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The Kings of Thebes
The Spartoi
Theban Geneology
The Origins of the Boeotian Line
Agenor, the son of Poseidon and Libya, was a ruler in the region that became Phoenicia. He was the father of at least three children, Cadmus, Europa, and Phoenix. Phoenix gave his name to the region ruled by Agenor, and has no other special myths.
The Cretan Connection
Zeus raped Europa in the form of a bull and carried her off to Crete. There, she bore to him three sons, Minos, Rhadamathys, and Sarpedon. Minos became the king of Knossos, in Crete, and had a number of myths associated with him. Rhadamanthys was a favorite of his father, Zeus, and became a judge in the underworld. Sarpedon earned the disfavor of the gods for some action of his, and did not receive the same honor as his brothers.
The Founding of Thebes
Agenor sent his son, Cadmus, and his wife, Telephassa, in search of Europa. When Telephassa died in the search, Cadmus went to the Delphic oracle to ask advice. He was told to forget about Europa, and follow a cow with a moon-shaped mark on its flank until in lay down, and there to found a city. Cadmus and his followers found such an animal among the herds of kind Pelagon of Phocis, and followed it into the land known as Boeotia. There, he founded the city of Cadmeia on the future sight of Thebes.
Cadmus Offends Ares, and the Sown Men
Cadmus decided to pay tribute to the gods for their guidance. To get water for the ritual sacrifice of the cow they had followed, he sent his men to a nearby stream. At a spring nearby, they were all killed by a serpent. Cadmus angrily killed the serpent, which was sacred to Ares, earning him the enmity of the god. On the advice of Athena, he Sewed the beast’s teeth like seeds. Soldiers grew from the teeth, and Cadmus set them to fighting by tossing a rock among them. Five of these men survived the battle, and came to be known as the Spartoi(“sown men”). The Spartoi were the ancestors of the noble families of Thebes.
Cadmus Appeases Ares
Cadmus served a great yearr to Ares for killing the serpent. When his servitude was through, Cadmus earned the favor of the god, and Zeus gave him Ares’s daughter, Harmonia, for his bride. Their wedding was attended by the gods, and Hephaestus made a magnificent necklace for Cadmus to give Harmonia. He also gave her a beautiful wedding gown. These items brought curses and misery to all others who held them down through the generations.
The Death of Cadmus and Harmonia
The myths concerning the deaths of Cadmus and Harmonia are confused. In one story, they were transformed into snakes in the land of the Enchileis. In other stories, they are transported to the Elysian Fields, and live their as immortals.
Pentheus Angers Dionysus
Pentheus, the second king of Cadmeia, was the son of Cadmus. When he refused to worship Dionysus, the god drove his mother and aunts into a frenzy, and they mistook Pentheus for a wild animal and tore him to poeces.
The House of Labdacus
Labdacus, the third king of Thebes, has an obscure and confused legend. It appears that at this point, there has been a blending of alternate stories. Labdacus is reported as the son of an obscure son of Cadmus, by the name of Polydorus, and Nysteis, the granddaughter of Chthonius, one of the Spartoi. Nycteus, the father of Nycteis, may have served a short term as regent for Labdacus, who came to power as a young man. When Nycteus died for grief for his daughter, Antiope, Lycus took over the duties as regent. Stories of Labdacus’s death are varried. At any rate, his death was probably not natural. His son Laius came to power as a young man, and Lycus, again, served as regent.
Lycus Usurps the Throne
At some point, Lycus officially usurped the throne of young Laius. Laius saved himself by fleeing to Pisa, where he was protected by king Pelops. When Lycus learned that Antiope, the daughter of Nycteus, was seduced by Zeus and fled to Sicyon, where king Epopeus sheltered her, Lycus attacked Sicyon and retrieved the girl. Apparently, she gave birth to her twin sons, Amphion and Zethus, before she was carried back to Thebes. There, Lycus forced her into slavery, and she was mistreated cruelly by his wife Dirce.
Laius is Avenged
Upon reaching adulthood, Amphion and Zethus came to Thebes. When they witnessed the mistreatment of their mother, the twins killed both Lycus and Dirce, tying the queen to the horns of a bull. Her blood formed a spring in the center of Cadmeia.
The City Renamed
Amphion and Zethus shared the throne of Cadmeia. Amphion built the walls around the city by charming the rocks into place with his flute. The city was renamed for Zethus’s wife, Thebe. Both brothers came to a tragic end. Amphion’s wife Niobe turned into a weeping rock after she was punished for angering the goddess, Leto. She had bragged that Lthe goddess deserved no more honer than she, as she had 14 children. While Leto only had two. Upun hearing these words, the goddess sent Apollo and Artemis donwn to kill the children. Amphion either killed himself in grief, or was killed by Apollo when he tried to exact revenge on the god. Zethus also died in grief when Thebe accidentally caused the death of their young son.
The Return of Laius
When Amphion and Zethus died, Laius returned from exile. He had apparently fallen in love with Chrysippus, the son of Pelops, and kidnapped the boy. Pelops, after securing the boys return by force, cursed Laius. In Thebes, Laius took Jocasta as his bride, but after years, they had no children. Concerned about not having an heir, Laius visited The Delphic oracle. He was met with a horrifying prophecy. The oracle explained that he would have a son, but that that son would kill him.
The Birth of Oedipus
When his son was born, Laius, mindful of the prophecy, ordered him to be exposed on Mt Cithaeron. Because of the spikes driven through his ankles, the boy received the name of Oedipus(swollen foot). However, the shepherd who had been ordered to expose the boy took pity on him. Instead, he gave the boy to a shepherd of the flock of king Polybus of Corinth. For the Corinthians also tended sheep on the mountain. In turn, the shepherd took the boy to the king. So Oedipus grew up in Corinth, thinking that his parents were Polybus, and his wife, Merope.
Oedipus Seeks Advice from Delphi
One day, after Oedipus had come of age, he was attending a feast in Corinth. There, a drunken subject defamed him, saying he was no true son of Polybus. Distraught, Oedipus went to Delphi to inquire about the situation. The only advice the oracle gave him was to avoid his homeland. Still thinking he was a Corinthian, Oedipus was choosing a path towards Boeotia at the crossroads leading away from Mount Parnassus, when he met a stranger on the road.
Oedippus Kills Laius
Meanwhile, in Thebes, a plague had ravaged the land, and a terrible monster, the Sphinx, wreeked havoc on the people. This winged beast, with a woman’s head and a lioness’s body, asked passersby to answer a riddle. Those who could not answer were killed. Rumors spread that if anyone could answer the riddle, then she would go away. Laius had set out for Delphi to seek advice on how to cure these woes when he met Oedipus at the crossroads. The two, of course, did not know each other, and fell into a dispute over who had the right of way. Laius tried to hit Oedipus with an ox-goad, and the dodging Oedipus responded with a lethal blow.
Oedipus Solves the Riddle of the Sphinx
News spread fast to Thebes of the death of Laius, but not of his murderer. By the time Oedipus arrived, Creon, who was brother of the widowed queen, Jocasta, was offering her hand and the throne to anyone who could solve the Sphinx’s riddle. When Oedipus met the Sphinx on the road, she asked him what animal went on four, three, and two feet during its lifetime. He correctly answered, recalling that man crawls in youth, walks upright in adulthood, and uses a cane in old age. Hearing Oedipus’s correct answer, the Sphinx lept to her death.
Oedipus Marries his Own Mother
True to his word, Creon gave Jocasta in marriage to Oedipus. He took over the throne of Thebes, and ruled happily for a long time. Fathering four children by Jocasta. They were Polynices, Eteocles, Antigone, and Ismene. The gods, however, detested the unholy marriage of mother and son, and sent a plague on Thebes. Much time was spent trying to find the impurity among the state so that the plague could be ended. The seer, Tiresias, begged Oedipus to abandon the search for the impurity, trying to keep the secret hidden.
The Secret Revealed
Sophocles tells the tragic tale of how the secret was revealed. King Polybus, old and dying, sent a messenger to Thebes, asking Oedipus to come to take the throne there. Oedipus refused, recalling the words of the priestess of Delphi. As it turned out, this messenger knew of Oedipus’s origins from Mount Cithaeron, and recalled the tale of how he came to Corinth. Quickly, the truth is deduced. In shame at the atrocity, Jocasta killed herself. Oedipus blinded himself with the broach of his mother.
The Fate of Oedipus
The stories of the fate of Oedipus are diverse. This is largely a result of the interplay of various local myths about him. The Athenians believed that he was chased from Thebes by Creon, and came with his daughters, Antigone and Ismene, to Colonus, in Attica. There, he made plans to die, leaving his bones there as a portent of good luck. Hearing of this, Creon came to reclaim him. Theseus came to Oedipus’s rescue, putting Creon’s forces to flight, and witnessing a mystical scene whereby Oedipus was swept away by the gods. He was worshipped near Colonus as Zeus Chthonius, or Zeus of the earth, and treated with heroic status.
A story that more readily blends with the works of Aeschylus was also told. In this version, Oedipus locked himSelf up in the palace at Thebes. One night at supper, his sons gave him an unworthy portion of meat. In anger, he cursed the boys that they might kill each other in a fight for the throne.
Sharing the Throne
Polynices and Eteocles sought a way to share the throne of Thebes, and avoid their father’s curse. They decided to alternate years of rule. Eteocles took the first year, and Polynices was exiled to Argos during that time. Other legends say he was exiled there when Eteocles determined not to hand over the crown. In Argos, Polynices befriended the king, Adrastus, as well as another exile, Tydeus. Adrastus recognized the two as fulfilling a prophecy he had once been given, and, accordingly, gave each a daughter of his in mariage. He also promised to restore each to the land which exiled them.
The Seven Against Thebes
The full story of the adventures of the Seven Against Thebes is told by Aeschlus in a tragedy by that name. Many of the details are not particularly important to the saga, and will be omitted. There were seven gates in the wall around the city, so Adrastus endeavored to enlist the aid of seven strong leaders, one to attack each gate. The members of the party are generallsy reported as follows. Adrastus himself attacked one gate. He was the only one of the party who would survive the raid.
Polynices also led a group, according to his father’s curse, he was destined to die in single combat with his brother, Eteocles. Capaneus, another strong fighter left his wife Evadne, behind, and joined the mnission. Two members of the expedition about which little is known were Hippomedon and Parthenopaus. A strong warrior among the party, Tydeus joined the expedition with the understanding that after success, he would also be restored to his homeland. With one position left open, the Argives desperately tried to convince the seer, Amphiarus, to join. He refused, knowing that he would surely not come home. Polynices resorted to bedroom diplomacy, bribing Amphiarus’s wife, Eriphyle, with the necklace of Harmonia. She convinced Amphiarus to take part, but could not conceal the trickery from the seer. He secretly told his sons, Alcmeon and Amphilochus, to avenge his death both on Thebes and on Eriphyle in due time.
The Death of Opheltes
On their way to Thebes, the seven came to the land of Nemea. There, they met Hypsipyle, and asked her to show them to a place where they might find fresh water. She laid the infant, Opheltes, the son of the local king, whom she served as nurse, and lead the group to a spring. When they returned, they discovered that the boy had been killed by a snake. They quickly killed the snake, and then prepared to celebrate games in honor of the dead boy. Amphiarus bestowed uopn the boy a new name, Archemorus (“the beginner of death”). The Nemean games celebrated by the Greeks began in this way.
Prelude to Battle
When the group had reached the edge of Boeotia, they sent Tydeus to Thebes to make one last plea for a peaceful resolution to this conflict. He arrived in time to participate in a series of athletic games, in which he beat and humiliated the Thebans, winning all events. After Eteocles made it clear that he would not give up the throne, Tydeus left the city. Fifty Thebans were sent to kill Tydeus, and avenge their embarrasment in the games. Tydeus, however, killed all but one of his attackers, leaving a survivor to recount the tale.
The Self-Sacrifice of Menoeceus
When the Thebans learned of the strength of Tydeus, the situation seemed quite dire. The seer, Tiresias, was consulted to see how Thebes could be saved. He prophesied that, in Order for Thebes to withstand the coming attack, a decendant of the Spartoi must be sacrificed. Menoeceus, the son of Creon, and descendant of Echion, stood atop the walls of Thebes, and, stabbing himself, fell to his death.
The Battles at the Gates
When the seven arrived at Thebes, each leader besieged a gate to the city. Except for Adrastus, who escaped on the divine horse, Arion, all were killed. The only one to make any headway was the boastful Capeneus, who scaled the walls and cried that not even the gods could stop him from taking the city. Zeus responded swiftly with a thunderbolt, and Capeneus fell to his death. Amphiaraus made a safe flight, but was swallowed up by the earth. Eteocles and Polyneices run each other through with their swords. Tydeus was mortally wounded by Melanippus, but was still able to kill him. Athena had chosen Tydeus as a favorite, and would have made him imortal, had he not offended her. Dying, he decapotated the corpse of Melanippus, and ate his brains as a final gesture of hostility. The goddess withdrew her favor after that.
The Bodies of the Dead
As the king of Thebes, Eteocles, had been killed, Creon was called oupon to act as regernt for Eteocles’s young son, Laodamas. He issued an order that the bodies of the Argive dead should not be given proper burial. This act had dire consequences for the souls of the dead, according to Greek customs. Antigone took pity on her brother, Polynices, and gave him a symbolic burial, placing three handfuls of dirt over his corpse. Against the advice of Tiresias, Creon ordered the girl to be buried alive. In sorrow for her state, she hanged herself in her tomb. When Haemon, the son of Creon and fiance of Antigone, who had come to save her, saw that she was dead, he killed himself as well. Creon’s wife, Eurydice, also Killed herSelf in grief after hearing the news.
There are a number of versions of the events which transpired next. Adrastus fled to Eleusis, where, either through his pleas, or through some agression of Creon, Thesseus, king of Athens, got involved in the conflict. At any rate, Creon was forced to give the Argive dead a proper burial. The body of Capeneus was brought to Athens where it was placed on a pyre in a funeral procession. It was there that his wife, Evadne, leapt to her death on the flaming pyre.
The Epigoni
Ten years later, the young Laodamas had come to power in Thebes. Thersander bribed Eruphyle, this time with the wedding gown of Harmonia, to convince Alcmaeon to lead another expedition on Thebes. The group was known as the Epigoni, which in Greek, means “the successors”. These included sons of the seven men who had attacked the city. Amphillochus, the brother of Alcmaeon, joined the quest. Thersander, son of Polynices, joined in the hopes of regaining the throne of Thebes. Diomedes, the son of Tydeus, also joined. Aegialeus, son of Adrastus, joined also. Other members were Euryalus, son of Mecisteus, Promachus, son of Parthenopaeus, and Sthenelus, son of Capeneus.
When these men drew near the city, Tiresias advised that the Thebans leave, because they were sure to lose the conflict. They set off for Gilsas, in the land of the Encheleis. Along the way, Tiresias, who had lived for seven generations, died while drinking from the spring of Tilphusa.
When the Epigoni reached Thebes, they placed Thersander on the throne of a considerably weakened city. The only of them to die was Aegialeus, son of Adrastus. After his son’s death, Adrastus died of sorrow, and Diomedes served as regent for his other son, Cyanippus, and led the Argive fighting force to Troy. Diomedes has his own legends concerning his participation at Troy, his voyage home, and subsequent colonization in Italy.
This is the end of the major mythological significance of Thebes. The city was listed only briefly in Hoomer’s catalog of ships, where Thersander was reported as bringing a small group to fight at Troy.
The Fate of Alcmaeon
After the attack on Thebes, Alcmauon and Amphillochus avenged the death of their father, killing Eriphyle. Alcmaeon was pursued by the Furies, and driven to madness. He first went to Delphi, to seek advice on how to free himself from the Furies. He was told to go to a land that the sun had not shown upon when he had killed his mother. While at Delphi, Alcmaeon met Manto, the daughter of Tiresias. By her, he was the father of two children. These children were left in the custody of king Creon of Corinth, who mistreated them.
Alcmaeon temporarily escaped the Furies’ wrath, hiding in Arcadia. There, he married Phegeus's daughter, Arsinoe, giving the girl the necklace and robe of Harmonia which he had taken from his mother. However, this union did not last long, as the wrath of the Furies soon caught up with Alcmaeon.
Recalling the words of the Delphic Oracle, he fled to western Greece, and founded a settlement near the mouth of the Alpheus River, where the silt deposits had made new land since his mother’s death. There, the river god purified him. He also received Callirhoe, daughter of Alpheus, for his wife. She was the mother of Alcmaeon’s most famous two sons Amphoterus and Acarnan.
In time, Alcmaeon thought of the necklace and robe of Harmonia. He decided that he should have them for his new wife, Callirhoe, an, so, he set out to Phocis. When he tried to get the items under some false pretenses, he was killed by the brothers of Arsinoe. Callirhoe prayed to Zeus, who loved her, that her sons might grow up overnight, and avenge Alcmaeon. This was granted, and Alcmaeon was avenged. As for the posessions of Harmonia, they were dedicated to Apollo at Delphi, but later stlen, only to bring misery to the perpetrators.