ἡμεῖς δὲ περὶ τούτων ἀρκούντως εἰρηκότες τὰ περὶ τῶν ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ Θήβας ἱστορήσομεν, ἀναλαβόντες τὰς ἐξ ἀρχῆς αἰτίας τοῦ πολέμου. Λάιος ὁ Θηβῶν βασιλεὺς γήμας Ἰοκάστην τὴν Κρέοντος, καὶ χρόνον ἱκανὸν ἄπαις ὤν, ἐπηρώτησε τὸν θεὸν περὶ τέκνων γενέσεως. τῆς δὲ Πυθίας δούσης χρησμὸν αὐτῷ μὴ συμφέρειν γενέσθαι τέκνα ʽτὸν γὰρ ἐξ αὐτοῦ τεκνωθέντα παῖδα πατροκτόνον ἔσεσθαι καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκίαν πληρώσειν μεγάλων ἀτυχημάτωνʼ, ἐπιλαθόμενος τοῦ χρησμοῦ καὶ γεννήσας υἱόν, ἐξέθηκε τὸ βρέφος διαπερονήσας αὐτοῦ τὰ σφυρὰ σιδήρῳ·
διʼ ἣν αἰτίαν Οἰδίπους ὕστερον ὠνομάσθη. οἱ δʼ οἰκέται λαβόντες τὸ παιδίον ἐκθεῖναι μὲν οὐκ ἠθέλησαν, ἐδωρήσαντο δὲ τῇ Πολύβου γυναικί, οὐ δυναμένῃ γεννῆσαι παῖδας. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἀνδρωθέντος τοῦ παιδός, ὁ μὲν Λάιος ἔκρινεν ἐπερωτῆσαι τὸν θεὸν περὶ τοῦ βρέφους τοῦ ἐκτεθέντος, ὁ δὲ Οἰδίπους μαθὼν παρά τινος τὴν καθʼ ἑαυτὸν ὑποβολήν, ἐπεχείρησεν ἐπερωτῆσαι τὴν Πυθίαν περὶ τῶν κατʼ ἀλήθειαν γονέων. κατὰ δὲ τὴν Φωκίδα τούτων ἀλλήλοις ἀπαντησάντων, ὁ μὲν Λάιος ὑπερηφάνως ἐκχωρεῖν τῆς ὁδοῦ προσέταττεν, ὁ δʼ Οἰδίπους ὀργισθεὶς ἀπέκτεινε τὸν Λάιον, ἀγνοῶν ὅτι πατὴρ ἦν αὐτοῦ.
Since we have spoken on these matters at sufficient length, we shall now give the account of The Seven against Thebes, taking up the original causes of the war. Laïus, the king of Thebes, married Jocastê, the daughter of Creon, and since he was childless for some time he inquired of the god regarding his begetting of children. The Pythian priestess made reply that it would not be to his interest that children should be born to him, since the son who should be begotten of him would be the murderer of his father and would bring great misfortunes upon all the house; but Laïus forgot the oracle and begat a son, and he exposed the babe after he had pierced its ankles through with a piece of iron, this being the reason why it was later given the name Oedipus. But the household slaves who took the infant were unwilling to expose it, and gave it as a present to the wife of Polybus, since she could bear no children. Later, after the boy had attained to manhood, Laïus, decided to inquire of the god regarding the babe which had been exposed, and Oedipus likewise, having learned from someone of the substitution which had been made in his case, set about to inquire of the Pythian priestess who were his true parents. In Phocis these two met face to face, and when Laïus in a disdainful manner ordered Oedipus to make way for him, the latter in anger slew Laïus, not knowing that he was his father.
καθʼ ὃν δὴ χρόνον μυθολογοῦσι σφίγγα, δίμορφον θηρίον, παραγενομένην εἰς τὰς Θήβας αἴνιγμα προτιθέναι τῷ δυναμένῳ λῦσαι, καὶ πολλοὺς ὑπʼ αὐτῆς διʼ ἀπορίαν ἀναιρεῖσθαι. προτιθεμένου δὲ ἐπάθλου φιλανθρώπου τῷ λύσαντι γαμεῖν τὴν Ἰοκάστην καὶ βασιλεύειν τῶν Θηβῶν, ἄλλον μὲν μηδένα δύνασθαι γνῶναι τὸ προτεθειμένον, μόνον δὲ Οἰδίπουν λῦσαι τὸ αἴνιγμα. ἦν δὲ τὸ προτεθὲν ὑπὸ τῆς σφιγγός, τί ἐστι τὸ αὐτὸ δίπουν, τρίπουν, τετράπουν.
ἀπορουμένων δὲ τῶν ἄλλων ὁ Οἰδίπους ἀπεφήνατο ἄνθρωπον εἶναι τὸ προβληθέν· νήπιον μὲν γὰρ αὐτὸν ὑπάρχοντα τετράπουν εἶναι, αὐξήσαντα δὲ δίπουν, γηράσαντα δὲ τρίπουν, βακτηρίᾳ χρώμενον διὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν. ἐνταῦθα τὴν μὲν σφίγγα κατὰ τὸν μυθολογούμενον χρησμὸν ἑαυτὴν κατακρημνίσαι, τὸν δʼ Οἰδίπουν γήμαντα τὴν ἀγνοουμένην ὑφʼ ἑαυτοῦ μητέρα γεννῆσαι δύο μὲν υἱοὺς Ἐτεοκλέα καὶ Πολυνείκην, δύο δὲ θυγατέρας Ἀντιγόνην καὶ Ἰσμήνην.
At this very time, the myths go on to say, a sphinx, a beast of double form, had come to Thebes and was propounding a riddle to anyone who might be able to solve it, and many were being slain by her because of their inability to do so. And although a generous reward was offered to the man who should solve it, that he should marry Jocastê and be king of Thebes, yet no man was able to comprehend what was propounded except Oedipus, who alone solved the riddle. What had been propounded by the sphinx was this: What is it that is at the same time a biped, a triped, and a quadruped? And while all the rest were perplexed, Oedipus declared that the animal proposed in the riddle was “man,” since as an infant he is a quadruped, when grown a biped, and in old age a triped, using, because of his infirmity, a staff. At this answer the sphinx, in accordance with the oracle which the myth recounts, threw herself down a precipice, and Oedipus then married the woman who, unknown to himself, was his mother, and begat two sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, and two daughters, Antigonê and Ismenê.
τῶν δʼ υἱῶν ἀνδρωθέντων, καὶ τῶν περὶ τὴν οἰκίαν ἀσεβημάτων γνωσθέντων, τὸν μὲν Οἰδίπουν ὑπὸ τῶν υἱῶν ἔνδον μένειν ἀναγκασθῆναι διὰ τὴν αἰσχύνην, τοὺς δὲ νεανίσκους παραλαβόντας τὴν ἀρχὴν ὁμολογίας θέσθαι πρὸς ἀλλήλους παρʼ ἐνιαυτὸν ἄρχειν. πρεσβυτέρου δʼ ὄντος Ἐτεοκλέους, τοῦτον πρῶτον ἄρξαι, καὶ διελθόντος τοῦ χρόνου μὴ βούλεσθαι παραδιδόναι τὴν βασιλείαν.
τὸν δὲ Πολυνείκην κατὰ τὰς ὁμολογίας ἀπαιτεῖν τὴν ἀρχήν· τοῦ δʼ ἀδελφοῦ μὴ ὑπακούοντος φυγεῖν εἰς Ἄργος πρὸς Ἄδραστον τὸν βασιλέα. καθʼ ὃν δὴ χρόνον φασὶ Τυδέα τὸν Οἰνέως ἐν Καλυδῶνι τοὺς ἀνεψιοὺς ἀνελόντα Ἀλκάθουν καὶ Λυκωπέα φυγεῖν ἐκ τῆς Αἰτωλίας εἰς Ἄργος.
Ἄδραστον δʼ ἀμφοτέρους ὑποδεξάμενον φιλοφρόνως κατά τι λόγιον συνοικίσαι τὰς θυγατέρας αὐτοῖς, Ἀργείαν μὲν Πολυνείκει, Δηιπύλην δὲ Τυδεῖ. εὐδοκιμούντων δὲ τῶν νεανίσκων καὶ μεγάλης ἀποδοχῆς ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως τυγχανόντων, φασὶ τὸν Αδραστον χαριζόμενον αὐτοῖς ἐπαγγείλασθαι κατάξειν ἀμφοτέρους εἰς τὰς πατρίδας.
κρίναντος δʼ αὐτοῦ πρῶτον καταγαγεῖν τὸν Πολυνείκην, ἄγγελον εἰς τὰς Θήβας ἀποστεῖλαι Τυδέα πρὸς Ἐτεοκλέα περὶ τῆς καθόδου. ἐνταῦθά φασι τὸν μὲν Τυδέα ἐνεδρευθέντα κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ὑπὸ Ἐτεοκλέους πεντήκοντα ἀνδράσιν ἅπαντας ἀνελεῖν καὶ παραδόξως εἰς τὸ Ἄργος διασωθῆναι, τὸν δʼ Ἄδραστον πυθόμενον τὰ συμβάντα παρασκευάσασθαι τὰ πρὸς τὴν στρατείαν, πείσαντα μετασχεῖν τοῦ πολέμου Καπανέα τε καὶ Ἱππομέδοντα καὶ Παρθενοπαῖον τὸν Ἀταλάντης τῆς Σχοινέως.
When the sons had attained to manhood, they go on to say, and the impious deeds of the family became known, Oedipus, because of the disgrace, was compelled by his sons to remain always in retirement, and the young men, taking over the throne, agreed together that they should reign in alternate years. Eteocles, being the elder, was the first to reign, and upon the termination of the period he did not wish to give over the kingship. But Polyneices demanded of him the throne as they had agreed, and when his brother would not comply with his demand he fled to Argos to king Adrastus.
At the same time that this was taking place Tydeus, they say, the son of Oeneus, who had slain his cousins Alcathoüs and Lycopeus in Calydon, fled from Aetolia to Argos. Adrastus received both the fugitives kindly, and in obedience to a certain oracle joined his daughters in marriage to them, Argeia to Polyneices, and Deïpylê to Tydeus. And since the young men were held in high esteem and enjoyed the king’s favour to a great degree, Adrastus, they say, as a mark of his good-will promised to restore both Polyneices and Tydeus to their native lands. And having decided to restore Polyneices first, he sent Tydeus as an envoy to Eteocles in Thebes to negotiate the return. But while Tydeus was on his way thither, we are told, he was set upon from ambush by fifty men sent by Eteocles, but he slew every man of them and got through to Argos, to the astonishment of all, whereupon Adrastus, when he learned what had taken place, made preparations for the consequent campaign against Eteocles, having persuaded Capaneus and Hippomedon and Parthenopaeus, the son of Atalantê, the daughter of Schoeneus, to be his allies in the war.
τοὺς δὲ περὶ τὸν Πολυνείκην ἐπιβαλέσθαι πείθειν Ἀμφιάραον τὸν μάντιν συστρατεύειν αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ τὰς Θήβας· τοῦ δὲ προγινώσκοντος ὡς ἀπολεῖται συστρατεύσας αὐτοῖς, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μὴ συγχωροῦντος, Πολυνείκην φασὶ τὸν χρυσοῦν ὅρμον, ὃν Ἀφροδίτην μυθολογοῦσιν Ἁρμονίᾳ δωρήσασθαι, δοῦναι τῇ γυναικὶ τῇ Ἀμφιαράου, ὅπως τὸν ἄνδρα πείσῃ συμμαχῆσαι.
καθʼ ὃν δὴ χρόνον Ἀμφιαράου πρὸς Ἄδραστον στασιάζοντος περὶ τῆς βασιλείας, ὁμολογίας θέσθαι πρὸς ἀλλήλους, καθʼ ἃς ἐπέτρεπον κρῖναι περὶ τῶν ἀμφισβητουμένων Ἐριφύλην, γυναῖκα μὲν οὖσαν Ἀμφιαράου, ἀδελφὴν δʼ Ἀδράστου. τῆς δὲ τὸ νίκημα περιθείσης Ἀδράστῳ καὶ περὶ τῆς ἐπὶ Θήβας στρατείας ἀποφηναμένης δεῖν στρατεύειν, ὁ μὲν Ἀμφιάραος δόξας ὑπὸ τῆς γυναικὸς προδεδόσθαι συστρατεύσειν μὲν ὡμολόγησεν, ἐντολὰς δὲ ἔδωκεν Ἀλκμαίωνι τῷ υἱῷ μετὰ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ τελευτὴν ἀνελεῖν τὴν Ἐριφύλην.
οὗτος μὲν οὖν ὕστερον κατὰ τὰς τοῦ πατρὸς ἐντολὰς ἀνεῖλε τὴν μητέρα, καὶ διὰ τὴν συνείδησιν τοῦ μύσους εἰς μανίαν περιέστη· οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Ἄδραστον καὶ Πολυνείκην καὶ Τυδέα προσλαβόμενοι τέτταρας ἡγεμόνας, Ἀμφιάραόν τε καὶ Καπανέα καὶ Ἱππομέδοντα, ἔτι δὲ Παρθενοπαῖον τὸν Ἀταλάντης τῆς Σχοινέως, ἐστράτευσαν ἐπὶ τὰς Θήβας, ἔχοντες δύναμιν ἀξιόλογον.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Ἐτεοκλῆς μὲν καὶ Πολυνείκης ἀλλήλους ἀνεῖλον, Καπανεὺς δὲ βιαζόμενος καὶ διὰ κλίμακος ἀναβαίνων ἐπὶ τὸ τεῖχος ἐτελεύτησεν, Ἀμφιάραος δὲ χανούσης τῆς γῆς ἐμπεσὼν εἰς τὸ χάσμα μετὰ τοῦ ἅρματος ἄφαντος ἐγένετο.
Polyneices also endeavoured to persuade the seer Amphiaraüs to take part with him in the campaign against Thebes; and when the latter, because he knew in advance that he would perish if he should take part in the campaign, would not for that reason consent to do so, Polyneices, they say, gave the golden necklace which, as the myth relates, had once been given by Aphroditê as a present to Harmonia, to the wife of Amphiaraüs, in order that she might persuade her husband to join the others as their ally.
At the time in question Amphiaraüs, we are told, was at variance with Adrastus, striving for the kingship, and the two came to an agreement among themselves whereby they committed the decision of the matter at issue between them to Eriphylê, the wife of Amphiaraüs and sister of Adrastus. When Eriphylê awarded the victory to Adrastus and, with regard to the campaign against Thebes, gave it as her opinion that it should be undertaken, Amphiaraüs, believing that his wife had betrayed him, did agree to take part in the campaign, but left orders with his son Alcmaeon that after his death he should slay Eriphylê. Alcmaeon, therefore, at a later time slew his mother according to his father’s injunction, and because he was conscious of the pollution he had incurred he was driven to madness. But Adrastus and Polyneices and Tydeus, adding to their number four leaders, Amphiaraüs, Capaneus, Hippomedon, and Parthenopaeus, the son of Atalantê the daughter of Schoeneus, set out against Thebes, accompanied by a notable army. After this Eteocles and Polyneices slew each other, Capaneus died while impetuously ascending the wall by a scaling-ladder, and as for Amphiaraüs, the earth opened and he together with his chariot fell into the opening and disappeared from sight.
ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἡγεμόνων ἀπολομένων πλὴν Ἀδράστου, καὶ πολλῶν στρατιωτῶν πεσόντων, οἱ μὲν Θηβαῖοι τὴν ἀναίρεσιν τῶν νεκρῶν οὐ συνεχώρησαν, ὁ δʼ Ἄδραστος καταλιπὼν ἀτάφους τοὺς τετελευτηκότας ἐπανῆλθεν εἰς Ἄργος. ἀτάφων δὲ μενόντων τῶν ὑπὸ τὴν Καδμείαν πεπτωκότων σωμάτων, καὶ μηδενὸς τολμῶντος θάπτειν, Ἀθηναῖοι διαφέροντες τῶν ἄλλων χρηστότητι πάντας τοὺς ὑπὸ τὴν Καδμείαν πεπτωκότας ἔθαψαν.
When the rest of the leaders, with the exception of Adrastus, had likewise perished and many soldiers had fallen, the Thebans refused to allow the removal of the dead and so Adrastus left them unburied and returned to Argos. So the bodies of those who had fallen at the foot of the Cadmeia remained unburied and no one had the courage to inter them, but the Athenians, who excelled all others in uprightness, honoured with funeral rites all who had fallen at the foot of the Cadmeia.
οἱ μὲν οὖν ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ Θήβας τοιοῦτον τὸ πέρας ἔσχον. οἱ δὲ τούτων παῖδες, ἐπίγονοι δʼ ὀνομασθέντες, τὸν τῶν πατέρων θάνατον ἐπεξιόντες ἔγνωσαν στρατεύειν κοινῇ ἐπὶ τὰς Θήβας, λαβόντες χρησμὸν παρʼ Ἀπόλλωνος πολεμεῖν τὴν προειρημένην πόλιν στρατηγὸν ἔχοντας Ἀλκμαίωνα τὸν Ἀμφιαράου.
ὁ δʼ Ἀλκμαίων αἱρεθεὶς ὑπʼ αὐτῶν στρατηγὸς ἐπηρώτησε τὸν θεὸν περὶ τῆς ἐπὶ τὰς Θήβας στρατείας καὶ περὶ τῆς Ἐριφύλης τῆς μητρὸς κολάσεως.
τοῦ δʼ Ἀπόλλωνος χρήσαντος ἀμφότερα τὰ προειρημένα πρᾶξαι διὰ τὸ μὴ μόνον τὸν χρυσοῦν ὅρμον δέξασθαι κατὰ τῆς ἀπωλείας τοῦ πατρός, ἀλλὰ καὶ πέπλον λαβεῖν αὐτὴν κατὰ τῆς τοῦ υἱοῦ τελευτῆς· Ἀφροδίτης γάρ, ὥς φασι, τὸ παλαιὸν δωρησαμένης Ἁρμονίᾳ τῇ Κάδμου τόν τε ὅρμον καὶ πέπλον, ἀμφότερα ταῦτα προσδέξασθαι τὴν Ἐριφύλην, τὸν μὲν ὅρμον παρὰ Πολυνείκους λαβοῦσαν, τὸν δὲ πέπλον παρὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ Πολυνείκους Θερσάνδρου, ὅπως πείσῃ τὸν υἱὸν στρατεύειν ἐπὶ τὰς Θήβας· ὁ δʼ οὖν Ἀλκμαίων οὐ μόνον ἀθροίσας ἐξ Ἄργους στρατιώτας, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τῶν πλησίον πόλεων, ἀξιολόγῳ δυνάμει ἐστράτευσεν ἐπὶ τὰς Θήβας.
ἀντιταχθέντων δὲ τῶν Θηβαίων ἐγένετο μάχη καρτερά, καθʼ ἣν ἐνίκησαν οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἀλκμαίωνα· οἱ δὲ Θηβαῖοι λειφθέντες τῇ μάχῃ καὶ πολλοὺς τῶν πολιτῶν ἀποβαλόντες συνετρίβησαν ταῖς ἐλπίσιν. οὐκ ὄντες δʼ ἀξιόμαχοι σύμβουλον ἔλαβον Τειρεσίαν τὸν μάντιν, ὃς ἐκέλευσε φυγεῖν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως·
As for The Seven against Thebes, such, then, was the outcome of their campaign. But their sons, who were known as Epigoni, being intent upon avenging the death of their fathers, decided to make common cause in a campaign against Thebes, having received an oracle from Apollo that they should make war upon this city, and with Alcmaeon, the son of Amphiaraüs, as their supreme commander. Alcmaeon, after they had chosen him to be their commander, inquired of the god concerning the campaign against Thebes and also concerning the punishment of his mother Eriphylê. And Apollo replied that he should perform both these deeds, not only because Eriphylê had accepted the golden necklace in return for working the destruction of his father, but also because she had received a robe as a reward for securing the death of her son. For Aphroditê, as we are told, in ancient times had given both the necklace and a robe as presents to Harmonia, the daughter of Cadmus, and Eriphylê had accepted both of them, receiving the necklace from Polyneices and the robe from Thersandrus, the son of Polyneices, who had given it to her in order to induce her to persuade her son to make the campaign against Thebes. Alcmaeon, accordingly, gathered soldiers, not only from Argos but from the neighbouring cities as well, and so had a notable army as he set out on the campaign against Thebes. The Thebans drew themselves up against him and a mighty battle took place in which Alcmaeon and his allies were victorious; and the Thebans, since they had been worsted in the battle and had lost many of their citizens, found their hopes shattered. And since they were not strong enough to offer further resistance, they consulted the seer Teiresias, who advised them to flee from the city, for only in this way, he said, could they save their lives.
μόνως γὰρ οὕτω σωθήσεσθαι. οἱ μὲν οὖν Καδμεῖοι κατὰ τὴν τοῦ μάντεως ὑποθήκην ἐξέλιπον τὴν πόλιν, καὶ νυκτὸς συνέφυγον εἴς τι χωρίον τῆς Βοιωτίας ὀνομαζόμενον Τιλφωσσαῖον. ἔπειθʼ οἱ μὲν ἐπίγονοι τὴν πόλιν ἑλόντες διήρπασαν, καὶ τῆς Τειρεσίου θυγατρὸς Δάφνης ἐγκρατεῖς γενόμενοι ταύτην ἀνέθεσαν εἰς Δελφοὺς κατά τινα εὐχὴν ἀκροθίνιον τῷ θεῷ.
αὕτη δὲ τὴν μαντικὴν οὐχ ἧττον τοῦ πατρὸς εἰδυῖα, πολὺ μᾶλλον ἐν τοῖς Δελφοῖς διατρίψασα τὴν τέχνην ἐπηύξησε· φύσει δὲ θαυμαστῇ κεχορηγημένη χρησμοὺς ἔγραψε παντοδαπούς, διαφόρους ταῖς κατασκευαῖς· παρʼ ἧς φασι καὶ τὸν ποιητὴν Ὅμηρον πολλὰ τῶν ἐπῶν σφετερισάμενον κοσμῆσαι τὴν ἰδίαν ποίησιν. ἐνθεαζούσης δʼ αὐτῆς πολλάκις καὶ χρησμοὺς ἀποφαινομένης, φασὶν ἐπικληθῆναι Σίβυλλαν· τὸ γὰρ ἐνθεάζειν κατὰ γλῶττανὑπάρχειν σιβυλλαίνειν.
Consequently the Cadmeans left the city, as the seer had counselled them to do, and gathered for refuge by month in a place in Boeotia called Tilphossaeum. Thereupon the Epigoni took the city and sacked it, and capturing Daphnê, the daughter of Teiresias, they dedicated her, in accordance with a certain vow, to the service of the temple at Delphi as an offering to the god of the first-fruits of the booty. This maiden possessed no less knowledge of prophecy than her father, and in the course of her stay at Delphi she developed her skill to a far greater degree; moreover, by virtue of the employment of a marvellous natural gift, she also wrote oracular responses of every sort, excelling in their composition; and indeed it was from her poetry, they say, that the poet Homer took many verses which he appropriated as his own and with them adorned his own poesy. And since she was often like one inspired when she delivered oracles, they say that she was also called Sibylla, for to be inspired in one’s tongue is expressed by the word sibyllainein.
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