Epigoni

For other uses, see Epigonus (disambiguation).

In Greek mythology, Epigoni (/ɪˈpɪɡənaɪ/; from Greek: Ἐπίγονοι, meaning "offspring") are the sons of the Argive heroes who had fought and been killed in the first Theban war, the subject of the Thebaid, in which Polynices and six allies (the Seven Against Thebes) attacked Thebes because Polynices' brother, Eteocles, refused to give up the throne as promised. The second Theban war, also called the war of the Epigoni, occurred ten years later, when the Epigoni, wishing to avenge the death of their fathers, attacked Thebes.

According to the Bibliotheca, they were:[1]

To this list, Pausanias also adds:[2]

The war

Both Apollodorus and Pausanias tell the story of the war of the Epigoni, although their accounts differ in several respects. According to Apollodorus, the Delphic oracle had promised victory if Alcmaeon was chosen their leader, and so he was.[1] Aegialeus was killed by Laodamas, son of Eteocles, but Alcmaeon killed Laodamas.[3] The Thebans were defeated and, by the counsel of the seer Teiresias, fled their city. However, Pausanias says that Thersander was their leader,[4] that Laodamas fled Thebes with the rest of the Thebans,[5] and that Thersander became king of Thebes.[6]

As a poetic theme

Epigoni also was an early Greek epic on this subject;[7] it formed a sequel to the Thebaid and therefore was grouped by Alexandrian critics in the Theban cycle. Some counted it not as a separate poem but as the last part of the Thebaid. Only the first line is now known:

"Now, Muses, let us begin to sing of younger men ..."

Epigoni also was a lost Greek tragedy by Sophocles. A few lines from this text have long been known because they were quoted in commentaries and lexica by ancient scholars. An additional fragment of several lines was discovered in 2005.[8]

In art

There were statues of the Epigoni at Argos[2] and Delphi.[9]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.7.2.
  2. 1 2 Pausanias, 2.20.5.
  3. ↑ Apollodorus, 3.7.3.
  4. ↑ Pausanias, 7.3.1, 9.9.4.
  5. ↑ Pausanias, 9.5.13, 9.9.5.
  6. ↑ Pausanias, 9.5.14.
  7. ↑ Herodotus, 4.32.1.
  8. ↑ "Eureka! Extraordinary discovery unlocks secrets of the ancients", David Keys and Nicholas Pyke, The Independent on Sunday, no. 791, 17 April 2005, p. 1. Appears on website Papyrology at Oxford.
  9. ↑ Pausanias, 10.10.4.

References

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