Seven Against Thebes Greek The name given to the conflict between the rulers of the kingdom of Thebes and the rebels who challenged the king for the throne.
Publié le 26/01/2014
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Seven Against Thebes Greek The name given to the conflict between the rulers of the kingdom of Thebes and the rebels who challenged the king for the throne. It was the subject of a tragedy by Aeschylus. At the death of their father, Oedipus, Eteocles and Polynices (who were probably twins), had made a pact to rule the kingdom of Thebes jointly, each one taking over the kingdom for a year at a time. However, Eteocles refused to give up his kingship at the end of his year. Polynices appealed to King Adrastus of Argos for military help and the war began. The seven were the champions Adrastus brought together to help Polynices gain the throne. The city of Thebes had seven gates. Eteocles set a champion to guard each one. Adrastus delegated a champion to capture each gate. It was fated that, at the end of the battle, the two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, should meet in one-to-one combat and kill each other. Creon, the new king of Thebes, ordered that Eteocles be left to lie on the battlefield rather than be buried. He was opposed by Antigone, the sister of Eteocles and Polynices, who herself performed the forbidden burial service. The Epigoni, sons of the Seven, continued the war years later.
Liens utiles
- Epigoni (Descendants, the younger generation) Greek The sons of the Seven Against Thebes, an expedition launched by Adrastus and Polynices to capture the throne of Thebes.
- Iphicles Greek Halfbrother of the hero Heracles; son of Amphitryon, a prince of Tiryns, and his wife, Alcmene, who was a daughter of the king of Mycenae; husband to Automedusa, and later, to the youngest daughter of King Creon of Thebes.
- Magna Graecia (Great Greece) Greek The collective name given to Greek colonies founded by settlers in southern Italy and the island of Sicily.
- Midas Greek A mythical king of Phrygia, an ancient region of central Asia Minor; son of the goddess Cybele and Gordius, from whom he inherited the throne.
- Nestor Greek King of Pylos (on the west coast of Messenia, in the Peloponnesus) and, at 60 years old, the oldest and most experienced of the chieftains who fought in the Trojan War.