This is an article about the Greek myth. For the epic on the subject, see Epigoni (epic). For the play by Sophocles, see The Progeny. For the successors of Alexander the Great (also called Epigoni) see Diadochi

In Greek mythology, and particularly the Greek Thebaid, the Epigoni (Greek Ἐπίγονοι, meaning "offspring") are the sons of the Argive heroes who had fought and died in the first Theban war. Ten years after the First Theban War, the Epigoni set out to avenge the deaths of their fathers.

A quarrel between Polynices and Eteocles, sons of Oedipus, culminated in an attempt on Thebes, led by Polynices and six allies: the Seven Against Thebes. This failed effort precipitated the Second Theban War, also called the War of the Epigoni, ten years later.

According to Apollodorus,¹ they were:

• Aegialeus, son of Adrastus
• Alcmaeon, son of Amphiaraus
• Amphilochus, son of Amphiaraus
• Diomedes, son of Tydeus
• Euryalus, son of Mecisteus
• Promachus, son of Parthenopaeus
• Sthenelus son of Capaneus
• Thersander son of Polynices

To this list, Pausanias² also adds:

• Polydorus son of Hippomedon

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.³ Aegialeus was killed by Laodamas, son of Eteocles, but Alcmaeon killed Laodamas.⁴ The Thebans were defeated and, by the counsel of the seer Teiresias, fled their city. However, Pausanias says that Thersander was their leader,⁵ that Laodamas fled Thebes with the rest of the Thebans,⁶ and that Thersander became king of Thebes.⁷

As a poetic theme

Epigoni (in Greek, Επίγονοι; "The Progeny") is the title of an early Greek epic on this subject;⁸ 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 (Epigonoi or "The Progeny") is also the title of 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.

In art

There were statues of the Epigoni at Argos⁹ and Delphi.¹⁰

References

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Epigoni

• Apollodorus, The Library, (Loeb Classical Library, No. 121, Books I-III), English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, Harvard University Press (1921), ISBN 0-674-99135-4 .
• Herodotus, The Histories, (Loeb Classical Library, No. 118, Books III-IV), English Translation by A. D. Godley, Harvard University Press (1920), ISBN 0-674-99131-1 .
• Pausanias, Description of Greece, (Loeb Classical Library, Arcadia, Boeotia, Phocis and Ozolian Locri; Books VIII-X), English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., Harvard University Press (1918), ISBN 0-674-99328-4 .
• Greek Epic Fragments ed. and tr. Martin L. West. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press) 2003.

Notes

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