The ''Epigoni'' ( grc, Ἐπίγονοι, ''Epigonoi'', "progeny") is an ancient
Greek tragedy
Greek tragedy is a form of theatre from Ancient Greece and Greek inhabited Anatolia. It reached its most significant form in Athens in the 5th century BC, the works of which are sometimes called Attic tragedy.
Greek tragedy is widely believed t ...
written by the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
playwright
Sophocles
Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...
in the 5th century BC and based on
Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...
.
According to myth,
Polynices
In Greek mythology, Polynices (also Polyneices) (; grc, Πολυνείκης, Polyneíkes, lit= manifold strife' or 'much strife) was the son of Oedipus and either Jocasta or Euryganeia and the older brother of Eteocles (according to Sophocles ...
and the
Seven against Thebes
The Seven against Thebes were seven champions in Greek mythology who made war on Thebes. They were chosen by Adrastus, the king of Argos, to be the captains of an Argive army whose purpose was to restore Oedipus' son Polynices to the Theban ...
attacked
Thebes because Polynices' brother,
Eteocles
In Greek mythology, Eteocles (; ) was a king of Thebes, the son of Oedipus and either Jocasta or Euryganeia. Oedipus killed his father Laius and married his mother without knowing his relationship to either. When the relationship was revea ...
, refused to give up the throne as promised. All but one (
Adrastus) of the seven would-be conquerors were killed. Their children swore vengeance and attacked Thebes. This was called the war of the
Epigonoi ("the offspring, the next generation"); the story had been told, before Sophocles, in the lost
epic ''
Epigonoi''. These Epigonoi defeated and killed (or drove out)
Laodamas, son of Eteocles, and conquered Thebes, installing
Thersander In Greek mythology, the name Thersander (; Ancient Greek: ''Thersandros'' means 'bold man' derived from 'boldness, braveness' and 'of a man') refers to several distinct characters:
*Thersander or Thersandrus, a Corinthian prince as the son of ...
on the throne. All of the Epigonoi but
Aegialeus, the son of
Adrastus, or else
Alcmaeon, son of
Amphiaraus
In Greek mythology, Amphiaraus or Amphiaraos (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιάραος, Ἀμφιάρεως, "very sacred") was the son of Oicles, a seer, and one of the leaders of the Seven against Thebes. Amphiaraus at first refused to go with Ad ...
, survived this battle.
Amphiaraus
In Greek mythology, Amphiaraus or Amphiaraos (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιάραος, Ἀμφιάρεως, "very sacred") was the son of Oicles, a seer, and one of the leaders of the Seven against Thebes. Amphiaraus at first refused to go with Ad ...
had known that the attack against Thebes was doomed to fail and had not wanted to partake, but was coerced to do so by his wife
Eriphyle
Eriphyle (Ancient Greek: Ἐριφύλη ''Eriphȳla'') was a figure in Greek mythology who, in exchange for the necklace of Harmonia (also called the necklace of Eriphyle) given to her by Polynices, persuaded her husband Amphiaraus to join the ...
, who had been bribed by Polynices. Amphiaraus had instructed his son Alcmaeon to avenge him against his mother, and Alcmaeon killed her, either before or after the war of the Epigonoi, depending on the version of the myth.
Alcmaeon was then pursued by the
Erinyes, similar to the fate of
Orestes
In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; grc-gre, Ὀρέστης ) was the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, and the brother of Electra. He is the subject of several Ancient Greek plays and of various myths connected with his madness an ...
after killing his mother
Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra (; grc-gre, Κλυταιμνήστρα, ''Klytaimnḗstrā'', ), in Greek mythology, was the wife of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and the twin sister of Helen of Troy. In Aeschylus' '' Oresteia'', she murders Agamemnon – said by E ...
.
The play was lost for centuries, except for a few fragments, but in April 2005, classicist
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
s at Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...
, employing infrared
Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...
technology previously used for satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...
imaging, discovered additional fragments of it. The fragment translates to the following:
:''Speaker A: … gobbling the whole, sharpening the flashing iron.''
:''Speaker B: And the helmets are shaking their purple-dyed crests, and for the wearers of breast-plates the weavers are striking up the wise shuttle's songs, that wakes up those who are asleep.''
:''Speaker A: And he is gluing together the chariot's rail.''
Several fragments had been definitively assigned to ''Epigoni'' prior to this find. One was translated by Hugh Lloyd-Jones
Sir Peter Hugh Jefferd Lloyd-Jones FBA (21 September 1922 – 5 October 2009məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ..., in 1982, and spent his last 27 years at their home in Wellesley.
Major publicat ...
as "Most calamitous of sons, what a word have you uttered."[ This was apparently stated by Eriphyle to Alcmaeon shortly before he killed her.][ Another fragment has a similar theme: "O woman whose shamelessness has stopped at nothing and has gone yet further, no other evil is or ever will be worse than a woman who was born to give pain to mortals."][
Another fragment presents an exchange between Alcmaeon and Adrastus, Eriphyle's brother and thus Alcmaeon's uncle.][ In this exchange Alcmaeon remarks that Adrastus "is the brother of a woman who killed her husband."][ Adrastus retorts by accusing Alcmaeon of murdering "the mother who gave imbirth."][ A remark in Philodemus' book about music leads scholars to believe that the dispute between Alcmaeon and Adrastus was somehow resolved through the power of music.][
Another fragment posits the view that "for victims of envy find that ill repute wins out over shameful rather than over honorable actions."][ And an additional fragment notes that someone (unnamed in the fragment) will no longer live in ]Argos
Argos most often refers to:
* Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece
** Ancient Argos, the ancient city
* Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland
Argos or ARGOS may also refer to:
Businesses
...
.[
In addition to the fragments assigned to ''Epigoni'', there are seven extant fragments assigned to a play by Sophocles entitled ''Eriphyle''. Many scholars believe that ''Eriphyle'' is just an alternate title for ''Epigoni'', in which case these seven fragments would apply to ''Epigoni''.][ These fragments include such advice as (again as translated by Lloyd-Jones) "Maintain restraint in speech, as is proper to old age," and "The only possessions that are permanent are those of excellence."][ However, it is possible that ''Eriphyle'' is a separate play from ''Epigoni'', in which case it is possible that both were part of a connected trilogy, with the other tragic play in the trilogy being ''Alcmaeon'' and the ]satyr play
The satyr play is a form of Attic theatre performance related to both comedy and tragedy. It preserves theatrical elements of dialogue, actors speaking verse, a chorus that dances and sings, masks and costumes. Its relationship to tragedy is str ...
being ''Amphiaraus
In Greek mythology, Amphiaraus or Amphiaraos (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιάραος, Ἀμφιάρεως, "very sacred") was the son of Oicles, a seer, and one of the leaders of the Seven against Thebes. Amphiaraus at first refused to go with Ad ...
''.[
There are other fragments that may belong to ''Epigoni'' but are uncertain. For example, a one sentence fragment of Sophocles (fragment 958) telling of the death of ]Amphiaraus
In Greek mythology, Amphiaraus or Amphiaraos (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιάραος, Ἀμφιάρεως, "very sacred") was the son of Oicles, a seer, and one of the leaders of the Seven against Thebes. Amphiaraus at first refused to go with Ad ...
– that the ground of Thebes opened up to receive him and his arms and his horses and chariot – has been variously assigned to ''Epigoni'', ''Eriphyle'', ''Alcmaeon'' or to ''Amphiaraus''.
References
{{Authority control
Plays by Sophocles
Seven against Thebes
Lost plays