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 co ...

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 Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

. 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 th ...

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 revealed, ...

, refused to give up the throne as promised. All but one (

Adrastus In Greek mythology, Adrastus or Adrestus (Ancient Greek: Ἄδραστος or Ἄδρηστος), (perhaps meaning "the inescapable"), was a king of Argos, and leader of the Seven against Thebes. He was the son of the Argive king Talaus, but was ...

) 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 Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...

'' Epigonoi''. These Epigonoi defeated and killed (or drove out)

Laodamas Laodamas (; Ancient Greek: Λᾱοδάμᾱς, ''Lāodámās'', literally "tamer of the people") refers to five different people in Greek mythology. * Laodamas, son of Eteocles, inherited Thebes from his father.Pausanias, 9.5.13 In one version of ...

, 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

, 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 Adra ...

, survived this battle.

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 e ...

, 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 The Erinyes ( ; sing. Erinys ; grc, Ἐρινύες, pl. of ), also known as the Furies, and the Eumenides, were female chthonic deities of vengeance in ancient Greek religion and mythology. A formulaic oath in the ''Iliad'' invokes ...

, 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 and ...

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 Eu ...

. 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 the ...

, 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 radioisotope ...

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 2009 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 Philodemus of Gadara ( grc-gre, Φιλόδημος ὁ Γαδαρεύς, ''Philodēmos'', "love of the people"; c. 110 – prob. c. 40 or 35 BC) was an Arabic Epicurean philosopher and poet. He studied under Zeno of Sidon in Athens, before moving ...

' 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 stro ...

being ''

''. 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

– 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