The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics) (20 page)

⁷
After the death of Amphion,
*
Laios took over the kingdom. He married a daughter of Menoiceus whom some call Iocaste, others Epicaste.
*
An oracle from the gods had warned him not to have a child, for if he did, the son who would be born to him would become his father’s murderer; but while he was drunk with wine, he had intercourse with his wife. When the child was born, he pierced its ankles with buckle-pins and passed it to a herdsman for exposure. But when he exposed it on Mount Cithairon, the herdsmen of Polybos, king of Corinth, discovered the baby and brought it to the king’s wife, Periboia. She took him in and passed him off as her own son, and after she had healed his ankles she called him
Oedipus
*
giving him that name because of his
swollen feet
.

When the boy grew up and surpassed the others of his age in strength, they grew jealous and poured scorn on him for being a supposititious child.
*
He questioned Periboia but could learn nothing from her, so he went to Delphi and asked
who his true parents were. The god told him not to return to his native land, for if he did, he would murder his father and sleep with his mother. Hearing this, and believing that he really was born from those who were said to be his parents, he kept away from Corinth. But as he was travelling through Phocis in his chariot, he came across Laios, also driving in a chariot, on a certain narrow track.
*
And when Polyphontes, the herald of Laios, told him to make way, and killed one of his horses because he refused to obey or was slow to do so, Oedipus was enraged and killed both Polyphontes and Laios; and he drove on to Thebes.

⁸
Laios was buried by Damasistratos, king of Plataea, and Creon, son of Menoiceus,
*
succeeded to the throne. During his reign, a disaster of no small proportion struck Thebes; for Hera sent the Sphinx.
*
The mother of the Sphinx was Echidna and her father Typhon, and she had the face of a woman, the chest, feet, and tail of a lion, and the wings of a bird. She had learned a riddle from the Muses, and seated on Mount Phicion, she posed it to the Thebans. The riddle ran as follows: what is it that has a single voice,
*
and has four feet, and then two feet, and then three feet? Now the Thebans possessed an oracle telling them that they would be freed from the Sphinx when they solved her riddle, so they gathered together repeatedly to seek the solution; but when they failed to discover it, the Sphinx would carry one of them off and devour him. When many had died in this way, including, ultimately, Creon’s son Harmon, Creon proclaimed that he would give both the kingdom and the widow of Laios to the man who could solve the riddle. When Oedipus heard of this, he supplied the answer, saying that the riddle of the Sphinx referred to man; for he is four-footed as a baby when he crawls on all fours, two-footed as an adult, and takes on a third limb in old age in the form of a stick. So the Sphinx hurled herself from the Acropolis, and Oedipus took over the kingdom, and also, without realizing it, married his mother. He had two sons by her, Polyneices and Eteocles, and two daughters, Ismene and Antigone. There are some who say, however, that these children were born to him by Euryganeia,
*
daughter of Hyperphas.

⁹
Afterwards, when what was unknown was revealed, Iocaste
hanged herself in a noose, and Oedipus put out his eyes and was driven from Thebes, cursing his sons,
*
who watched him being expelled from the city without coming to his aid. Arriving with Antigone at Colonos
*
in Attica, where the sanctuary of the Eumenides
*
lies, he sat down there as a suppliant and received a friendly reception from Theseus, and died not long afterwards.

7. The Theban Wars

¹
Eteocles and Polyneices came to an agreement over the

6

throne, deciding that each of them should rule in alternate years. Some say that Polyneices was the first to rule, and that after a year he surrendered the throne to Eteocles; while according to others, Eteocles was the first to rule, and refused to give up the throne.
*
In any case, Polyneices was exiled from Thebes and arrived in Argos, bringing with him the necklace and robe [of Harmonia]. Argos was ruled at that time by Adrastos, son of Talaos;
*
and as Polyneices was approaching his palace by night, he became involved in a fight with Tydeus, son of Oineus, who had fled there from Calydon.
*
In response to the sudden outbreak of shouting, Adrastos came out and separated the pair; and calling to mind the advice of a diviner who told him to yoke his daughters to a boar and a lion, he chose the two of them as their husbands, because one of them had the front half of a boar on his shield and the other that of a lion.
*
So Tydeus married Deipyle and Polyneices, Argeia; and Adrastos promised to restore both of them to their native lands. He was eager to march against Thebes initially, and gathered together the leading warriors.

²
But Amphiaraos, son of Oicles, who was a diviner and foresaw that all who took part in the expedition except for Adrastos were destined to be killed, was reluctant to join the
expedition himself and tried to dissuade the others. Polyneices went to Iphis,
*
son of Alector, and asked to be told how Amphiaraos could be compelled to take part; and he replied that this could be brought to pass if Eriphyle gained possession of the necklace. Although Eriphyle had been told by Amphiaraos not to accept gifts from Polyneices, he gave her the necklace and asked her to persuade Amphiaraos to join the expedition. This lay within her power, because earlier, when [a conflict had] arisen between Amphiaraos and Adrastos,
*
Amphiaraos had sworn at its conclusion that if he had any future disagreements with Adrastos, he would allow Eriphyle to decide
*
between them. So now, when there was to be a campaign against Thebes and it was supported by Adrastos but opposed by Amphiaraos, Eriphyle, on receiving the necklace, persuaded her husband to march with Adrastos. Joining the expedition under compulsion, Amphiaraos left orders for his sons telling them to kill their mother when they came of age and mount a campaign against Thebes.

³
When he had assembled [an army] under seven leaders,
*
Adrastos hastened to war against Thebes. The leaders were the following: Adrastos, son of Talaos; Amphiaraos, son of Oicles; Capaneus, son of Hipponoos; Hippomedon, son of Aristo-machos or according to some, of Talaos; all of these came from Argos, but Polyneices, son of Oedipus, came from Thebes, while Tydeus, son of Oineus, was an Aetolian, and Parthenopaios, son of Melanion, an Arcadian. In some sources, however, Tydeus and Polyneices are not counted amongst the seven, and Eteoclos, son of Iphis, and Mecisteus are listed instead.

⁴
When they arrived at Nemea, which was then under the rule of Lycourgos,
*
they went in search of water; and Hypsipyle showed them the way to a spring, leaving behind a young child, Opheltes. This was a son of Eurydice and Lycourgos who was being reared by Hypsipyle; for when the Lemnian women had discovered that [her father] Thoas had been spared,
*
they had killed him and sold Hypsipyle abroad, and for that reason she was serving with Lycourgos as a purchased
slave. As she was pointing the way to the spring, the child who had been left behind was killed by a snake; and when Adrastos and his companions reappeared, they killed the snake and buried the child. Amphiaraos told them that this was a sign foretelling what would happen in the future: so they named the child
Archemoros
*
And in his honour, they founded the Isthmian Games. The horse race was won by Adrastos, the foot-race by Eteoclos, the boxing by Tydeus, the jumping and discus-throwing by Amphiaraos, the javelin-throwing by Laodocos, the wrestling by Polyneices, and the archery by Parthenopaios.

⁵
On their arrival at Cithairon, they sent Tydeus ahead to give notice to Eteocles that he should surrender the kingdom to Polyneices in accordance with their agreement. When Eteocles paid no attention, Tydeus, wanting to test out the Thebans, challenged them to single combat and was victorious every time. The Thebans for their part armed fifty men and set an ambush for him on his departure; but he killed all of them, except for Maion, and made his way back to the camp.
*

⁶
The Argives took up their arms and advanced towards the walls.
*
There were seven gates,
*
and Adrastos stationed himself in front of the Homoloidian Gate, Capaneus in front of the Ogygian, Amphiaraos in front of the Proitidian, Hippomedon in front of the Oncaidian, Polyneices in front of the Hypsistan, Parthenopaios in front of the Electran, and Tydeus in front of the Crenidian. Eteocles, on his side, armed the Thebans and appointed an equivalent number of leaders, stationing each of them opposite his counterpart. And he consulted the diviners to discover how they could prevail over the enemy.

7 Now there lived amongst the Thebans a diviner, Teiresias, son of Everes and the nymph Chariclo. He was a descendant of Oudaios, one of the Spartoi, and had lost the use of his eyes; on how he came to be blind and gained his prophetic powers, conflicting stories are told. Some say that he was blinded by the gods because he divulged to the human race what they
wanted to keep concealed. Or according to Pherecydes, he was blinded by Athene; for Athene and Chariclo were close friends [and it came about that he] saw the goddess completely naked,
*
and she covered his eyes with her hands, depriving him of his sight. When Chariclo begged her to restore the use of his eyes, she lacked the power to do so, but purified his ears instead, giving him a complete understanding of the language of birds.
*
She also gave him a cornel-wood staff, thus enabling him, while he carried it, to walk like those who can see. Hesiod says,
*
however, that he caught sight of some snakes coupling near Mount Cyllene, and when he injured the snakes, he was changed from a man to a woman; but when he saw the same snakes coupling on a further occasion, he became a man again. And for this reason, when Zeus and Hera were having an argument as to whether men or women gain more pleasure from love-making, they consulted Teiresias. He said that judging the act of love on a scale of ten, men get one part of the pleasure and women nine parts.
*
On that account, Hera turned him blind, but Zeus granted him the gift of prophecy;† and he lived to a considerable age.
*

So when the Thebans consulted him, Teiresias told them that they would be victorious if Menoiceus, the son of Creon, offered himself as a sacrifice to Ares.
*
On hearing this prophecy, Menoiceus, son of Creon, slaughtered himself in front of the gates. In the ensuing battle, the Cadmeians were chased back to their walls, and Capaneus seized a ladder and was using it to climb the wall when Zeus struck him down
*
with a thunderbolt.
⁸
When this took place, the Argives turned and fled. Because so many had died, Eteocles and Polyneices, in accordance with the decision of both armies, fought for the throne in single combat and killed one another. Fierce fighting broke out once again, and the sons of Astacos performed deeds of valour, Ismaros killing Hippomedon, Leades killing Eteoclos, and Amphidicos killing Parthenopaios (though according to Euripides, Parthenopaios was killed by Periclymenos, son of Poseidon). And Melanippos, the last of the sons of Astacos,
wounded Tydeus in the stomach. As he lay half dead, Athene asked Zeus for a remedy and brought it along, with the intention of applying it to make him immortal. But Amphiaraos realized what she intended, and in his hatred against Tydeus for persuading the Argives to march against Thebes in opposition to his own judgement, he cut off the head of Melanippos (for Tydeus, although wounded, had killed Melanippos
*
) and gave it to Tydeus, who split it open and gulped down the brains. At the sight of this, Athene was so revolted that she withheld her intended favour and refused to grant it. Amphiaraos fled beside the River Ismenos, and before Periclymenos could wound him in the back, Zeus hurled a thunderbolt to open a chasm in the earth. And Amphiaraos was swallowed up in it, together with his chariot and his charioteer Baton (or according to some, Elaton); and Zeus made him immortal.
*
Adrastos, the sole survivor, was saved by his horse Areion (which Demeter had borne to Poseidon after having intercourse with him in the likeness of a Fury
*
).

¹
Creon, who then succeeded to the Theban throne,
*
caused

7

the bodies of the Argive dead to be thrown out unburied, issued a proclamation that nobody should bury them, and posted guards. But Antigone, one of the daughters of Oedipus, stole the body of Polyneices and gave it a secret burial; and when she was caught in the act, she was buried alive in the grave by Creon himself.

Adrastos made his way to Athens, where he sought refuge at the altar of Pity, and placing a suppliant’s bough
*
on the altar, he asked to be allowed to bury his dead. The Athenians marched against Thebes with Theseus, captured the city,
*
and gave the dead to their relatives for burial. As the pyre of Capaneus was blazing, his wife Evadne, daughter of Iphis, threw herself on to it and was burned with her husband.

²
Ten years later, the sons of the fallen, who were called the Epigoni,
*
decided to mount an expedition against Thebes because they wanted to avenge the death of their fathers. When they consulted the oracle, the god foretold victory if Alcmaion
was their leader. Although Alcmaion had no desire to lead the expedition before he had punished his mother, he went to war none the less; for Eriphyle, on receiving the robe [of Harmonia] from Polyneices’ son Thersandros, persuaded her sons also to take part
*
in the expedition. So taking Alcmaion as their leader, the Epigoni went to war against Thebes. Those who took part in the expedition were the following: Alcmaion and Amphilochos, sons of Amphiaraos; Aigialeus, son of Adrastos; Diomedes, son of Tydeus; Promachos, son of Parthenopaios; Sthenelos, son of Capaneus; Thersandros, son of Polyneices; and Euryalos, son of Mecisteus.