Eteocles
Eteocles was the son of Oedipus who refused to share the throne of Thebes with his brother Polynices, sparking the war of the Seven — and dying in mutual fratricide.
The Legend of Eteocles
Son of Oedipus and Jocasta, Eteocles shared the throne of Thebes with his brother Polynices under an agreement to rule in alternate years. When his turn ended, Eteocles refused to step down. Polynices fled to Argos, married Adrastus's daughter, and raised the army of the Seven against Thebes. Eteocles assigned six champions to Thebes' seven gates and took the seventh himself, knowing he would face his brother. They killed each other in single combat, fulfilling Apollo's curse. Antigone defied Creon to bury Polynices; the house of Oedipus destroyed itself.
Parents
Oedipus and Jocasta
Symbols
Fun Fact
Aeschylus's Seven Against Thebes (467 BC) is the earliest surviving play about war as a city's collective trauma.
Explore Further
Polynices
🗡 heroPrince who led the Seven Against Thebes
Polynices was the son of Oedipus who raised an army of seven champions to take Thebes from his brother Eteocles — the brothers killed each other in single combat.
Agamemnon
🗡 heroKing of Mycenae
Agamemnon led the Greek coalition against Troy but was murdered upon return by his wife Clytemnestra.
Adrastus
🗡 heroKing who led the Seven Against Thebes
Adrastus was the only survivor of the Seven Against Thebes — he escaped on his divine horse Arion and later led the Epigoni to avenge their fathers.
Neoptolemus
🗡 heroSon of Achilles
Neoptolemus was Achilles' fierce son, brought to Troy because a prophecy declared the city could not fall without him.
Creon
🗡 heroNone recorded
King of Thebes who ruled after Oedipus and decreed death for Antigone
Promachus
🗡 heroEpigoni, Vengeance, Thebes
Son of Parthenopaeus and member of the Epigoni who succeeded in sacking Thebes where his father had failed.
Sarpedon
🗡 heroNone recorded
Lycian prince and ally of Troy in the Trojan War, son of Zeus
Menelaus
🗡 heroKing of Sparta, husband of Helen
Menelaus was the king of Sparta whose stolen wife Helen was the cause of the Trojan War — yet he survived the war, the return, and old age, a rare happy ending among Greek heroes.
Alcathous
🗡 heroCity Foundation, Athletic Victory
Son of Pelops who rebuilt the walls of Megara and won the throne by slaying the Cithaeronian lion.
Neleus
🗡 herokingship
Son of Poseidon and Tyro, founder of Pylos, father of Nestor, killed by Heracles for refusing purification.
Proetus
🗡 heroNone recorded
A king of Tiryns who quarrelled with his twin brother Acrisius over the throne of Argos, an enmity that began in the womb and persisted throughout their lives
Idomeneus
🗡 heroKing of Crete at Troy
Idomeneus was the king of Crete who led eighty ships to Troy and was among the fiercest fighters — his story continued in a vow that cost him his son.