The Seven Against Thebes

After the banishment of Oedipus, his twin sons Eteocles and Polyneices were elected co-kings of Thebes. They agreed to reign for alternate years, but Eteocles, would not relinquish the throne at the end of the first year, accusing his brother of having an evil disposition and banishing him from the city. Eventually Polyneices would return with six other champions to lay siege to the city. "The Seven Against Thebes" expedition ends with both Eteocles and Polyneices dead, killed by each other, before the walls of Thebes. After that, the defenders crushed the besiegers and the seven proud generals were all killed, except for Adrastus, who managed to escape thanks to his divine horse, Arion. However, the defenders of Cadmeia, the acropolis of Thebes, had so many losses that from then on any victory which looked more like a defeat as called a Cadmeian victory.The Aeschylus tragedy "Seven Against Thebes" is the only surviving play of a connected trilogy dealing with the sins of Laius (father of Oedipus) and the curse subsequently brought down upon his descendants. Aeschylus focuses on a prophecy that had been made regarding the sons of Oedipus: "They shall divide their inheritance with the sword in such a manner as to obtain equal shares." The play begins with Eteocles in command of the city and Polyneices arriving with his army of Argive soldiers. It begins with Eteocles making a call to arms and is followed by a description of the oath taken by the seven generals of the attacking armies. When the brothers kill each other during the battle by the walls of Thebes it becomes clear their "equal shares" refers to their common graves. The tragedy ends with a brief appearance by Antigone, who declares her intention to bury her brother Polyneices in defiance of the command of Creon, who now becomes king of Thebes. This tragedy comes after the events related by Sophocles in "Oedipus at Colonus," but obviously before what happens in his "Antigone." What is interesting here is the psychological portrait that Aeschylus presents of the two brothers, even though only one of them appears in the play (the idea of having to different settings was apparently too much of a radical idea for drama at that time). Such insights are nominally something we would expect from Sophocles, but this is Aeschylus who is developing the split between the brothers in terms of oppositional pairs of characteristics. Clearly the idea is that one cannot exist (live) without the other, which makes their dying together justified by logic as well as the curse on the House of Oedipus. It is difficult to judge this play and appreciate it as the climax to this particular trilogy without knowing much more about the preceding plays dealing with the two earlier generations of the house of Cadmus. What is clear is that Eteocles does not deserve much sympathy from the audience given that he has a greater culpability in his demise than either his father or his sister, at least in ter

This excellent edition of Seven Against Thebes is part of Oxford University Press' ongoing series Greek Tragedy in New Translations, the idea behind which is that these plays should be translated into English not just by Greek scholars, but also by poets, to preserve as much of the real communicative power and drama as possible.This edition is ideal for reluctant students assigned to read Seven Against Thebes, and may even succeed in sparking their interest in the subject. The language is true to the play and stays vivid even through a few static moments. As with all the plays in this series, the introduction provides information not only about how the translation was accomplished, but also about how the play would have been performed, and perceived, by the ancient Greeks, what's missing from the play (namely, the first two plays of a trilogy), and notes about how the play fits into the scheme of Greek tragedy.Other plays in the series, such as Oedipus the King, are also highly recommended.This review applies only to the Hecht/Bacon translation published by Oxford University Press in their Greek Tragedy in New Translations series, and not to the Dover Thrift edition.

This is the third play in a trilogy, the other two being lost. The play results in an end to the curse on the Oedipus family. However, it is different from the approach later used by Sophocles. Here, there is no redemption from within. The curse ends only when the family becomes extinct. The two sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polyneices, who were to share power in Thebes, have quarrelled. Eteocles seizes power and Polyneices goes to get help from Adrastus, King of Argos, and six other kings. Eteocles sends champions to fight the six kings at six of the gates of Thebes. The seventh gate is left to Eteocles. However, that is the gate to which his brother comes. Eteocles feels that he has no choice but to fight and further incur the wrath of the gods by shedding kindred blood. "When the gods send destruction there is no escape." Eteocles had an "out" of his predicament but he choses not to use it. One really sees the pains of conflict and war in this play.