Seven against Thebes in the context of "Parthenopaeus"

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⭐ Core Definition: Seven against Thebes

The Seven against Thebes were seven champions in Greek mythology who made war on Thebes. They were chosen by Adrastus, the king of Argos, to be the captains of an Argive army whose purpose was to restore Oedipus' son Polynices to the Theban throne. Adrastus, although always the leader of the expedition against Thebes, was not always counted as one of the Seven champions. Usually the Seven were Polynices, Tydeus, Amphiaraus, Capaneus, Parthenopaeus, Hippomedon, and either Adrastus or Eteoclus, when Adrastus is excluded. They tried and failed to take Thebes, and all but Adrastus died in the attempt.

On their way to Thebes, the Seven stopped at Nemea, where they held funeral games for the infant Opheltes, which became the origin myth for the Nemean Games. Before arriving at Thebes, Adrastus sent Tydeus on ahead to resolve the dispute through negotiation, which failed. At Thebes, Capaneus was struck down by Zeus' thunderbolt while attempting to scale the city walls. Tydeus was mortally wounded, and although Athena intended to make him immortal, she let him die when she saw him eating the brains of his attacker. Polynices was killed by (and killed) his brother Eteocles, the seer Amphiaraus was swallowed up by the earth, and Adrastus escaped the battlefield on his divine horse Arion. The victorious Thebans refused to allow the burial of the Argive dead, but Theseus marched an Athenian army to Thebes and recovered the bodies of the fallen warriors.

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Seven against Thebes in the context of Thebaid (Latin poem)

The Thebaid (/ˈθb.ɪd/; Latin: Thēbaïs, lit.'Song of Thebes') is a Latin epic poem written by the Roman poet Statius. Published in the early 90s AD, it contains 9,748 lines arranged in 12 books, and recounts the clash of two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, over the throne of the Greek city of Thebes. After Polynices is sent into exile, he forges an alliance of seven Greek princes and embarks on a military campaign against his brother.

Although its source material derives predominantly from the Greek literary tradition, the Thebaid has close ties with other Latin texts such as Virgil's Aeneid and the tragedies of Seneca the Younger. The poem's central themes include the relationship between politics and the family, civil war, and the amoral acts to which it gives rise. Critics have also noted the poem's innovative depiction of Roman mythology. Following in the footsteps of Ovid's Metamorphoses, Statius used an episodic structure which is held together by subtle links between individual episodes.

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Seven against Thebes in the context of Seven Against Thebes

Seven Against Thebes (Ancient Greek: Ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ Θήβας, Hepta epi Thēbas; Latin: Septem contra Thebas) is the third play in an Oedipus-themed trilogy produced by Aeschylus in 467 BC. The trilogy is sometimes referred to as the Oedipodea. It concerns the battle between an Argive army, led by seven champions including Polynices who were called the Seven against Thebes, and the army of Thebes led by Eteocles and his supporters. The trilogy won the first prize at the Athens City Dionysia. The trilogy's first two plays, Laius and Oedipus, as well as the satyr play Sphinx, are no longer extant.

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Seven against Thebes in the context of Creon (king of Thebes)

Kreon, also spelled Creon (/ˈkrɛɒn/; Ancient Greek: Κρέων, romanizedKreōn, lit.'ruler') is a figure in Greek mythology best known as the ruler of Thebes in the legend of Oedipus.

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Seven against Thebes in the context of Alcmaeon (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Alcmaeon (/ˌælkˈmən/; Ancient Greek: Ἀλκμαίων Alkmaíōn), as one of the Epigoni, was the leader of the Argives who attacked Thebes, taking the city in retaliation for the deaths of their fathers, the Seven against Thebes, who died while attempting the same thing.

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Seven against Thebes in the context of Actor (mythology)

Actor (Ancient Greek: Ἄκτωρ; gen.: Ἄκτoρος Aktoros) is a very common name in Greek mythology. Here is a selection of characters that share this name (which means 'leader', from the verb άγω: to lead or carry):

  • Actor, father of Eurytus who was an ally of Phineus during his fight with Perseus.
  • Actor, a king of Phthia, was said to be the son of King Myrmidon and Peisidice, daughter of Aeolus. Some say that Actor died childless, but others say that he is the father of Eurytion, his successor or of Irus, who was also called the father of Eurytion. According to Diodorus, Actor without an heir, was succeeded by Peleus who fled to his country from Aegina for killing his half-brother, Phocus. The hero was then purified by the king for his sins. This story was usually attributed to Actor's possible son Eurytion who was slain accidentally by his son-in-law Peleus. This Actor married Aegina, daughter of the river god Asopus, and had several children, among them Menoetius. Menoetius was counted among the Argonauts, and was the father of Patroclus (Achilles' very close companion).
  • Actor, son of King Deioneus of Phocis and Diomede, daughter of Xuthus, thus a brother of Asterodeia, Aenetus, Phylacus, and Cephalus. This Actor could be the man referred by Hesiod as the father of Protesilaus, one of the suitors of Helen of Troy.
  • Actor, son of Azeus, descendant of Phrixus, was ruler of the Minyans of Orchomenus. He was father of Astyoche, who was seduced by the war-god Ares and bore him twin sons, named Ascalaphus and Ialmenus. These last two led the Minyan contingent to the Trojan War.
  • Actor, son of Phorbas and Hyrmine, thus a brother of Augeas and Tiphys. He was king of Elis, and founded the city of Hyrmina, which he named after his mother. This Actor married Molione and became by her father of the twins known as the Molionides, Eurytus and Cteatus.
  • Actor, the Elean son of Poseidon and Agamede, daughter of King Augeas. He was the brother of Belus and Dictys.
  • Actor and Eurythemis were in one source called parents of Ancaeus (who other sources call the son of Lycurgus) and grandparents of Agapenor.
  • Actor, the Achaean son of Hippasus from Pellene and one of the Argonauts.
  • Actor, a Lapith. He was killed by the centaur Clanis.
  • Actor, father of Sthenelus. Sthenelus followed Heracles in his campaign against the Amazons and was killed by them.
  • Actor, son of Acastus, was accidentally killed by Peleus while hunting. As a retribution, Peleus sent to Acastus some cows and sheep that had been killed by a wolf sent by Thetis.
  • Actor, son of Oenops, brother of Hyperbius. He was among the defenders of the Borraean Gate at Thebes when the Seven against Thebes attacked the city, and confronted Parthenopaeus at the gate.
  • Actor, a warrior in the army of the Seven against Thebes. He saw a chasm open in the earth that swallowed Amphiaraus.
  • Actor, an old Theban servant of Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus. During the war of the Seven against Thebes, he accompanied her to the walls when that army appeared in front of the barriers outside the city. Because of his age, Actor cannot follow the princess and he just stayed halfway up the climb to listen to her lament when she saw her brother in the enemy army.
  • Actor, father of Echecles. His son married Polymele, mother of Eudoros by Hermes.
  • Actor, a shepherd in Lemnos who befriended Philoctetes in Euripides' play Philoctetes. According to some accounts, he was instead the king of Lemnos whose shepherd named Iphimachus, son of Dolops, took care the abandoned hero after he was bitten by a snake.
  • Actor, one of the companions of the exiled Aeneas. He is probably the same who in another passage is called an Auruncan, and of whose conquered lance Turnus made a boast. This story seems to have given rise to the proverbial saying "Actoris spolium" ("the spoil of Actor"), for any poor spoil in general.
  • Actor, father of Actoris (though unnamed in the Odyssey) who was given by Icarius to his daughter Penelope after her wedding with Odysseus to serve as her personal handmaiden.
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Seven against Thebes in the context of Clonius

In Greek mythology, the name Clonius (/ˈklniəs/; Ancient Greek: Κλονίος, Kloníos) may refer to:

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Seven against Thebes in the context of Agenor (mythology)

Agenor (/əˈnɔːr/; Ancient Greek: Ἀγήνωρ or Αγήνορι Agēnor; English translation: 'heroic, manly') was the name of the following Greek mythological characters:

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Seven against Thebes in the context of Abas (mythology)

In Greek mythology, the name Abas (/ă'-bas/; Ancient Greek: Ἄβας; gen.: Ἄβαντος means "guileless" or "good-hearted") is attributed to several individuals:

  • Abas, king of Argos.
  • Abas, son of Poseidon and Arethusa. A Thracian by birth, Abas founded a tribe known as the Abantians or Abantes. Abas and his Abantian followers migrated to the island of Euboea, where he subsequently reigned as king. He was father of Canethus and Chalcodon, and through the latter grandfather of Elephenor, who is known to have accidentally killed him. In some accounts, Abas was also called the father of Dias, Arethusa, Alcon, Canthus (alternatively the son of Canethus and thus, his grandson).
  • Abas, son of Metaneira who was changed by Demeter into a lizard, because he mocked the goddess when she had come on her wanderings into the house of his mother, and drank eagerly to quench her thirst. Other traditions relate the same story of a boy, Ascalabus, and call his mother Misme.
  • Abas, an Argive seer, son of Melampus. He was the father of Coeranus, Idmon, and Lysimache.
  • Abas, companion of Perseus who killed Pelates, the Cinyphian ally of Phineus, during the battle that broke out at the court of King Cepheus of Ethiopia for the hand of Andromeda.
  • Abas, a Centaur who attended the wedding of Pirithous and Hippodamia.
  • Abas, defender of Thebes in the war of the Seven against Thebes. He and his sons Cydon and Argus were killed in the battle.
  • Abas, a Theban charioteer during the war of the Seven against Thebes. At the beginning of the battle, he is pierced by Pheres with a spear and left groaning for his life.
  • Abas, son of the Trojan Eurydamas and brother of Polyidus; he fought in the Trojan War and was killed by Diomedes.
  • Abas, servant of King Lycomedes on the island of Scyros. His job was to keep an eye on shipping traffic from the watchtower and to report directly to the king whether ships arrive at the port. When Odysseus came to the island with his ship to persuade Achilles, who was concealed as a girl, to take part in the War against Troy, the dutiful Abas was the first to report to the king that unknown sails were approaching the coast.
  • Abas, another defender of Troy, was killed by Sthenelus.
  • Abas, one of Diomedes's companions, whom Aphrodite turned into a swan.

In the Aeneid, the name Abas belongs to two companions of Aeneas:

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