Polyphontes

Polyphontes, son of Autophonus, was a Theban warrior who, according to Homer, helped lead the ambush set against the hero Tydeus during the war of the Seven Against Thebes. He fought for Thebes against the Argive attackers, not on the side of Polynices.

The Ambush on Tydeus

Before the attack on Thebes, the Argive army sent Tydeus ahead as envoy. In the Iliad, Agamemnon recalls how Tydeus found the Cadmeians feasting in the house of Eteocles. Though he was a stranger and alone, he challenged them to contests of strength and beat them in every one. The angry Thebans then set a strong ambush for him on his way back: fifty young men, led by two captains, Maeon, son of Haemon, and Polyphontes, son of Autophonus, described as steadfast in battle (Iliad 4.376–398).

Tydeus killed all of them and let only Maeon return home, in obedience to the portents of the gods. Apollodorus tells the same story without naming the leaders: Tydeus had challenged the Thebans to single combat and won every bout, so they set fifty armed men to lie in wait for him as he left, and he slew them all but Maeon (3.6.5).

Polyphontes in Aeschylus

A Theban named Polyphontes also appears in Aeschylus’ tragedy Seven Against Thebes. When the scout reports that the boastful Capaneus is stationed at the Electran gate, threatening to burn the city with or without the gods’ consent, Eteocles answers that “mighty Polyphontes”, a man of fiery spirit, has been posted against him as a dependable guard, with the good will of Artemis and the other gods (Seven Against Thebes 423–451). Here too he is a defender of Thebes, fighting against the Argives.

Other Men Named Polyphontes

• The herald of Laius. When Oedipus met Laius on the narrow road in Phocis, this Polyphontes ordered him to make way and killed one of his horses when he disobeyed and delayed; Oedipus in a rage killed both the herald and Laius (Apollodorus 3.5.7). The story is told on the pages of Oedipus and Laius.
• A king of Messenia. After Cresphontes and two of his sons were murdered, Polyphontes, one of the Heraclids, took the throne and married Cresphontes’ widow Merope against her will. Her third son Aepytus, whom she had sent away to be raised by her father, came back and killed him, and recovered the kingdom (Apollodorus 2.8.5).

See Also: Seven Against Thebes, Tydeus, Polynices, Eteocles, Oedipus, Laius