When the boy grew up and surpassed the others of his age in strength, they grew jealous and poured scorn on him for being a supposititious child.* He questioned Periboia but could learn nothing from her, so he went to Delphi and asked who his true parents were. The god told him not to return to his native land, for if he did, he would murder his father and sleep with his mother. Hearing this, and believing that he really was born from those who were said to be his parents, he kept away from Corinth. But as he was travelling through Phocis in his chariot, he came across Laios, also driving in a chariot, on a certain narrow track.* And when Polyphontes, the herald of Laios, told him to make way, and killed one of his horses because he refused to obey or was slow to do so, Oedipus was enraged and killed both Polyphontes and Laios; and he drove on to Thebes.

⁸Laios was buried by Damasistratos, king of Plataea, and Creon, son of Menoiceus,* succeeded to the throne. During his reign, a disaster of no small proportion struck Thebes; for Hera sent the Sphinx.* The mother of the Sphinx was Echidna and her father Typhon, and she had the face of a woman, the chest, feet, and tail of a lion, and the wings of a bird. She had learned a riddle from the Muses, and seated on Mount Phicion, she posed it to the Thebans. The riddle ran as follows: what is it that has a single voice,* and has four feet, and then two feet, and then three feet? Now the Thebans possessed an oracle telling them that they would be freed from the Sphinx when they solved her riddle, so they gathered together repeatedly to seek the solution; but when they failed to discover it, the Sphinx would carry one of them off and devour him. When many had died in this way, including, ultimately, Creon’s son Harmon, Creon proclaimed that he would give both the kingdom and the widow of Laios to the man who could solve the riddle. When Oedipus heard of this, he supplied the answer, saying that the riddle of the Sphinx referred to man; for he is four-footed as a baby when he crawls on all fours, two-footed as an adult, and takes on a third limb in old age in the form of a stick. So the Sphinx hurled herself from the Acropolis, and Oedipus took over the kingdom, and also, without realizing it, married his mother. He had two sons by her, Polyneices and Eteocles, and two daughters, Ismene and Antigone. There are some who say, however, that these children were born to him by Euryganeia,* daughter of Hyperphas.

⁹Afterwards, when what was unknown was revealed, Iocaste hanged herself in a noose, and Oedipus put out his eyes and was driven from Thebes, cursing his sons,* who watched him being expelled from the city without coming to his aid. Arriving with Antigone at Colonos* in Attica, where the sanctuary of the Eumenides* lies, he sat down there as a suppliant and received a friendly reception from Theseus, and died not long afterwards.

7. The Theban Wars

Eteocles and the exile of Polyneices to Argos

¹Eteocles and Polyneices came to an agreement over the

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throne, deciding that each of them should rule in alternate years. Some say that Polyneices was the first to rule, and that after a year he surrendered the throne to Eteocles; while according to others, Eteocles was the first to rule, and refused to give up the throne.* In any case, Polyneices was exiled from Thebes and arrived in Argos, bringing with him the necklace and robe [of Harmonia]. Argos was ruled at that time by Adrastos, son of Talaos;* and as Polyneices was approaching his palace by night, he became involved in a fight with Tydeus, son of Oineus, who had fled there from Calydon.* In response to the sudden outbreak of shouting, Adrastos came out and separated the pair; and calling to mind the advice of a diviner who told him to yoke his daughters to a boar and a lion, he chose the two of them as their husbands, because one of them had the front half of a boar on his shield and the other that of a lion.* So Tydeus married Deipyle and Polyneices, Argeia; and Adrastos promised to restore both of them to their native lands. He was eager to march against Thebes initially, and gathered together the leading warriors.

Prelude in Argos: Amphiaraos and Eriphyle

²But Amphiaraos, son of Oicles, who was a diviner and foresaw that all who took part in the expedition except for Adrastos were destined to be killed, was reluctant to join the expedition himself and tried to dissuade the others. Polyneices went to Iphis,* son of Alector, and asked to be told how Amphiaraos could be compelled to take part; and he replied that this could be brought to pass if Eriphyle gained possession of the necklace. Although Eriphyle had been told by Amphiaraos not to accept gifts from Polyneices, he gave her the necklace and asked her to persuade Amphiaraos to join the expedition. This lay within her power, because earlier, when [a conflict had] arisen between Amphiaraos and Adrastos,* Amphiaraos had sworn at its conclusion that if he had any future disagreements with Adrastos, he would allow Eriphyle to decide* between them. So now, when there was to be a campaign against Thebes and it was supported by Adrastos but opposed by Amphiaraos, Eriphyle, on receiving the necklace, persuaded her husband to march with Adrastos. Joining the expedition under compulsion, Amphiaraos left orders for his sons telling them to kill their mother when they came of age and mount a campaign against Thebes.

The advance against Thebes and stationing of the champions

³When he had assembled [an army] under seven leaders,* Adrastos hastened to war against Thebes. The leaders were the following: Adrastos, son of Talaos; Amphiaraos, son of Oicles; Capaneus, son of Hipponoos; Hippomedon, son of Aristo-machos or according to some, of Talaos; all of these came from Argos, but Polyneices, son of Oedipus, came from Thebes, while Tydeus, son of Oineus, was an Aetolian, and Parthenopaios, son of Melanion, an Arcadian. In some sources, however, Tydeus and Polyneices are not counted amongst the seven, and Eteoclos, son of Iphis, and Mecisteus are listed instead.

⁴When they arrived at Nemea, which was then under the rule of Lycourgos,* they went in search of water; and Hypsipyle showed them the way to a spring, leaving behind a young child, Opheltes. This was a son of Eurydice and Lycourgos who was being reared by Hypsipyle; for when the Lemnian women had discovered that [her father] Thoas had been spared,* they had killed him and sold Hypsipyle abroad, and for that reason she was serving with Lycourgos as a purchased slave. As she was pointing the way to the spring, the child who had been left behind was killed by a snake; and when Adrastos and his companions reappeared, they killed the snake and buried the child. Amphiaraos told them that this was a sign foretelling what would happen in the future: so they named the child Archemoros*And in his honour, they founded the Isthmian Games. The horse race was won by Adrastos, the foot-race by Eteoclos, the boxing by Tydeus, the jumping and discus-throwing by Amphiaraos, the javelin-throwing by Laodocos, the wrestling by Polyneices, and the archery by Parthenopaios.

⁵On their arrival at Cithairon, they sent Tydeus ahead to give notice to Eteocles that he should surrender the kingdom to Polyneices in accordance with their agreement. When Eteocles paid no attention, Tydeus, wanting to test out the Thebans, challenged them to single combat and was victorious every time. The Thebans for their part armed fifty men and set an ambush for him on his departure; but he killed all of them, except for Maion, and made his way back to the camp.*