Thebes
Place · slug: thebes
Also: Nemea, Cadmean family setting, Argive return road, Cadmeia, palace, before the walls or at the seventh gate, seven gates, Boeotia
- The Five Ages of Man (Hesiod, *Works and Days*)
Cosmogony / Theogony — ages of humankind · Hesiodic — *Works and Days* (five races; Bronze and Heroic ages distinct)
- Offspring of Echidna and Typhon (Hesiodic Monster Catalogue)
Cosmogony / Theogony — monster genealogy · Hesiodic catalogue (*Theogony* Typhonid brood)
- Birth of Dionysus: Semele, the Thunderbolt, and Zeus’s Thigh
Olympian gods · Apollodorean / tragic (common classical Semele–thigh birth; Euripidean background)
- Artemis and Actaeon
Olympian gods · Apollodorean “general opinion” (bathing / stag metamorphosis), with Callimachus as earliest surviving poetic parallel; Acusilaus–Stesichorus Semele-rival strand noted
- Poseidon and Demeter: Areion and Despoina
Olympian gods / Arcadian mystery cult · Pausanian Arcadian (Thelpusa / Lycosura); Apollodorean black Demeter notice
- Hera Suckling Heracles: Aetiology of the Milky Way
Olympian gods / Heracles infancy · Late classical notices (Diodorus; Pausanias; scholia; Hyginus) — aetiology of the galaxy (*galaxias*)
- Dionysus Retrieves Semele from Hades
Olympian gods — Dionysus / apotheosis of Semele · Apollodorean / Pausanian — descent and renaming as Thyone
- Eileithyia: Goddess of Childbirth
Olympian gods — Hera’s daughter / birth-aid · Hesiodic / Homeric — Eileithyia (or Eileithyiae) as birth-goddess
- Homeric Hymns to Aphrodite (6 and 10)
Olympian gods — Aphrodite / short Homeric Hymns · Homeric Hymns VI and X — foam-born Cyprian praise; Theban/Cytherean cult titles
- Birth of Heracles: Amphitryon, Alcmene, Zeus; Hera’s Delay; the Snakes
Heroes — Heracles · Apollodorean (Theban birth; Zeus’s prolonged night; Eurystheus preferred by Hera’s trick)
- Youth of Heracles: Linus, Cithaeron, Thespius, and the Minyans
Heroes — Heracles · Apollodorean (education; Linus’s death; Cithaeronian lion; Thespius; liberation of Thebes)
- Madness of Heracles: Murder of the Children (Apollodorean, before the Labors)
Heroes — Heracles · Apollodorean (Hera-sent madness in Thebes *before* service to Eurystheus; Megara’s sons killed; purification then Delphi)
- Madness of Heracles: Murder of Wife and Children (Euripidean, after the Labors)
Heroes — Heracles · Attic tragic — Euripides (madness *after* return from the labors; Lycus episode; Megara slain; Theseus as comforter)
- First Labor: The Nemean Lion
Heroes — Heracles · Apollodorean (invulnerable lion; strangling; Molorchus at Cleonae; skin as armor)
- Niobe: Apollo and Artemis Slaughter Her Children
Heroes — Niobe (Theban / Lydian) · Apollodorean / Homeric (boast over Leto; children shot; stone on Sipylus)
- Cadmus and the Founding of Thebes (Dragon’s Teeth)
Heroes — Cadmus / Theban cycle gateway · Apollodorean (Europa search; Delphic cow; Castalian dragon; Spartoi; Harmonia)
- Europa’s Abduction: Zeus and the Bull
Heroes — Europa / Cretan kings (preface to Cadmus) · Apollodorean / Moschus (Zeus as bull; Crete; Minos, Rhadamanthys, Sarpedon)
- Laius, Chrysippus, and the Oracle against a Son
Theban · Apollodorean / tragic (Pelops curse; Delphic warning; Labdacid doom)
- Birth and Exposure of Oedipus; Rearing by Polybus and Merope
Theban · Apollodorean / Sophoclean (Cithaeron exposure; Corinthian fosterage)
- The Sphinx’s Riddle; Oedipus King; Marriage to Jocasta
Theban · Apollodorean / tragic (riddle solved; throne and queen as prize)
- Plague at Thebes and the Discovery of the Truth (*Oedipus Tyrannus*)
Theban · Attic tragic — Sophocles *Oedipus Tyrannus* (+ Apollodorean summary)
- Blinding of Oedipus and Exile from Thebes
Theban · Sophoclean (*OT* end) / Apollodorean (exile timing variants)
- Oedipus at Colonus: Arrival, Death, and Heroic Passing
Theban · Attic tragic — Sophocles *Oedipus at Colonus* (+ Apollodorean notice)
- Conflict of Eteocles and Polynices; Exile of Polynices
Theban · Apollodorean / tragic (*Phoenissae*, *OC*, *Seven* backstory)
- The Seven Against Thebes: March and Battle
Theban · Aeschylean / Apollodorean (seven champions; seven gates)
- Mutual Killing of Eteocles and Polynices
Theban · Aeschylean / Euripidean / Apollodorean (fraternal duel)
- Antigone, the Burial of Polynices, and Creon’s Edict
Theban · Attic tragic — Sophocles *Antigone* (+ Apollodorean aftermath)
- The Epigoni: The Next Generation’s War on Thebes
Theban · Apollodorean / epic cycle (*Epigoni* tradition)
- Pentheus and Dionysus (*Bacchae*): Theban Cult Myth
Theban · Attic tragic — Euripides *Bacchae* (+ Apollodorean summary)
- Amphion and Zethus: The Walls of Thebes
Theban · Apollodorean / Homeric (*Odyssey* Antiope) / Pausanian
- Amphiaraus Swallowed by the Earth
Theban — Seven Against Thebes sequel (personal fate of the seer) · Apollodorean / Pindaric (reluctant march; chasm; hero-oracle)
- Alcmaeon, Eriphyle, and the Necklace of Harmonia
Theban — Epigoni aftermath / Harmonia’s heirloom curse · Apollodorean (matricide; purification; Callirrhoe; death)
- Orion: Birth Variants (Apollodorus / Boeotian)
Heroes — Orion · Apollodorean catalogue of birth variants (+ Homeric parentage notices)
- Antiope: Zeus, Lycus, and Dirce (Euripides / Apollodorus)
Heroes — Theban / Amphion–Zethus prelude · Euripidean (*Antiope* fragments) / Apollodorean / Homeric (*Odyssey* 11)
- Dirce and the Bull
Heroes — Theban / Amphion–Zethus · Apollodorean / Euripidean / Pausanian (bull-death; spring aetiology; Farnese motif in art)
- Nycteus and Lycus: Theban Usurpation Setup
Heroes — Theban political prelude (pre-Amphionid) · Apollodorean / Pausanian genealogical politics
- Labdacus and Laius: Lineage Bridge to the Labdacids
Heroes — Theban / Labdacid genealogy · Apollodorean / Pausanian (thin reigns; exile of Laius; restoration after Amphionids)
- Phrixus and Helle: The Golden Ram to Colchis
Heroes — Aeolid / Golden Fleece origin (pre-Argonautica) · Apollodorean / Apollonian background (ram flight; Hellespont; Aeetes)
- Adrastus of Argos: Kingship, Arion, and Survival
Heroes — Theban / Argive (Seven Against Thebes) · Apollodorean / Pausanian / tragic
- Opheltes (Archemorus): Death at Nemea and the Nemean Games
Heroes — Theban / Nemean aetiology · Apollodorean / tragic / Pausanian
- Hypsipyle at Nemea: Exile, Nurse, and Rescue
Heroes — Lemnian / Nemean / Seven Against Thebes · Euripidean (*Hypsipyle*) / Apollodorean
- Capaneus: Blasphemy and the Thunderbolt
Heroes — Theban / Seven Against Thebes · Aeschylean / Euripidean / Apollodorean
- Tydeus and Melanippus: Brains, Athena, and Denied Immortality
Heroes — Theban / Seven Against Thebes · Apollodorean / cyclic / scholiastic
- Parthenopaeus: Death at Thebes
Heroes — Theban / Seven Against Thebes · Aeschylean / Euripidean / Apollodorean
- Creon of Thebes: Tyranny after the Brothers
Heroes — Theban / Creonid rule · Sophoclean / Euripidean / Apollodorean (post-Seven kingship)
- Menoeceus: Voluntary Sacrifice to Save Thebes
Heroes — Theban / Seven Against Thebes · Euripidean (*Phoenician Women*) / Apollodorean notice
- Haemon’s Suicide (Sophocles, Antigone)
Heroes — Theban / Antigone aftermath · Attic tragic — Sophocles *Antigone*
- Hippomedon: Death at Thebes
Heroes — Theban / Seven Against Thebes · Aeschylean / Euripidean / Apollodorean
- Ismene: Fate Variants (Antigone’s Sister)
Heroes — Theban / Oedipus’s daughters · Sophoclean survival vs. tragic / handbook death variants
- Eurydice of Thebes: Suicide after Haemon (Sophocles)
Heroes — Theban / Antigone aftermath · Attic tragic — Sophocles *Antigone*
- Polynices and Argia (Argeia): Marriage at Argos
Heroes — Theban / Argive alliance · Apollodorean / tragic / cyclic (Adrastus’s daughters; lion and boar)
- Argia Helps Bury Polynices (Variant)
Heroes — Theban / burial aftermath · Handbook / post-Sophoclean variant (Argia with Antigone)
- Thersander and the Epigoni Sack of Thebes
Heroes — Theban / Epigoni · Apollodorean / cyclic / Pausanian — Thersander as Polynices’ heir installed
- Diomedes after Thebes: Epigonus and Argive King
Heroes — Theban / Epigoni / Argive · Apollodorean / Homeric — Epigonus who becomes Trojan-war Argive leader
- Death of Aegialeus in the Epigoni War
Heroes — Theban / Epigoni · Apollodorean / Pausanian / cyclic
- Adrastus Dies of Grief for Aegialeus
Heroes — Theban / Epigoni aftermath / Argive · Pausanian / Apollodorean notices
- Eriphyle Bribed: Amphiaraus Forced against Thebes
Heroes — Seven Against Thebes / Argive muster · Apollodorean / cyclic — necklace of Harmonia as bribe
- Oedipus Remains King at Thebes (Homeric Variant)
Heroes — Theban / Homeric vs. tragic Oedipus · Homeric — *Odyssey* 11 (Epicaste); Oedipus continues to rule
- Antigone Entombed Alive (Sophocles)
Heroes — Theban / Antigone · Attic tragic — Sophocles *Antigone* (cave tomb and suicide)
- Amphitryon’s War on the Teleboans (Taphians)
Heroes — Amphitryon / prelude to the birth of Heracles · Apollodorean / Hesiodic *Shield* — vengeance-war for Alcmene’s brothers
- Wedding of Cadmus and Harmonia: The Necklace and the Robe
Heroes — Theban foundation / Cadmus · Apollodorean / Pausanian — divine wedding gifts; cursed heirlooms
- Jocasta’s Suicide (*Oedipus Tyrannus*)
Heroes — Theban / Oedipus · Attic tragic — Sophocles *OT* (Jocasta hangs herself when the truth is clear)
- Molorchus of Cleonae and the Nemean Lion
Heroes — Heracles / Nemean labor hospitality aetiology · Callimachean (+ Apollodorean labor frame) — poor host Molorchus; postponed sacrifice
- Amphion’s Death after Niobe’s Children Fall
Heroes — Theban / Niobid aftermath · Apollodorean — Amphion kills himself (or is killed) when Apollo and Artemis slay the Niobids
- Theseus and the Suppliants: Recovery of the Seven’s Bodies
Heroes — Theseus / Theban aftermath / Attic tragic charter · Attic tragic — Euripides *Suppliants* (Adrastus and the mothers at Eleusis)
- Cadmus and Harmonia: Serpents in Illyria
Heroes — Theban founders / Illyrian end / metamorphosis · Apollodorean / Euripidean / Apollonian notices — exile, Encheleans, serpent forms
- Electryon’s Death and Amphitryon’s Exile
Heroes — Amphitryon / Heracles prelude / Mycenaean house · Apollodorean — accidental killing of Electryon; exile to Thebes; betrothal to Alcmene
- Laertes in the Garden: Recognition of Odysseus (*Odyssey* 24)
Trojan — Odyssey / return to Ithaca · Homeric — father–son recognition by orchard tokens
- Leo: The Nemean Lion among the Stars (Catasterism)
Local and lesser — astral aetiology / Heracles’s First Labor · Catasterismic handbook — Nemean lion as Leo
- Rhampsinitus and the Clever Thief (Herodotus)
Local and lesser — Egyptian logos in Greek ethnography · Herodotean Egyptian — treasury theft; decapitation; princess-trap; marriage