Seven against Thebes

noun

1. (used with a plural verb),  seven heroes, Amphiaraus, Capaneus, Eteoclus, Hippomedon, Parthenopaeus, Polynices, and Tydeus, who led an expedition against Thebes to depose Eteocles in favor of his brother Polynices: the expedition failed, but the Epigoni, the sons of the Seven against Thebes, conquered the city ten years later.

2. (used with a singular verb),  a tragedy (468? b.c.) by Aeschylus.

Seven against Thebes

plural noun

1. Greek myth the seven members of an expedition undertaken to regain for Polynices, a son of Oedipus, his share in the throne of Thebes from his usurping brother Eteocles. The seven are usually listed as Polynices, Adrastus, Amphiaraus, Capaneus, Hippomedon, Tydeus, and Parthenopaeus. The campaign failed and the warring brothers killed each other in single combat before the Theban walls See also Adrastus

Example Sentences

It was for this reason that in the great War of the Seven against Thebes, when the victorious Thebans refused burial to those of the enemy who had died, the vanquished turned to Theseus and Athens for help, believing that free men under such a leader would never consent to having the helpless dead wronged.

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But before that Atalanta had borne a son, Parthenopaeus, who was one of the Seven against Thebes.

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He is a mysterious figure apparently trying to make sense of nebulous enigmas and conspiracies all around him, connected with theatrical troupes preparing to mount Seven Against Thebes and Prometheus.

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It opened at the 'Seven Against Thebes,' and he read thoughts which were a painful echo of his own.

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Many subjects which but rarely occur in early Greek art, the siege of Troy, the adventure of the Seven against Thebes, the carrying off of the daughters of Leucippus, Ulysses shooting down the Suitors, are here represented in detail.

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