THE THEBAN SAGA 379
- Cadmus 6. Laius
- Pentheus 7. Oedipus (regency of Creon)
- Labdacus 8. Eteocles
- Lycus 9. Creon
- Zethus and Amphion 10. Laodamas
Figure 17.1. The Kings of ThebesDespite the misfortunes of their daughters, Cadmus and Harmonia reigned
a long time, civilizing their people and introducing knowledge of writing. Even-
tually they went away to northwest Greece, where Cadmus became king of the
Illyrians; at the end of their lives, they both were turned into great harmless ser-
pents (according to Euripides and Ovid; Apollodorus says that Zeus sent them
to Elysium). They were worshiped by their descendants, and their departure
from Cadmeia was not the outcome of any misdeed or grief, but a symbol of
their change from mortal to heroic or divine status.
THE FAMILIES OF LABDACUS AND LYCUS
LYCUS AND ANTIOPE
Cadmus' successor as king was his grandson Pentheus, son of Agave, whose
misfortunes are dealt with in Chapter 13. After his death, a new dynasty was
founded by Labdacus, possibly a grandson of Cadmus. He is said to have per-
ished while pursuing the same policy as Pentheus, leaving as his successor an
infant son, Laius. Lycus, a great-great-uncle of Laius, first assumed the regency
and then made himself king, reigning for twenty years. He was the son of
Chthonius, one of the five Spartoi, and his family has an important legend. His
brother's daughter Antiope was loved by Zeus; while she was pregnant, she fled
to Sicyon (a city in the northern Péloponnèse) to escape from the anger of her
father, Nycteus. In despair Nycteus killed himself, and his brother (Lycus) then
attacked Sicyon and recovered Antiope.
Somewhere in Boeotia, Antiope gave birth to twin sons, who were left to
die. A shepherd found them and named them Amphion and Zethus. Zethus be-
came a skilled herdsman, Amphion a musician, playing on a lyre given him by
the god Hermes. Many years later, Amphion and Zethus met and recognized
their mother, who had escaped from the imprisonment in which she was kept
by Lycus and his wife, Dirce. They avenged Antiope by killing Lycus and tying
Dirce to the horns of a bull that dragged her to her death. From her blood sprang
the fountain at Thebes that is called by her name.
Amphion and Zethus now became rulers of Cadmeia and drove Laius into