Polynices

Polynices was the son of Oedipus and Jocasta in Greek mythology, brother of Eteocles, Antigone and Ismene. He led the Argive army in the expedition of the Seven against Thebes after his brother refused to give up the throne, and the two brothers killed each other in single combat. His burial, forbidden by Creon, is the subject of Sophocles’ Antigone.

Family

Oedipus, king of Thebes, unwittingly married his mother Jocasta and had by her the sons Polynices and Eteocles (Apollodorus, Library 3.5.8). Antigone and Ismene were their sisters. When the truth came out, Oedipus blinded himself, and the throne was left to his sons.

The Curse of Oedipus

The epic Thebaid told that the quarrel of the brothers began with their father’s curse. Polynices set before Oedipus the silver table and golden cup that had belonged to Cadmus; seeing his father’s treasures, Oedipus cursed his sons and prayed that they would never share their inheritance peacefully but that war and fighting would divide them. In Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonus, Polynices comes to his father at Colonus to ask for his support. Oedipus drives him away with a curse: Polynices will not take Thebes by force nor ever return to Argos, but will die by his brother’s hand and kill him in turn (Oedipus at Colonus 1383–1396).

The Quarrel over the Throne

Eteocles and Polynices agreed to rule Thebes in alternate years. According to Apollodorus, some said that Polynices ruled first and handed over the kingdom to Eteocles after a year, others that Eteocles ruled first and would not give it up. In either case Polynices was banished and went to Argos, taking with him the necklace and robe that Cadmus had given to Harmonia (Library 3.6.1). In Sophocles, Polynices is the elder brother and says that the younger Eteocles drove him from his country, though he had beaten him neither in argument nor in deed (Oedipus at Colonus 1292–1297).

Marriage and the Seven against Thebes

At Argos, Polynices fought at night at the palace door with Tydeus, who had fled from Calydon. King Adrastus separated them; an oracle had told him to give his daughters in marriage to a boar and a lion, and the two men bore these emblems on their shields. Tydeus married Deipyle, and Polynices married Argia, and Adrastus promised to restore both to their native lands (Apollodorus, Library 3.6.1; Library 1.9.13 names the daughters of Adrastus). Sophocles has Polynices speak of Adrastus as his father-in-law (Oedipus at Colonus 1301–1302).

Adrastus first prepared to march against Thebes. The seer Amphiaraus, who foresaw that all but Adrastus would die, opposed the expedition. Polynices gave the necklace of Harmonia to Amphiaraus’ wife Eriphyle, who persuaded her husband to go (Apollodorus, Library 3.6.2). Before the battle, Tydeus was sent to Eteocles to tell him to give up the kingdom to Polynices as they had agreed, but Eteocles paid no heed (Library 3.6.5).

Aeschylus places Polynices at the seventh gate. The Theban messenger reports that he prays that he may climb the walls, be proclaimed ruler of the land, and either kill Eteocles and die beside him, or drive him out in the same way he himself was driven. His shield shows a woman leading a gold-armoured man, with the words “I, Justice, will bring this man back and he shall have his city” (Seven against Thebes 631–652).

Death

The attack failed and the Argives fled. As many fell, Eteocles and Polynices fought a single combat for the kingdom by agreement of both armies, and killed each other (Apollodorus, Library 3.6.8; Aeschylus, Seven against Thebes 804–821). Their uncle Creon then took power.

The Burial of Polynices

Creon buried Eteocles with honour but proclaimed that no one should bury or mourn Polynices, and that his body should be left for the birds (Sophocles, Antigone 21–30). Antigone defied the edict and buried her brother. In Apollodorus, she was caught by Creon and buried alive in a tomb (Library 3.7.1). In Sophocles, Creon sentences her to be shut in a rocky cave (Antigone 773–780), and she is found hanged after the seer Tiresias has warned him that the gods are angry about the unburied body (Antigone 1066–1073, 1220–1225). Creon and his attendants then bury Polynices, washing the body and burning what was left on fresh branches before heaping up a mound (Antigone 1196–1204).

Polynices’ son Thersander later took part in the expedition of the Epigoni (Apollodorus, Library 3.7.2).

Polynices Sources

Aeschylus, Seven against Thebes 631–652, 804–821; Sophocles, Antigone 21–30, 773–780, 1066–1073, 1196–1225; Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 1292–1297, 1301–1302, 1383–1396; the epic Thebaid (fragment quoted in Athenaeus); Apollodorus, Library 1.9.13, 3.5.8, 3.6.1–2, 3.6.5, 3.6.8, 3.7.1–2.

See Also: Oedipus, Jocasta, Eteocles, Antigone, Ismene, Seven against Thebes, Creon, Adrastus, Tiresias, Amphiaraus