Seven Against Thebes in the context of "Eteocles"

Antigone (/ænˈtɪɡəni/ ann-TIG-ə-nee; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is an Athenian tragedy written by Sophocles in either 442 or 440 BC and first performed at the Festival of Dionysus of the same year. It is thought to be the second-oldest surviving play of Sophocles, preceded by Ajax, which was written around the same period. The play is one of a triad of tragedies known as the three Theban plays, following Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus. Even though the events in Antigone occur last in the order of events depicted in the plays, Sophocles wrote Antigone first. The story expands on the Theban legend that predates it, and it picks up where Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes ends. The play is named after the main protagonist Antigone.

After Oedipus' self-exile, his sons Eteocles and Polynices engaged in a civil war for the Theban throne, which resulted in both brothers dying while fighting each other. Oedipus' brother-in-law and new Theban ruler Creon ordered the public honoring of Eteocles and the public shaming of Thebes' traitor Polynices. The play follows the attempts of their sister Antigone to bury the body of Polynices, going against the decision of her uncle Creon and placing her relationship with her brother above human laws.

In Greek mythology, Ismene (/ɪsˈmiːniː/; Ancient Greek: Ἰσμήνη, romanized: Ismḗnē) was a Theban princess. She was the daughter and half-sister of Oedipus, king of Thebes, daughter and granddaughter of Jocasta, and sister of Antigone, Eteocles, and Polynices. She appears in several tragic plays of Sophocles, including Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone. She also appears at the end of Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes.

In Greek mythology, Menoeceus (/məˈniːsiəs, -sjuːs/; Ancient Greek: Μενοικεύς Menoikeús "strength of the house" derived from menos "strength" and oikos "house") was the name of two Theban characters. They are related by genealogy, the first being the grandfather of the second.

• Menoeceus, father of Creon, Jocasta and Hipponome and both grandfather and father-in-law of Oedipus. He was the Theban son of Pentheus and a descendant of the Spartoi through his grandfather Echion.
• Menoeceus, son of Creon and possibly Eurydice, named after his grandfather. According to Hyginus and Statius, during the reign of Eteocles when the Seven against Thebes laid siege to the city, Creon's son committed suicide by throwing himself from the walls. This was in concordance with Tiresias foretelling that if anyone of the Spartoi should perish freely as sacrifice to Ares, Thebes would be freed from disaster. The Thebans were ultimately victorious. The battle is memorialized in Seven Against Thebes, the play by Aeschylus. Some records say that that Menoeceus was the grandfather of Creon and Jocasta and his son (Creon and Jocasta's father) was named Oscalus. The Greek writer Pausanias visited the site of Menoeceus tomb in the 2nd century AD and recorded that Menoeceus committed suicide "in obedience to the oracle from Delphi, at the time when Polyneices and the host with him arrived from Argos. On the tomb of Menoeceus grows a pomegranate-tree. If you break through the outer part of the ripe fruit, you will then find the inside like blood. This pomegranate-tree is still flourishing."

A later Menoeceus was a contemporary of Epicurus, to whom the philosopher wrote a letter summarizing his ethical doctrines.

The Phoenician Women (Ancient Greek: Φοίνισσαι, Phoinissai) is a tragedy by Euripides, based on the same story as Aeschylus' play Seven Against Thebes. It was presented along with the tragedies Hypsipyle and Antiope. With this trilogy, Euripides won the second prize. The title refers to the Greek chorus, which is composed of Phoenician women on their way to Delphi who are trapped in Thebes by the war. Unlike some of Euripides' other plays, the chorus does not play a significant role in the plot, but represents the innocent and neutral people who very often are found in the middle of war situations. Patriotism is a significant theme in the story, as Polynices talks a great deal about his love for the city of Thebes but has brought an army to destroy it; Creon is also forced to make a choice between saving the city and saving the life of his son.

In Greek mythology, there were several people named Melanippus (Ancient Greek: Μελάνιππος, romanized: Melánippos, lit. 'black horse'):

• Melanippus, one of the sons of Agrius and possibly Dia, daughter of King Porthaon of Calydon. Along with his brothers, except Thersites, he was killed by Diomedes.
• Melanippus or Menalippus, brother of Tydeus and thus possible son of Oeneus, king of Calydon and Periboea. He was accidentally slain by Tydeus during a hunt. In some accounts, the murdered brother of Tydeus was called Olenias.
• Melanippus, son of Perigune and Theseus, the father of Ioxus who, together with Ornytus, led a colony to Caria and became the ancestor of the family Ioxides.
• Melanippus, sometimes misspelled "Menalippus", son of Astacus (hence referred to by the patronymic Astacides in Ovid), defender of Thebes in Aeschylus' play Seven Against Thebes. In the play, he defended the Proitid gate against Tydeus. He killed two of the seven attacking champions, Mecisteus and Tydeus, but was killed by either Amphiaraus, or by Tydeus himself as he died. (In versions where Melanippus is killed by someone other than Tydeus, the slayer decapitates him and delivers his head to Tydeus). Tydeus broke Melanippus' skull open and consumed his brain, which disgusted Athena so that she gave up her intent of making Tydeus immortal. Herodotus relates how in historical times, Cleisthenes abolished the hero cult of Adrastus in Sicyon in favour of that of Melanippus.
• Melanippus, son of Hicetaon and a native of Percote. He was the brother of Thymoetes, Critolaus and possibly Antenor. Melanippus fought under Hector, wishing to avenge the death of his cousin Dolops, and was killed by Antilochus during the Trojan War.
• Melanippus, one of the 50 sons of Priam. His mother was a woman other than Hecuba. He fought in the Trojan War and was shot dead by Teucer. In some accounts, Melanippus was described to have a plume of horsehair like his brother Idaeus.
• Melanippus, yet another Trojan, who was killed by Patroclus.
• Melanippus, one of the Achaeans who fought at Troy. He was one of those who helped Odysseus carry the gifts at the point of reconciliation between Achilles and Agamemnon.
• Melanippus, son of Ares and Triteia, daughter of the sea-god Triton, founder of the city of Tritaia, which he named after his own mother.
• Melanippus, a young man of Patrae who was in love with Comaetho, but the parents on both sides were against their marriage. Melanippus and Comaetho met secretly in the temple of Artemis, where the girl served as priestess, and had sex there. The outraged goddess cursed the country with plague and famine; in order to put an end to the calamity, the inhabitants of Patrae were instructed by the oracle of Delphi to sacrifice both lovers to the goddess and, from then on, to sacrifice the handsomest young man and the most beautiful girl of the city each year, until a new strange deity is introduced in Patrae. The practice lasted until Eurypylus, son of Euaemon, on his way back from Troy, brought an image of Dionysus to Patrae.
• Melanippus, son of Helorus, leader of the Mysian contingent in the Trojan War, killed by Neoptolemus.
• Menalippus (misspelling of "Melanippus"? cf. #3 above), a son of Acastus. He, alongside his brother Pleisthenes and their servant Cinyras, was killed by Neoptolemus as they were hunting near the latter's grandfather Peleus' hideout, since Acastus and his family had been hostile towards Peleus.

In ancient Sicily, Melanippus was a hero of Agrigento alongside his lover Chariton. They plotted against the cruel tyrant Phalaris, but were denounced and tortured. However, their mutual love and their refusal to betray their friends as accomplices moved the tyrant, who dismissed them with great praise.

In Greek mythology, Mégês (Ancient Greek: Μέγης) may refer to the following figures:

• Meges, defender of Thebes against the Seven Against Thebes.
• Meges, son of Phyleus and one of the Achaean Leaders.
• Meges, father of Polymnius, a Trojan warrior.
• Meges, a wealthy Trojan and son of Dymas. He married Periboea who bore him sons: Celtus and Eubius, both participated in the Trojan War.

The Lille Stesichorus is a papyrus containing a major fragment of poetry usually attributed to the archaic lyric poet Stesichorus, discovered at Lille University and published in 1976. Some consider it the most important of all the Stesichorus fragments, confirming his role as a historic link between genres as different as Homeric epic and Pindaric lyric. The subject matter and style are typical for his work, even though not all scholars have accepted it as his work. The fragment is a narrative treatment of a popular myth, involving the family of Oedipus and the tragic history of Thebes. Thus, sheds light on other treatments of the same myth, such as by Sophocles in Oedipus Tyrannos and Aeschylus in Seven Against Thebes. The fragment is also significant in the history of colometry since it includes lyric verses divided into metrical cola, a practice usually associated with the later career of Aristophanes of Byzantium.