Thebaid

The Thebaid is the second poem of the Theban Cycle and chronicles the quarrels between the two brothers Polynices and Etceocles which result in the assault of Thebes by the seven.

The poem is said to have been from the perspective of Argive assailants rather than the Theban defenders as inn the seven against Thebes. Thus it gives a story of tragic failure rather that relief from deconstruction.

## Theban Cycle

### Next Poem

Epigoni

An account of the poem is given by pseudo-Apollodorus in the Library of
Greek mythology. The poem would have begun with the abdication of Oedipus, his
sons then divide his inheritance the material goods going to Polynices while
the throne and title went to Etceocles. Polnices would have recived the robe
and necklace of Harmonia two cursed objects that play a key role in the
narrative of the Theban cycle.

An exiled Polynices arrives in Argos at the same time as Tydeus, the two
argue and a fight breaks out. There squabke is broken up by Adrastus king of
Argos telling of a prophecy that he had been told, he was to give his daughters
in marriage to a lion and a wild boar. These were the animals depicted on the shields
of the two men, Polynices having the Lion and Tydeus the wild boar. Adrastus takes
it upon himself to win back the throne for Polynices and gavers an army to
assiet him. This army includes the seven warlords. Seven warriors led the
Argive expedition including Polynices, Tydeus and king Adrastus, they were also
joined by Amphiaraus, Capaneus, Hippomedon and Parthenopaeus. All went by their
free will except for Amphiaraus soothsayer and warrior who went by the influence
of his wife Eriphyle even though had foreseen his own demise.

During the journey to Thebes a stop is made at the town of Nemea Opheltes
dies from a snake bite after being left unprotected by his wet nurse Hypsipyle.
This is seen as a omen that the expedition is to fail, this caused the child to
be renamed Archemorus for one that brings about disgrace. The origin of the games
of Nemea are mythicized as they are founded in honour of him.

The seven arrive at gates of Thebes and do battle with the seven defenders
of the city. It is believed that the seven met their ends in the same way as in
the Drama. The heroes route the defenders and it seems that victory is at hand,
Capaneus scales the city walls bosting that not even Zeus could stop him now
for his blasphemy Capaneus is struck by lightning and killed. The death of Capaneus
is the point where the tide turns against the attackers they retreat and each
is killed in turn. Hippomendon is killed by Ismarus. Parthenopaeus is killed by
Asphodicus either by being thrown from the walls or while in retreat.

Tydeus is fatally wounded by Melanippus and while he lays dying Athena goes
to fetch him the elixir of immortality that could save his life. While this is
happening Melanippus is killed and his head given to Tydeus who promptly eats
it, this action denies Tydeus his importantly as when Athena returns she is so
disgusted that she pours away the elixir in disgust.

Amphiaraus trying to ride in retreat is swallowed by the earth and taken to
the underworld, though it is disputed as to whether this appeared in this epic
poem or not, as some vases show him being hit by a spear in the back.

Eteoclus and Polnices fight and kill each other at the city gates.

Only Adrastus remains as the sole survivor of the failed assault he would organise
another expedition in the poems sequel.

## Fragments

The first fragmenat of the poem is taken from the “Contest

of Hesiod of Homer” and reads

> *Homer, after his defeat in the contest, went about reciting*
> his poems: firstly the Thebaid (7,000 lines), which begins:
>
>

> Sing, goddess, of thirsty Argos, from where the lords.
>
>

*The poem begins from the Argive perspective rather than a*
Theban one, the line is also very similar to the opening to the Iliad

> *Sing, goddess, of the wrath of Achilles, Peleus‘ son’*
>
>

The second and third fragments talks of the curse bestowed by

Oedipus on his sons and his motive for doing so

Oedipus cursed his sons on account of cups, as the author of
the Cyclic Thebaid says, because they set before him a cup that he had
forbidden.

These are his words:

> *“But the highborn hero, flaxen-haired Polynices, firstly set*
>
>
> beside Oedipus the fine silver table of Cadmus the godly; then he filled his
> fine gold cup with sweet wine. But when he became aware that his father’s
> precious treasures had been set beside him, some great evil invaded his heart,
> and at once he laid dreadful curses on both his sons, which the divine Erinys
> did not fail to note: that they should not divide their patrimony in
>
>
>
> friendship, but the two of them ever in battle and strife . . .”
>
>

*The presentation of the table and cup of Cadmus that previously*

belonged to Laius acted as evocation of the incest that Oedipus had committed. This
provokes Oedipus to pray to Erinys that his sons would never divide his wealth
peacefully and be forever in perpetual conflict. This predicts the conflict
that would follow between the two brothers and the Argives and Thebes.

Eteocles and Polynices, who customarily sent their father Oedipus
the shoulder as his portion from every sacrificial animal, omitted to do so on
one occasion, whether from simple negligence or for whatever reason, and sent
him a haunch. He, in a mean and thoroughly ignoble spirit, but all the same,
laid curses on them, considering he was being slighted. The author of the

Cyclic Thebaid records this as follows:

> *When he realized it was a haunch, he threw it to the ground*
> and said, "Oh, my sons have insultingly sent…..”
>
>

> \*
>
>

> He prayed to Zeus the king and to the other immortals that
>
>

> they should go down into Hades' house at each other’s hands.
>
>

*Oedipus increases the severity of the curse when he is given*

the thigh of a sacrificed animal by his sons rather than, as custom dictates, the
shoulder blade. This could be seen as yet another reference to his crime of incest.
In response Oedipus pleads to Zeus for the death of his sons at their own
hands. This then tells us that both brothers were doomed to annihilate each
other before the conflict had even started. This along with the curse of conflict
itself has led to the Thebaid as having no dramatic development. However, we do
not know where these fragments are placed within the structure of the poem and
it could be the case that they may have been in flashbacks or a speech.’

The fourth fragment comes from Pseudo-Apollodorus summary of
the myths of Thebes, the Fragment references the Theban itself and concerns the

genealogy of Tydeus.

> *When Althaea died, Oineus married Periboia the daughter of Hipponoos.*
>
>
> The writer of the Thebaid says that Oineus got her as a prize from the sack of
>
>
>
> Olenos, whereas Hesiod says…… from her Tydeus was born to Oeneus.
>
>

*Pseudo-Apollodorus mentions four version of this genealogy but*

the Thebiad is the only one the makes Tydeus the son of a slave.

The 5th Fragment is from Pausanias’ description Greece

and concerns the fate of Parthenopaeus

> *And this Asphodicus in the battle against the Argives killed*
>
>
> Parthenopaeus the son of Talaos, according to what the Thebans say; the verses
>
>
>
> about Parthenopaeus’ death in the Thebaid make Periclymenus the one who slew him.
>
>

*The poem could have taken its source from a more archaic version*

of the legend, it is also possible that Periclymenus could have been the lover
of Ismene the sister of Antigone, if Antigone indeed played a role within the Theban
Cycle.

The next fragment concerns the fate of Tydeus and his act of

brutality

> *Tydeus the sons of Oineus in the Theban war was wpinded by*
>
>
> Melanippus the son of Astacus. Amphiaraus killed Melanippus and brought back
> his head, which Tydeus split open and gobbled the brain in a passion. When
> Athena, who was brining Tydeus immortality, saw the horror, she turned away
> from him. Tydeus on realizing this begged the goddess to at least to bestow
>
>
>
> immortality on his son.
>
>

*This is considered to be one of the un-Homeric features of*

this poem as cannibalism was confined to the actions of monsters in most epic
poems only the threat of eating the flesh of enemies was spoken in the Iliad,
but the action was never performed.

The next fragment gives how the poem was used by groups in

Greece and also the portion of the poem that dealt with the retreat by the Argives.

> *They say that Demeter bore a daughter by Poseidon…and the*
>
>
> horse Arion…. And they adduce verses from the Iliad and from the Thebaid as
> evidence of their tale, saying that in the Iliad it is written of Arion himself….and
>
>
>
> in the Thebaid that Adrastus fled from Thebes,
>
>

> His clothes in sorry state, with Arion the sablehaired.’
>
>

> So, they want the verse to hint that Poseidon was father to
> Arion
>
>

*Shown here also was the state of disaster that the retreating*

Argive fighters were in. It also gives the origins of the legendary horse that
featured in both the Iliad and Thebaid. The next fragment also concerns the legendary

horse.

> *Poseidon fell in love with Erinys and changing his form into*
>
>
> a horse he had intercourse with her by the fountain Tilphousa in Boeotia. She
> conceived and gave birth to a horse, which was called Arion because of its
> supremacy. 8 Copreus, who was king at Haliartus, a town in Boeotia, received
> him from Poseidon as a gift. He gave him to Heracles when the latter stayed with
> him. Heracles used him to compete against Ares' son Cycnus in a horse race at
> the shrine of Pagasaean Apollo, which is near Troezen, 9 and won. Then Heracles
> gave the foal in turn to Adrastus, and thanks to him Adrastus alone was saved
> from the Theban war when all the others perished. The story is in the Cyclic
>
>
>
> poets.
>
>

*This fragment we do not know if it was part of the Thebaid*

as it gives a different origin of Arion, all we know is that it came from one
the Cyclic poets.

The next fragment is from Pindar and was given at the defeat

of

> *Then after the seven dead were hallowed on the pyre, the son*
>
>
> of Talaos 3 at Thebes said something like this: "I miss my army's seeing
>
>
>
> eye, both a good seer and good at fighting with the spear."
>
>

> Asclepiades (of Myrlea) says Pindar has taken this from the Cyclic
> Thebaid:
>
>

> (Amphiaraus), both a good seer and good at fighting with the
> spear.
>
>

*This concerns the funerals of the seven Argive leaders. Amphiaraus*

is mentioned in particular as he his body was not there to be buried. The mention
Amphiaraus in several of the fragments could hint that he played a special role
within the poem embodying the heroic ideal of Greek epic poetry in a unique, due
to him being a soothsayer as well.

Another fragment that could have shown Amphiaraus’ importance

in the poem is this piece of advice to his son

> *"Pray hold to the octopus' outlook, Amphilochus my son,*
>
>
> and adapt it to whatever people you come among; be changeable and go along with
>
>
>
> the color."
>
>

*This fragment is believed to be given about the departure of*

Amphiaraus from his family to partake in the conflict, an event that has been
depicted archaic art a great number of times. Amphiaraus is usually portrayed as
looking at his wife Eriphyle threateningly as she wears the necklace of Harmonia.
Eriphyle was bribed with the necklace by Polynices to ensure Amphiaraus service
in the war against Thebes. Amphiaraus on the other hand had foreseen the
failure of the expedition and refused to go. It took Eriphyle to convince him
to take part due to the oath he had to her. The necklace of Harmonia given to Eriphyle
would be of great importance to the further epics of the Theban cycle.

One of the reasons that Eriphyle could convince Amphiaraus
to take part in the conflict was due to the mediary role that she took upon

herself as this fragment shows

> *A quarrel came about between Amphiaraus and Adrastus, with*
>
>
> the consequence that Talaos was killed by Amphiaraus and Adrastus fled to
> Sicyon . . . But later they came to terms, it being provided that Amphiaraus
>
>
>
> should marry Eriphyle, that if any
>
>

> great dispute
> should arise between the two of them,
>
>

> she would arbitrate.
>
>

*Though it is not known if the quote comes from the Thebaid only*

that it is the best candidate.

The final fragment comes from Plato’s Phaedrus where it was
quoted

How do we imagine the honey-voiced Adrastus or even Pericles
would react, if they could hear of the wonderful rhetorical devices we were
just going through, etc.

This might give us an Epithet for Adrastus that might have
been used in the poem, it certainly fits his role within the narrative.

## Misc

A possible attentive title to the Thebaid was *Amphiaraus' departure* if this was the case it would mean that he was indeed the protagonist of the poem. This might resolve some of Un-Homeric elements within the poem and its ambiguity.

1. ↑ ↑ Ettore Cingano, ‘Oedipodea’, in Marco Fantuzzi and Christos Tsagalis (ed.), *The Greek Epic Cycle and its Ancient Reception*(Cambridge: Cambridge University Pres, 2016), p. 226-244