Creon, son of Menoiceus: and thus the great-grandson of Pentheus, and a member of the Theban royal line. He was the brother of Iocaste and uncle of Oedipus.

Hera sent the Sphinx: in Theog. 326, the daughter of Orthos and Chimaira. In the absence of a settled tradition, different sources point to various episodes in Theban history that might have caused a deity to send her. Ap. may be referring to the tradition that Hera sent her in anger at Laios’ abduction of Chrysippos, p. 104 (sc. Eur. Phoen. 1760); but it was also said that Ares sent her, still angry at the murder of his dragon, p. 100 (Arg. Eur. Phoen.), or Dionysos (sc. Theog. 326), angry at his rejection by Pentheus, p. 103.

a single voice: an obscure indication that the same being is involved in each case.

by Euryganeia: according to Pherecydes (sc. Eur. Phoen. 53), he first married Iocaste, who bore him two sons, Phrastos and Leonytos, but he put her aside after his descent was revealed and married Euryganeia, who bore him the sons ascribed elsewhere to Iocaste. She was the mother of his children in the Oedipodia, an early epic (P. 9. 5. 5).

cursing his sons: it was also said that he cursed them for setting the silver table and golden goblet of Cadmos before him, so reminding him of his birth (Athenaeus 465e f.), and for serving him meat from the haunch, considered a less honourable portion, rather than the shoulder (sc. Soph. Oed. Col. 1375, both quoting the Thebais, an early epic).

Arriving. . . at Colonos: following Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonos. In early sources, he continued to rule in Thebes (Od. 11. 274 ff., cf. Il. 23. 678 ff., Hes. Cat. fr. 192); this is also implied in the traditions from early epic mentioned in the previous two notes. Colonos (Sophocles’ birthplace) lay a mile north of Athens.

the Eumenides: ‘the gracious ones’, a euphemism for the Erinyes (Furies). On their sanctuary, see Soph. Oed. Col. 36 ff.; they had another by the Areiopagos (P. 1. 28. 6).

Eteocles . . . refused to give up the throne: cf. Eur. Phoenissae67 ff.; this is the dominant tradition in later sources, but the names of the brothers suggest that Polyneices, ‘the man of many quarrels’ (cf. Aesch. Seven against Thebes658), rather than Eteocles (‘true glory’), was originally the guilty party. Pherecydes and Hellanicos offered conflicting accounts (sc. Eur. Phoen. 71), the one saying that Polyneices was expelled by force, and the other that Polyneices was offered a choice between the throne and the Cadmeian treasures and chose the latter, but then tried to seize the throne as well.

Adrastos, son of Talaos: and thus a grandson of Bias, p. 47, while Amphiaraos is a descendant of the seer Melampous (cf. Od. 15. 223 ff).

Tydeus. . . had fled there from Calydon: see p. 42 and note.

a boar. . . a lion: the emblem on Tydeus’ shield refers to the Calydonian boar, and that on Polyneices’ to the lion-faced Sphinx expelled by his father Oedipus (according to sc. Eur. Phoen. 409). On this episode see also Eur. Phoenissae408 ff. and Suppliants132 ff.

went to Iphis: an Argive king descended from Proitos. Polyneices may have wanted the benefit of his local knowledge; or perhaps this is connected with the tradition that Eriphyle was the daughter of Iphis (sc. Il. 11. 326).

conflict. . . between Amphiaraos and Adrastos: they had quarrelled over the kingship, and Adrastos had been expelled for a time (see DS 4. 65. 6, with Pind. Nem. 9. 13 f.); he went to Sicyon, and ruled there after the previous king had died (P. 2. 6. 3).

allow Eriphyle to decide: as the sister of Adrastos and wife of Amphiaraos, she might be expected to be even-handed. Homer alludes to her betrayal of her husband (Od. 11. 326 f.) without telling the story.

seven leaders: corresponding to the seven gates in the walls of Thebes, see below.

Lycourgos: son of Pheres, see p. 48; Nemea was on the northern border of the Argolid.

Thoas had been spared: when the Lemnian women killed their menfolk, Hypsipyle, their queen, spared her father, see p. 50.

Archemoros: meaning the beginning of death, or first to die; cf. Bacch. 9. 14, ‘an omen of the coming slaughter’.

sent Tydeus ahead. . . to the camp: cf. Il. 4. 382 ff.; portents from the gods caused him to release Maion (ibid. 398).

advanced towards the walls: the attack on Thebes was recounted in an early epic, the Thehais, and became a favourite theme in tragedy, see Aesch. Seven against Thebes, and Eur. Phoenissae.

seven gates: see P. 9. 8. 4 ff. (who offers some explanation of the names). Hypsistan means ‘highest’; the name of the Crenidian suggests that it was by a spring.

saw the goddess completely naked: preceded by a short gap in the text. For the story, see Callimachus Hymn5. 57 ff. (probably following Pherecydes). While Athene and Chariclo, the mother of Amphiaraos, were bathing at noon in the Hippocrene, a spring on Mount Helicon in Boeotia, Teiresias, who was out with his dogs, happened to approach the waters, and caught sight of them.

purified his ears. . , the language of birds: compare the story of Melampous on p. 46 and see notes.

Hesiod says: in the Melampodeia(Hes. fr. 275), see also Appendix, 4 and note. The following story is reported somewhat differently in sc. Od. 10. 494. There he kills the female snake on the first occasion, and becomes a man again when he kills the male snake on the second; this has a certain logic, but we cannot tell whether it is closer to the version in the Melampodeiain the absence of any relevant quotation. It should be noted, however, that in all other versions, he is said to have wounded or killed one snake or both on the second occasion also (e.g. AL 17, Ov. Met. 3. 316 ff, Hyg. 75). Cyllene lay in Arcadia.

one part. . . nine parts: apparently a misinterpretation of the Melampodeia, see Appendix, 5 and note.

to a considerable age: on the same occasion Zeus granted him the privilege of living for seven generations (Phlegon under Hes. fr. 275).