Produced in 467 BC
In Ancient Greek Ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ Θήβας (Hepta epi Thēbas); also known as Septem Contra Thebas in Latin
Mythical Background
Homer Odyssey 11.260-265
"Next to her I saw Antiope, daughter to Asopus, who could boast of having slept in the arms even of Jove himself, and who bore him two sons Amphion and Zethus. These founded Thebes with its seven gates, and built a wall all round it; for strong though they were they could not hold Thebes till they had walled it."
Pausanias: Description of Greece - 9.5.12-14
Polyneices retired from Thebes while Oedipus was still alive and reigning, in fear lest the curses of the father should be brought to pass upon the sons. He went to Argos and married a daughter of Adrastus, but returned to Thebes, being fetched by Eteocles after the death of Oedipus. On his return he quarrelled with Eteocles, and so went into exile a second time. He begged Adrastus to give him a force to effect his return, but lost his army and fought a duel with Eteocles as the result of a challenge.
Both fell in the duel, and the kingdom devolved on Laodamas, son of Eteocles; Creon, the son of Menoeceus, was in power as regent and guardian of Laodamas. When the latter had grown up and held the kingship, the Argives led their army for the second time against Thebes. The Thebans encamped over against them at Glisas. When they joined in battle, Aegialeus, the son of Adrastus, was killed by Laodamas but the Argives were victorious in the fight, and Laodamas, with any Theban willing to accompany him, withdrew when night came to Illyria.
The Argives captured Thebes and handed it over to Thersander, son of Polyneices.
Dramatis Personae:
Scout [Spy for Thebes]
Chorus of Theban Maidens
Messenger/Herald
Polyneices – brother of Eteocles, [appears on stage only as a corpse]
[Antigone – sister of Eteocles]
[Ismene – sister of Eteocles]
[Heralds]
Setting: The Acropolis of Thebes. There are some simple effigies of gods on pedestals. The Acropolis overlooks the plains of Thebes in the distance. Time is before dawn.
Summary:
Prologue [Lines 1–77]:
Eteocles addresses the citizens of Thebes as leader of the city, and descendant of Cadmus, its founder. He tells of how auguries have prophesied of a violent assault upon the city which is to be made that very night He urges all citizens to take their stand on the parapets in her defence and prepare for a siege.
A Scout/Spy enters bringing news that seven fearsome warriors from Argos have come each with their forces and are now preparing to attack, and how each of them has been assigned one to each of the seven gates of Thebes. He reports that Adrastus, leader of the attacking forces [and the father-in-law to Polyneices] and the other Argive chieftains, have sworn to put to rights the injustice done to Polyneices by Eteocles.
Eteocles prays to Zeus and the Furies [Erinyes] to protect his city from them so that it might avoid destruction.
Parodos [Lines 78–181]:
The Chorus of Theban Maidens sing in a hysterical fashion in the fear which has been caused by hearing the approaching army, and the clashes of war, and the forthcoming siege. They turn to embrace the effigies of the gods [on the acropolis] with cries and appeals for help.
Episode 1 [Lines 182–286]:
Eteocles expresses his contempt for the weakness of women and orders them to be silent lest they spread panic amongst the citizens of Thebes. They remark that they face slavery, and that Fate will be the same for all inhabitants whether they be male or female. They agree to direct their prayers more to raise the morale of the defenders of the city.
Eteocles promises to make abundant sacrifices to the guardian gods of the city, and to cover their shrines with spoils captured from the enemy. He leaves the stage to station six Theban champions to guard six of the gates of the city whilst he himself proposes to guard the seventh.
Stasimon 1 [Lines 287–368]:
The Chorus continue to express their fears for the city's destruction. Their lament depicts the miseries of a captured city.
Episode 2 [Lines 369–719]:
Enter Eteocles and the Spy. This episode is known as the Shield Scene. During this scene there is a pairing of the Argive attackers and each with a Theban defending champion. It is an extended dialogue explicitly concerned with visual and verbal symbols. The symbols on the shields of the attackers are interpreted by Eteocles to be representative of the hubris and arrogance of each of the warriors concerned.
The scene is divided into seven pairs of speeches. The Scout [Spy] lists the identity of each of the seven attacking warriors assigned to lead the attack, one to each of Thebes’ seven gates, describing the blazon on each their shields. Eteocles then interprets the image on each, attempting to deflect its threat to the city. He then assigns an appropriate Theban champion to match each one of the Argive attacking warriors. After every pair of speeches, the Chorus responds briefly wishing success to the defender or death to the attacker. When Eteocles assigns himself to fight against his brother, Polyneices, at the seventh gate, the Chorus tries unsuccessfully to discourage him from making this mistake. They remark that it is an extremely bad omen were a brother to shed the blood of a kinsman.
The seven attackers and defenders of each gate in the play are:
Tydeus bears upon his shield the full moon, "the eye of the night".
Capaneus has upon his shield an unarmed man bearing a torch to set fire to the city.
Eteoclus has a figure climbing a tower by means of a scaling ladder.
The attacker Hippomedion, bears the image of Typhon on his shield; to match it the defender Hyperbios has the figure of Zeus.
Parthenopaios has a figure of the Sphinx on his shield. She represents the 'shame of Thebes', and below her is depicted a Theban warrior grasped in her claws.
Amphiaraus' shield is blank. There is no omen on it to be interpreted.
Polyneices has the figure of Justice on his shield with a motto saying, "I will bring this man back from exile."
Stasimon 2 [Lines 720–791]:
The Chorus sing of the transgressions made against the gods by the house of Labadacus and his descendants, how his son Laius had disobeyed the god Apollo of the Delphic oracle and his warning and prohibition not to beget children, and also of Oedipus’ prophetic curse upon his own sons, Polyneices and Eteocles, namely that each would kill the other one in a battle using iron swords made in Scythia.
Episode 3 [Lines 792–821]:
The Spy returns to report that the enemy has been successfully repulsed from six of the city gates, and that the Thebans have successfully defended their city. He announces that the city is now safe, but he also brings the news that the brothers have each killed the other one at the seventh gate.
Stasimon 3 [Lines 822–874]:
The Chorus lament the curse on the house of Oedipus and how it has brought about the deaths of the two brothers,
[Lines 861-874 are believed by scholars to have been added by later writers.]
[The arrival of Antigone and Ismene, sisters of the dead brothers are announced].
Antiphonal Dirge and [Original] Exodos [Lines 875–1004]:
The Chorus splits into two groups each of which sings in alternate strophes lamenting the deaths of the two brothers.
Finale [Lines 1005–1078]:
[The lines of this Finale are believed by scholars not to have been written by Aeschylus but were added by other writers some 50 years later because of the popularity of Sophocles' play, Antigone. The ending of Seven against Thebes was altered about fifty years after Aeschylus' death to act as a kind of lead-in for the plot in the famous Sophoclean play.]
[A Herald enters announcing a decree which has been made by the Theban Elders prohibiting burial for Polyneices, and how Eteocles is to be buried with full honours. Antigone rejects this, vowing immediately that she will defy this edict regardless of the consequences to herself. The Chorus divides into two halves. Half the Chorus says it will support Antigone and her cause. The other Half-Chorus says it will support the decision and edict of the Elders.]
References
Seven Against Thebes - Wikipedia
Seven Against Thebes - Encyclopedia.com
Seven Against Thebes by Aeschylus - GreekMythology.com
Aeschylus: Seven Against Thebes (Ἑπτά ἐπὶ Θήβας) - Wiley Online Library
Aeschylus-Seven-Against-Thebes.pdf - Kosmos Society
ATHENA TITLES & EPITHETS - Ancient Greek Religion
Adrastus - GreekMythology.com
Labdacus - Wikipedia
Greek & Roman Mythology - The House of Thebes
Amphion and Zethus - Oxford Classical Dictionary
Greek Mythology References
Argive Attackers
Tydeus
Capaneus
Eteoclus
Hippomedon
Parthenopeus
Amphiaraus
Polyneices
Theban Defenders
Melanippus
Polyphontes
Megareus
Hyperbius
Actor
Lasthenes
Eteocles
Froma I. Zeitlin (2009). Under the Sign of the Shield: Semiotics and Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-2589-2.
Author(s): Thomas Rosenmeyer
Source: Arion: A Journal of Humanities and the Classics , Spring, 1962, Vol. 1, No. 1 pp. 48-78
Published by: Trustees of Boston University; Trustees of Boston University through its publication Arion: A Journal of Humanities and the Classics
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20162766
Aeschylus: Seven against Theb es: Torrance, Isabelle C - Internet Archive
Memory in Aeschylus' Seven "Against Thebes"
Author(s): Jerome Mazzaro
Source: Comparative Drama, Summer 1984, Vol. 18, No. 2 (Summer 1984), pp. 118-136
Published by: Comparative Drama
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41153115
The Seven against Thebes as Propaganda for Pericles
L. A. Post
The Classical Weekly
Vol. 44, No. 4 (Dec. 11, 1950), pp. 49-52 (4 pages)
Published By: The Johns Hopkins University Press
https://doi.org/10.2307/4342813
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4342813
The Power of Words in the Seven against Thebes
Author(s): H. D. Cameron
Source: Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 101
(1970), pp. 95-118
Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2936042
www.persee.fr/doc/antiq_0770-2817_1990_num_59_1_2278
Pausanias Description Of Greece Vol-4 Book IX Boeotia : W H S Jones : Internet Archive
The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites: Richard Stillwell - Internet Archive https://bit.ly/3o8xoaB
Greek Versions
The Seven Against Thebes of Aeschylus - Paley
Aeschylus (1864). Aeschyli Septem contra Thebas. The seven against Thebes, from the text of Dindorf's third ed., ed. by J. Davies.
Les sept contre Thèbes / Eschyle ; [expliqués, annotés et revus pour la traduction française, par M. Materne,...] | Gallica
Sieben gegen Theben : Aeschylus - Internet Archive Teubner
Translations
The Internet Classics Archive - The Seven Against Thebes by Aeschylus
Seven Against Thebes - Gutenberg
The seven against Thebes of Aeschylus (1900 edition) | Open Library tr. Edwyn Bevan
Aeschylus (1897). Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound and the Seven Against Thebes. Library of Alexandria. pp. 38–. ISBN 978-1-4655-0469-2.
AESCHYLUS, SEVEN AGAINST THEBES - Theoi Classical Texts Library Translated by Smyth, Herbert Weir
Aeschylus; Phillip Vellacott (trans.) (1961). Prometheus Bound and Other Plays. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 978-0-14-044112-3.
Aeschylus; Alan H. Sommerstein (tr.) (26 November 2009). The Persians and Other Plays: The Persians / Prometheus Bound / Seven Against Thebes / The Suppliants. Penguin Adult. ISBN 978-0-14-044999-0.
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