What happened to Polyneices and Eteocles?

As time passed, and the two sons aged, Eteocles claimed the throne for himself, exiling his older brother Polyneices. Polyneices then gathered a giant army and attacked Eteocles for the throne. Neither of the two sons won because they both ended up killing each other in battle.

What happened to Eteocles in Antigone?

After the bloody siege of Thebes by Polynices and his allies, the city stands unconquered. Polynices and his brother Eteocles, however, are both dead, killed by each other, according to the curse of Oedipus, their father.

Is Antigones the same as Polynices?

Polyneices is the brother of Antigone, Ismene and Eteocles. His name means ‘many troubles’, and he’s generally remembered as ‘the bad brother’, because he attacked Thebes with a foreign army.

Why was Polynices a traitor?

After performing an elaborate funeral service for Eteocles, he forbade the removal of the corpse of Polyneices, condemning it to lie unburied, declaring him to have been a traitor.

Who did Polynices fight for?

At first, they had agreed to rule Thebes jointly by alternating years in power, but after his first year, Eteocles refused to step down. To gain the rule of Thebes, Polynices needed warriors, but Theban men within the city would only fight for his brother. Instead, Polynices gathered a group of men from Argos.

Who were Eteocles and Polynices?

Oedipus
Eteocles and Polynices were the sons of the classic Greek tragic hero and Theban king Oedipus, who fought each other for the control of Thebes after their father abdicated. The Oedipus story is part of the Theban cycle and told most famously by the Greek poet Sophocles.

Why did Oedipus curse Polynices?

Polynices, who had expelled his blind father from Thebes and left him to live as a beggar, has come to ask his father’s support in overthrowing his brother. Oedipus, enraged at his son’s request, stretches out his accusing arms and levies his dreadful curse, by which each son would die at the hands of the other.

Why was Polyneices exiled from Thebes?

Polyneices was exiled because he dared to ask for his turn to serve as king of Thebes. Eteocles took his place on the throne first.

Why did Polyneices and Eteocles go to war?

The Greek poet Aeschylus told the Eteocles and Polynices story in his award-winning trilogy on the topic, Seven Against Thebes, In the final play, the brothers fight each other for possession of the throne of Thebes.

Who is Antigone’s sister?

Ismene
Ismene (iz-ME-nee): Antigone’s sister; she’d like to help her sister, but she thinks it’s too dangerous.