Epigoni

Information about Epigoni

This is an article about the Greek myth. For the epic on the subject, see Epigoni (epic). For the play by Sophocles, see The Progeny. For the successors of Alexander the Great (also called Epigoni) see Diadochi

In Greek mythology, and particularly the Greek Thebaid, the Epigoni (Greek Ἐπίγονοι, meaning "offspring") are the sons of the Argive heroes who had fought and died in the first Theban war. Ten years after the First Theban War, the Epigoni set out to avenge the deaths of their fathers.

A quarrel between Polynices and Eteocles, sons of Oedipus, culminated in an attempt on Thebes, led by Polynices and six allies: the Seven Against Thebes. This failed effort precipitated the Second Theban War, also called the War of the Epigoni, ten years later.

According to Apollodorus,1 they were: To this list, Pausanias2 also adds:

The war

Both Apollodorus and Pausanias tell the story of the war of the Epigoni, although their accounts differ in several respects. According to Apollodorus, the Delphic oracle had promised victory if Alcmaeon was chosen their leader, and so he was.3 Aegialeus was killed by Laodamas, son of Eteocles, but Alcmaeon killed Laodamas.4 The Thebans were defeated and, by the counsel of the seer Teiresias, fled their city. However, Pausanias says that Thersander was their leader,5 that Laodamas fled Thebes with the rest of the Thebans,6 and that Thersander became king of Thebes.7

As a poetic theme

Epigoni (in Greek, Επίγονοι; "The Progeny") is the title of an early Greek epic on this subject;8 it formed a sequel to the Thebaid and therefore was grouped by Alexandrian critics in the Theban cycle. Some counted it not as a separate poem but as the last part of the Thebaid. Only the first line is now known:

Now, Muses, let us begin to sing of younger men ...


Epigoni (Epigonoi or "The Progeny") is also the title of a lost Greek tragedy by Sophocles. A few lines from this text have long been known because they were quoted in commentaries and lexica by ancient scholars. An additional fragment of several lines was discovered in 2005.

In art

There were statues of the Epigoni at Argos9 and Delphi.10

References

  • Apollodorus, The Library, (Loeb Classical Library, No. 121, Books I-III), English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, Harvard University Press (1921), ISBN 0-674-99135-4 .
  • Herodotus, The Histories, (Loeb Classical Library, No. 118, Books III-IV), English Translation by A. D. Godley, Harvard University Press (1920), ISBN 0-674-99131-1 .
  • Pausanias, Description of Greece, (Loeb Classical Library, Arcadia, Boeotia, Phocis and Ozolian Locri; Books VIII-X), English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., Harvard University Press (1918), ISBN 0-674-99328-4 .
  • Greek Epic Fragments ed. and tr. Martin L. West. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press) 2003.

Notes

1 Apollodorus 3.7.2 
2 Pausanias 2.20.5 
3 Apollodorus 3.7.2 
4 Apollodorus 3.7.3 
5 Pausanias 7.3.1 , 9.9.4 
6 Pausanias 9.5.13 , 9.9.5 
7 Pausanias 9.5.14 
8 Herodotus 4.32.1 
9 Pausanias 2.20.5 
10 Pausanias 10.10.4 
Epigoni (Greek: Επίγονοι, Epigonoi "The Progeny") was an early Greek epic, a sequel to the Thebaid and therefore grouped in the Theban cycle.
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The Progeny (Epigonoi) is an ancient Greek tragedy written by the Greek playwright Sophocles in the 5th century BC and based on Greek mythology.

According to myth, Polynices and six allies (the Seven Against Thebes) attacked Thebes because Polynices' brother,
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Diadochi, the plural of Diadochus, is the common Latin form of the Greek Διάδοχοι, transcripted Diadokhoi, which in general means "successors", such that the neoplatonic refounders of Plato's Academy in Late Antiquity
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Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the Ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices.
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The Thebaid (Greek: Θηβαΐδα) is an Ancient Greek epic poem of uncertain authorship (see Cyclic poets) sometimes attributed by early writers to Homer.
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Polynices (or Polyneices) [Greek: "Πολυνείκης" "manifold strife") was the son of Oedipus and Jocasta. His wife was Argea.
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Eteocles Ἐτεοκλῆς was a king of Thebes, the son of Oedipus and either Jocasta or Euryganeia.
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Oedipus (Οἰδίπους - Oidĭpous [pronounce[1]], meaning "swollen-footed") was a mythical Greek king of Thebes.
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Seven against Thebes

The Oath of the Seven Chiefs by Alfred Church
Written by Aeschylus
Chorus Theban Women
Characters Eteocles
Spy
Antigone
Ismene
Herald

Setting Citadel of Thebes

The Seven against Thebes
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Apollodorus of Athens (born ca. 180 BC, died after 120 BC) son of Asclepiades, was a Greek scholar and grammarian. He was a pupil of Diogenes of Babylon, Panaetius the Stoic, and the grammarian Aristarchus of Samothrace.
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In Greek mythology, Aegialeus (also Aegealeus, Egialeus) is the name of several mythological figures
  • Aegialeus was the elder son of Adrastus, a king of Argos, and either Amphithea or Demonassa.

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Adrastus (also Adrestos or Adrastos, "he who stands his ground") was a legendary king of Argos during the war of the Seven Against Thebes.

Mythological tradition

He was a son of Talaus and Lysimache.
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In Greek mythology, Alcmaeon, or Alkmáon, was the son of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle. As one of the Epigoni, he was a leader of the Argives who attacked Thebes, taking the city in retaliation for the deaths of their fathers, the Seven Against Thebes, who died while attempting
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In Greek mythology, Amphiaraus, or Amphiaraos ("doubly-cursed") was the son of Oecles and Hypermnestra, and husband of Eriphyle. Amphiaraus was the King of Argos along with Adrastus, brother of Eriphyle, and Iphis. Amphiaraus was a seer, and greatly honored in his time.
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In Greek mythology, Amphilochus, or Amphílokhos, is the name of three men.

1. Amphilochus was the younger son of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle and the brother of Alcmaeon.
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Diomēdēs or Diomed (Gk:Διομήδης - "God-like cunning" or "advised by Zeus") is a hero in Greek mythology, mostly known for his participation in the Trojan War.
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Tydeus was the father of Diomedes and husband of Deipyle. He was a son of Oeneus and either Periboea, Oeneus's second wife, or Gorge, Oeneus's daughter. He was one of the Seven Against Thebes; during the battle to take the city, he was killed by Melanippus (?).
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Euryalus refers to two different people.
  1. In the Aeneid, Euryalus and Nisus, his pederastic lover, http://www.infopt.demon.co.uk/pastor07.htm were considered ideal friends. They both died during a raid on the Rutulians.

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In Greek mythology, Mecisteus was the son of Talaus and and Lysimache. He participated in the attack on the city of Thebes with the Seven Against Thebes, along with his brother Adrastus.
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In Greek mythology, Promachus ("who leads in battle") referred to several different people.
  1. Son of Aeson and Alcimede, killed by Pelias along with his father while his brother, Jason, searched for the Golden Fleece.

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In Greek mythology, Parthenopeus ("son of a pierced maidenhead", also Parthenopaeus) was one of the Seven Against Thebes and the son of Atalanta and Hippomenes, Melanion, Meleager, or Ares, or perhaps the son of Talaus. Promachus was his son.
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In Greek mythology, Sthenelus refers to four different people.
  • Son of Perseus and Andromeda.
  • Son of Capaneus and Evadne. In the Iliad, he boasts that along with the other Epigoni he captured the city of Thebes, although they had fewer men than their fathers, the Seven

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In Greek mythology, Capaneus was a son of Hipponous and Astynome, and husband of Evadne, with whom he fathered Sthenelus.

According to the legend, Capaneus had immense strength and body size and was an outstanding warrior. He was also notorious for his arrogance.
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In Homer's Iliad, Thersander was one of the Epigoni, who attacked the city of Thebes in retaliation for the deaths of their fathers, the Seven Against Thebes, who had attempted the same thing. He was the son of Polynices and Argeia.
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Polynices (or Polyneices) [Greek: "Πολυνείκης" "manifold strife") was the son of Oedipus and Jocasta. His wife was Argea.
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In Greek mythology, Polydorus referred to several different people.
  1. An Argive, son of Hippomedon. Pausanias lists him as one of the Epigoni, who attacked Thebes in retaliation for the deaths of their fathers, the Seven Against Thebes, who died attempting the same thing.

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In Greek mythology, Hippomedon was one of the Seven Against Thebes and father of Polydorus. His father was either Talaus, the father of Adrastus, or Aristomachus, his brother, and his mother may have been Metidice, Adrastus' sister.
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State Party  Greece
Type Cultural
Criteria i, ii, iii, iv, vi
Reference 393
Region Europe and North America

Inscription History
Inscription 1987  (11th Session)
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