Epigoni
The sons of the Seven against Thebes who returned a generation later and successfully sacked the city their fathers died attacking.
The Meaning of Epigoni
The fathers all died at Thebes — the sons went back and finished the job. The Epigoni campaign happened ten years after the original Seven's disastrous assault. Where the fathers had ignored prophecy and fallen to hubris, the sons followed oracular guidance: Alcmaeon led instead of Adrastus, and Tiresias predicted Theban defeat. Thebes fell. Tiresias himself died during the city's evacuation. The Epigoni myth established a powerful Greek pattern: the next generation completes what the first began. Thersander, son of Polynices, finally took the Theban throne his father died claiming. Sthenelus and Diomedes went on to fight at Troy.
Symbols
Fun Fact
The word epigone — meaning a less distinguished follower — comes from this myth, though the originals actually exceeded their fathers.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
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💭 conceptNarrative
The doomed military expedition of seven champions against the city of Thebes in the generation before the Trojan War
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💭 conceptepic, dynasty
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💭 conceptinvasion, legacy
The mythological return of Heracles' descendants to the Peloponnese, used by the Dorian Greeks to justify their conquest of Mycenaean territories.
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💭 conceptDynasty, Thebes
The cursed ruling house of Thebes spanning from Cadmus through Oedipus to the fratricidal war of his sons
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💭 conceptWar, fate, heroism
A ten-year siege of Troy by a coalition of Greek kings, sparked by the abduction of Helen and shaped by the rivalries of the gods.
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💭 conceptwar, curse
The doomed military expedition of seven champions against the seven gates of Thebes, organised by Polynices to reclaim the throne from his brother Eteocles.
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💭 conceptDynasty, fate
The doomed Theban royal line of Laius and Oedipus, destroyed by patricide, incest, and fraternal war
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💭 conceptThe ten-year war that defined Greek mythology
The Trojan War was the central event of Greek mythology — a ten-year siege of Troy by a Greek coalition, sparked by the abduction of Helen and ended by the stratagem of the Wooden Horse.
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💭 conceptDynasty, Troy
The ruling dynasty of Troy descended from Dardanus through Tros, Ilus, and Laomedon to Priam and his fifty sons
Iliad
💭 conceptLiterature
Homer's epic poem recounting the wrath of Achilles during the final year of the Trojan War
Danaid Lineage
💭 conceptDynasty, Argos
The royal lineage descending from Danaus and his fifty daughters, central to the mythology of Argos