This is a play by Aeschylus. It is in GB Volume 5 - Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes.
Characters
- Eteocles, King of Thebes, son of Oedipus
- Antigone
- Ismene
- Chorus of Theban Women
- A Messenger
- A Herald
Summary
The Seven Against Thebes (Septem contra Thebas) is the final play of a lost trilogy concerning the cursed House of Laius. It focuses on the fulfillment of the Curse of Oedipus upon his two sons, Eteocles and Polynices. After Oedipus’s exile, the brothers agreed to share the throne of Thebes, alternating years of rule. However, Eteocles refused to step down after his first year, leading Polynices to flee to Argos and raise a massive army (the “Seven”) to reclaim his right by force. The play begins with Eteocles preparing the city for an imminent siege, asserting his role as the “helmsman” of the ship of state.
The core of the play is a highly structured dialogue between Eteocles and a Messenger. The messenger describes the seven Argive champions who have been assigned by lot to attack each of the city’s seven gates. Each champion is described in terms of his terrifying armor and arrogant shield blazons, which mock the gods and the city of Thebes. Eteocles responds to each description by matching the enemy champion with a Theban warrior of appropriate virtue and skill, countering the enemy’s hubris with civic piety and martial readiness.
The tension reaches its peak at the description of the seventh gate, where Polynices himself stands. Eteocles, realizing that he must face his own brother, is gripped by the ancestral “paternal curse”. Despite the pleas of the Chorus of Theban women, who fear that “brother-murder” will leave a permanent stain on the land, Eteocles chooses to confront Polynices. He justifies his decision through a fatalistic acceptance of his family’s doom, declaring that “where God leads us, who shall shun?”
In the ensuing battle, the Theban defenses hold, and the city is saved from the invading host. However, the Messenger returns with the news that Eteocles and Polynices have killed each other in single combat, fulfilling their father’s curse that they would “divide their substance with the hammered steel.” Their bodies are brought back to the city, and the play ends with a divided lamentation by their sisters, Antigone and Ismene.
The final scene (likely a later addition influenced by Sophocles) presents a new civic conflict: the state Herald announces that Eteocles is to be buried with full honors as a defender of the city, while Polynices is to be left unburied as a traitor. Antigone immediately defies this decree, asserting her familial duty over the Law of the State. This concluding tension points toward the continuing cycle of tragedy even after the primary conflict has been resolved.