Chapter XXXI: The Epigoni

King Adrastus never ceased to grieve over his heroes who had been slain by the Thebans, and when ten years had gone by, and the boys who were then quite young had grown up to be men, he assembled them and proposed to them to march against Thebes in order to avenge their fathers. They were quite ready to do this, for they were true heroes, with strong arms and brave hearts. Each of the seven heroes who had accompanied Adrastus on the former expedition had left a son, and these young men were called the Epigoni, or 'Those who come after.' They chose a strong band of followers from among the youths of Argos, and when they were all armed in readiness for the war, they sent to the Oracle at Delphi to ask whom they should take for their leader, for Adrastus was now too old and grey to head them himself. The Oracle said that they had better choose the son of Amphiaraus, who was named Alcmaeon, and who was wise and brave. Adrastus was full of joy at seeing the army of young men set out on its march, and trusted that the gods would give them the victory. The Epigoni took the same road by which their fathers had gone ten years before, {225} but instead of meeting with bad omens on the way, everything was now most prosperous.

Creon was by this time dead, and the son of Eteocles, whose name was Laodamas, was king of Thebes. When he heard that the Epigoni were coming to avenge their fathers, he armed the citizens and marched out to meet them, and a battle took place in front of the city gates, in the very same field where the heroes who accompanied Adrastus had fallen. The Epigoni thought of their fathers and fought the more bravely, and though the Thebans held their ground steadily at first, their courage gave way after their king, Laodamas, had been slain by Alcmaeon, and they fled back into the city. The Epigoni encamped before Thebes, saying that they would not raise the siege until they had conquered it, and the Thebans meanwhile held counsel as to how they might best save themselves from their vengeance. Among them was the blind seer, Tiresias, who had long ago foretold to Laïus that if a child were born to him, he would sin against both his father and mother. He was now very old, with hair as white as snow, and he had lived through all the prosperity and all the calamities of the Thebans, and was greatly honoured by them, so they went to him to ask his advice as to what they had better do. He said that they could only hope to save their lives by artifice, and told them how to set to work. According to his directions they sent a herald the next day to the Epigoni, to announce that the Thebans were willing to make some atonement for the slaughter of their fathers. The Epigoni did not suspect any trick, and began to negotiate with the herald as to what form the atonement should take, without {226} perceiving what was going on in the city. But meanwhile the Thebans were pouring out of it on the further side and taking with them whatever they regarded as the most precious of their possessions, and they succeeded in carrying off, not only their children, but also a good deal of treasure. When the Epigoni had announced what they would demand as an atonement, the herald returned to the city; but he only entered it by one gate in order to pass out on the further side by the gate through which the Thebans had fled, and he was not long in overtaking them. Tiresias had accompanied the Thebans, led by a boy; on the way he asked for something to drink, and the boy took him to a cool spring, but as soon as he had tasted the water he sank down and died. The Thebans buried him by the roadside, and then they marched on till they came to a strange land, where they built another city.

Meanwhile a day went by, and then another, and still the Epigoni waited for the herald to return. But when two days had passed without any further sign of him, and no one appeared upon the city walls, neither was there any smoke to be seen rising from the houses, they began to suspect that the Thebans had fled. They climbed over the walls without any resistance and entered the city, but they found no one there. There was, however, a great deal of treasure in the houses, for the Thebans had not been able to carry everything away with them, and the heroes took an enormous booty. They chose out the best things and sent them to Delphi as a present to Apollo, and the remainder they divided among themselves. They made Thersander, the son of Polynices, king of Thebes, and {227} proclaimed that those among the Argives who chose to remain in Thebes instead of returning home with Alcmaeon might settle there and have portions of the land assigned to them for their own. Many people from the neighbourhood came also into the city with their wives and children, so that before long all the houses were once more inhabited. Alcmaeon led back the remainder of the Argives to their own homes, for the Epigoni had now avenged their fathers, and had won for themselves glory and renown.

Alcmaeon now remembered the oath that he had once sworn to his father, before he set out with the other princes to march against Thebes. Amphiaraus had then made both his sons swear that they would avenge him upon Eriphyle for having allowed herself to be bribed by the veil and necklace to give her voice in favour of what she knew would cost him his life.[1] But it was a hard task for Alcmaeon, for Eriphyle was his mother. He did not know what to do, so he went to Delphi and asked the Oracle whether he should keep his promise to his father or not. The Oracle said yes, that he must do this; and so he returned home and killed his mother. When Eriphyle was dying, she cursed every country that should shelter her murderer, and the curse of the dying mother had such power that everything must needs carry it into effect. Alcmaeon became mad, and wandered about from one country to another till he came to a king named Phegeus, who knew how to purify murderers, and who had compassion on him and purged him from the stain of blood. Then the madness left him, and he was able to rest once {228} more. Phegeus gave him his daughter in marriage, and said that he should live in his country and have an honourable position there. Alcmaeon was very glad of this, and he presented the veil and necklace to his wife who was very much pleased with them. In the spring however, the seed did not come up, which caused a dearth throughout the land,--and this was owing to the curse of Eriphyle. The king consulted a seer about it, and he said that the land would not bear fruit so long as Alcmaeon remained in the kingdom.

So Alcmaeon had to take leave of his wife and quit the country, and he set out not knowing whither to go. He went to Delphi and asked the Pythia if there was any land that could receive him without suffering for it; and she answered that he must go to the river-god Acheloüs and ask him to help him, for that no one else could do so. Alcmaeon therefore went to the river and called to Acheloüs, who came up out of the water and asked what he wanted. Alcmaeon told him of his distress and begged for his help, and the river-god took pity on him and made his stream bring down sand and silt from the heights above, until a new and fruitful country was formed by the side of the river; and as it had not been in existence when Eriphyle cursed the land that should give her son rest, Alcmaeon was able to remain there, and he ploughed and sowed seed, and the earth brought forth fruit. Acheloüs had a very beautiful daughter, and Alcmaeon became so much attached to her, that he was unfaithful to his wife, and married the daughter of the river-god. Several years passed by in peace and prosperity; the gods sent them two sons, and Alcmaeon had no thought of ever leaving his place of shelter. {229} But the daughter of Acheloüs had heard of the beautiful veil and necklace, and she never ceased to beg her husband to go and fetch them for her, till at last he was obliged to yield, and set out for the country of King Phegeus. He did not tell Phegeus the truth however, but said that he was still obliged to wander about, and could only obtain rest by taking the veil and necklace to Delphi and dedicating them to Apollo. The daughter of Phegeus did not doubt his sincerity, and readily parted with the precious ornaments for the sake of her husband whom she loved dearly. But before Alcmaeon had reached home again, King Phegeus heard that he had been unfaithful and had married the daughter of Acheloüs, and he was very angry, and commanded his sons to go after him and kill him. They were wild headstrong youths who delighted in deeds of blood, and they overtook Alcmaeon and killed him and took away both the treasures. Then they returned home, thinking that their sister would rejoice at the vengeance that had overtaken her husband; but though he had married another woman, she was very sorry for his death and was angry with her brothers for having killed him.

The daughter of Acheloüs waited long for Alcmaeon to return home; but a good while afterwards, a stranger who happened to be passing that way told her that he had been put to death by the sons of Phegeus. Then it was her greatest wish to avenge his death, and she begged Zeus that her two sons might at once become grown-up men. In that same night the children grew up to be men, and their mother provided them with weapons, and told them that their father had been murdered by the sons of Phegeus, and that they were {230} to avenge him. They set off for the country of Phegeus, but on their way they stopped to rest at the house of a prince where it happened that the sons of Phegeus were also staying, for they too were on a journey, and they had with them the veil and the necklace. The young men did not know each other, but as they were talking together at the feast, the sons of Phegeus brought out the precious ornaments and showed them to the others who thus recognised the murderers of their father, and they drew their swords and killed them. Then they returned home to their mother with the precious treasures. But the wise river-god said that they were no real treasures, for they brought misfortune to whoever possessed them; and he made his grandsons carry them to Delphi, and present them as an offering to the god Apollo.

[1] See p. 215.

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