Classical Mythology

THE THEBAN SAGA 397

Hippomedon with a war-cry stands before the gates of Athena. ... It was

no mean craftsman who placed this work upon his shield, Typhon, belching

fiery smoke through his mouth, and the encircling hollow of the shield is cov-

ered with wreathed serpents....

[Parthenopaeus the Arcadian] swears... that he will violently sack the city

of Cadmeia.... Upon his bronze shield he wields the flesh-eating Sphinx, the

reproach of the city....

The sixth I would say is the most virtuous man, the prophet best in might,

strong Amphiaraiis.... Upon his shield was no sign, for he did not wish to

seem, but to be, the best.... Against him I advise setting wise and virtuous de-

fenders, for terrible are those whom the gods revere.

Finally the herald describes Polynices, whose threats against his brother are

the most terrible of all. Upon his shield is a double device, a woman leading an

armed man:

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She says she is Justice, as the inscription says: "I will bring this man back, and
he shall possess his father's city and go about its houses."
In these descriptions, Aeschylus has given an impressive picture of the heroic
stature of the Seven, whose individual characters are delineated through the de-
vices on their shields. Eteocles refuses to be intimidated and arms himself for
battle, denying that Justice is on Polynices' side. He knows that he must kill his
brother, and he knows that in so doing he will be the instrument fulfilling the
curse of Oedipus. When the Chorus asks him if he wishes to kill his own brother,
he replies, "When the gods give evil, you cannot escape their gift."
These were the final words of Eteocles before the Seven attacked the city, and
they express the inevitability of the curse on the sons of Oedipus. The failure of
the Seven was foretold by the Theban prophet Tiresias, who prophesied that if
one of the Spartoi sacrificed himself, the city would have atoned fully for the blood-
guilt incurred by the killing of Ares' sacred serpent and so be saved. Here is part
of the prophecy of Tiresias, as given by Euripides (Phoenissae 931-941):

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This man [i.e., Menoeceus] must be killed at the lair of the earthborn serpent,

the guardian of Dirce's fountain, and he must pay the earth with his blood for

the water drawn by Cadmus. This is the result of the ancient anger of Ares, who

will avenge the death of the earthborn serpent. If you [i.e., Creon and the The-

bans] do this, you will have Ares as your ally. If the earth takes your fruit for

hers, and for her blood the blood of mortals, she will favor you—she who once

put forth the gold-helmeted crop of Sown Men [Spartoi]. Of their descendants,

one must die, one who is descended from the serpent.

Menoeceus, son of Creon and a descendant of the Spartoi, willingly died for

the city: "Dying for the city," says the messenger in Euripides' play (Phoenissae

1090-1092), "he plunged the black-bound sword through his throat to save this

land, upon the top of the city-walls," and so he fell into the serpent's lair. In the

ensuing fight, only Capaneus succeeded in scaling the wall. As he reached the