CHAPTER XXIII.

THE YOUNGER HEROES.

§ 162. Their Exploits. - The exploits of the sons and grandsons of the chieftains engaged in the Calydonian Hunt and the Quest of the Golden Fleece are narrated in four stories, — the Seven against Thebes, the Siege of Troy, the Wanderings of Ulysses, and the Adventures of Æneas.

§ 163. The Seven against Thebes.1- The allies of Adrastus and Polynices in the enterprise against Thebes were Tydeus of Calydon, half-brother of Meleager, Parthenopaus of Arcadia, son of Atalanta and Mars, Capaneus of Argos, Hippomedon of Argos, and Amphiaraüs, the brother-in-law of Adrastus. Amphiaraüs opposed the expedition, for being a soothsayer, he knew that none of the leaders except Adrastus would live to return from Thebes; but on his marriage to Eriphyle, the king's sister, he had agreed that whenever he and Adrastus should differ in opinion, the decision should be left to Eriphyle. Polynices, knowing this, gave Eriphyle the necklace of Harmonia, and thereby gained her to his interest. This was the self-same necklace that Vulcan had given to Harmonia on her marriage with Cadmus ; Polynices had taken it with him on his flight from Thebes. It seems to have been still fraught with the curse of the house of Cadmus. But Eriphyle could not resist so tempting a bribe. By her decision the war was resolved on, and Amphiaraus went to his fate. He bore his part bravely in the contest, but still could not avert his destiny. While, pursued by the enemy he was fleeing along the river, a thunderbolt launched by Jupiter opened the ground, and he, his chariot, and his charioteer were swallowed up.

1 Eschyl. Seven against Thebes; Eurip. Phoenissæ; Apollod. 3:6 and 7; Hygin. Fab. 69, 70; Pausan. 8 and 9; Statius, Thebaid.

It is unnecessary here to detail all the acts of heroism or atrocity which marked this contest. The fidelity, however, of Evadne stands out as an offset to the weakness of Eriphyle. Her husband, Capaneus, having in the ardor of the fight declared that he would force his way into the city in spite of Jove himself, placed a ladder against the wall and mounted; but Jupiter, offended at his impious language, struck him with a thunderbolt. When his obsequies were celebrated, Evadne cast herself on his funeral pile and perished.

It seems that early in the contest Eteocles consulted the soothsayer Tiresias as to the issue. Now, this Tiresias in his youth had by chance seen Minerva bathing; and had been deprived by her of his sight, but afterwards had obtained of her the knowledge of future events. When consulted by Eteocles, he declared that victory should fall to Thebes if Menœceus, the son of Creon, gave himself a voluntary victim. The heroic youth, learning the response, threw away his life in the first encounter.

The siege continued long, with various success. At length both hosts agreed that the brothers should decide their quarrel by single combat. They fought, and fell each by the hand of the other. The armies then renewed the fight; and at last the invaders were forced to yield, and fled, leaving their dead unburied. Creon, the uncle of the fallen princes, now become king, caused Eteocles to be buried with distinguished honor, but suffered the body of Polynices to lie where it fell, forbidding every one, on pain of death, to give it burial.

§ 164. Antigone,' the sister of Polynices, heard with indignation the revolting edict which, consigning her brother's body to the dogs and vultures, deprived it of the rites that were considered essential to the repose of the dead. Unmoved by the dissuading counsel of her affectionate but timid sister, and unable to procure assistance, she determined to brave the hazard and to bury the body with her own hands. She was detected in the act. When

1 Sophocles, Antigone; Eurip. Suppliants.

Creon asked the fearless woman whether she dared disobey the laws, she answered:

Yes, for it was not Zeus who gave them forth,
Nor justice, dwelling with the gods below,
Who traced these laws for all the sons of men;
Nor did I deem thy edicts strong enough,
That thou, a mortal man, should'st overpass
The unwritten laws of God that know no change.
They are not of to-day nor yesterday,

But live forever, nor can man assign

When first they sprang to being. Not through fear
Of any man's resolve was I prepared

Before the gods to bear the penalty

Of sinning against these. That I should die

I knew (how should I not?), though thy decree
Had never spoken. And before my time

If I shall die, I reckon this a gain;

For whoso lives, as I, in many woes,

How can it be but he shall gain by death?
And so for me to bear this doom of thine
Has nothing fearful. But, if I had left
My mother's son unburied on his death,

In that I should have suffered; but in this
I suffer not.1

1

Creon, unyielding and unable to conceive of a law higher than that he knew, gave orders that she should be buried alive, as having deliberately set at nought the solemn edict of the city. Her lover, Hæmon, the son of Creon, unable to avert her fate, would not survive her, and fell by his own hand. It is only after his son's death, and as he gazes upon the corpses of the lovers, that the aged Creon recognizes the insolence of his narrow judgment. And those that stand beside him say:

Man's highest blessedness

In wisdom chiefly stands;

And in the things that touch upon the gods,

'Tis best in word or deed,

1 Sophocles, Antigone, ll. 450-470. Translation by E. H. Plumptre,

To shun unholy pride;

Great words of boasting bring great punishments,

And so to gray-haired age

Teach wisdom at the last.1

§ 164 a. The Epigoni.2 Such was the fall of the house of Labdacus. The bane of Cadmus expires with the family of Edipus. But the wedding gear of Harmonia has not yet fulfilled its baleful mission. Amphiaraüs had, with his last breath, enjoined his son Alcmæon to avenge him on the faithless Eriphyle. Alcmeon engaged his word; but before accomplishing the fell purpose, he was ordered by an oracle of Delphi to conduct against Thebes a new expedition. Thereto his mother Eriphyle, influenced by Thersander, the son of Polynices, and bribed this time by the gift of Harmonia's wedding garment, impelled not only Alcmæon, but her other son, Amphilochus. The descendants (Epigoni) of the former Seven thus renewed the war against Thebes. They levelled the city to the ground. Its inhabitants, counselled by Tiresias, took refuge in foreign lands. Tiresias, himself, perished during the flight. Alcmeon, returning to Argos, put his mother to death, but in consequence repeated in his own experience the penalty of Orestes. The outfit of Harmonia preserved its malign influence until, at last, it was devoted to the temple at Delphi, and removed from the sphere of mortal jealousies.

1 Sophocles, Antigone, closing chorus.

2 Pausanias 9:9, §§ 2, 3; Herodotus 5:61; Apollodorus.