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Aeschylus · c. 525-456 BC

Seven against Thebes

Ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ Θήβας
Ancient Sources / Aeschylus / Seven against Thebes

Read our guide to Seven against Thebes

Seven against Thebes was staged in 467 BC as the last play of a trilogy about the house of Laius. Argive champions, led by the exiled Polyneices, attack the seven gates of Thebes, and King Eteocles, the son of Oedipus, must choose the defenders and, in the end, face his own brother. The sections follow the play's own units (prologue, parodos, episodes, choral songs and exodos) and keep the standard line numbers of the Greek text.

Read from the start
Text
Greek original with English translation, 12 passages, about 9000 words in English.
Translator
Herbert Weir Smyth (modernised by Perseus) (1922)
Edition
Greek text: Herbert Weir Smyth (ed. and trans.), Aeschylus, Loeb Classical Library, London: William Heinemann, 1922, as digitised by Perseus. English: Herbert Weir Smyth, Aeschylus, Loeb Classical Library, London: William Heinemann, 1922 (Perseus's modernised version of Smyth's prose translation)
Cite as
Aeschylus, Seven against Thebes 1 (by line number)

Contents · 12 passages

  1. 1–77Prologue: Eteocles and the Scout742 words
  2. 78–180Parodos: the Theban women in terror641 words
  3. 181–287First episode: Eteocles rebukes the women1032 words
  4. 288–368First stasimon: the Chorus fear the capture of Thebes494 words
  5. 369–456Second episode: Tydeus and Capaneus at the first two gates832 words
  6. 457–562Second episode: Eteoclus, Hippomedon and Parthenopaeus at the next three gates1022 words
  7. 563–652Second episode: Amphiaraus and Polyneices at the last two gates820 words
  8. 653–719Third episode: Eteocles decides to fight his brother689 words
  9. 720–791Third stasimon: the curse on the house of Laius463 words
  10. 792–874Fourth episode: the Messenger announces the deaths675 words
  11. 875–1010Exodos: the lament for the two brothers880 words
  12. 1011–1084Exodos: the Herald's decree and Antigone's defiance752 words

More by Aeschylus

English translation by Herbert Weir Smyth (modernised by Perseus) (1922). Original text: Greek text: Herbert Weir Smyth (ed. and trans.), Aeschylus, Loeb Classical Library, London: William Heinemann, 1922, as digitised by Perseus. English: Herbert Weir Smyth, Aeschylus, Loeb Classical Library, London: William Heinemann, 1922 (Perseus's modernised version of Smyth's prose translation).

Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library); translation public domain. Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.