name by Sophocles's contemporary, Astydamas.


References


Select editions and translations


Critical editions

* . * . * . * .


Translations

* . (The link is to the 1st edition of 1914.) English translation with facing Greek text; now obsolete except for its translations of the ancient quotations. * . Greek text with facing English translation


Bibliography

* . {{Homer 8th-century BC books Ancient Greek epic poems Homer Lost poems Sequels Theban Cycle Works of uncertain authorship