The tragedy of the Seven Against Thebes begins long before the first spear was cast, rooted in the dark soil of the House of Labdacus. After the horrific revelation that King Oedipus had unknowingly killed his father and married his mother, the kingdom of Thebes fell into a state of spiritual and political decay. When Oedipus was eventually cast out or died—depending on the account followed—the burden of the crown fell upon his twin sons, Eteocles and Polynices. Fearing that the curse of their father would lead them to ruin, the brothers reached a fragile accord: they would rule Thebes in turns, one year at a time, while the other lived in temporary exile to avoid friction.
Eteocles took the first turn upon the throne. However, as the twelve months passed, the taste of power proved too sweet to relinquish. When the year ended and Polynices returned to claim his rightful place, Eteocles shut the city gates and declared himself the sole ruler, casting his brother out as a commoner. Embittered and burning with a sense of betrayal, Polynices fled to the city of Argos. There, after a chance midnight brawl with Tydeus of Calydon, he won the favor of King Adrastus. Seeking to reclaim his heritage, Polynices married the King’s daughter, Argeia, and persuaded Adrastus to marshal the might of the Argive army to march against the seven-gated walls of Thebes.
Gathering an expeditionary force was no simple task. The seer Amphiaraus, who possessed the gift of prophecy, foresaw that the campaign was doomed and that all the leaders except King Adrastus would perish. He refused to join the march until Polynices, guided by the cunning Tydeus, utilized the Necklace of Harmonia—a cursed heirloom of the Theban royal house—to bribe Amphiaraus’s wife, Eriphyle. She, in turn, compelled her husband to go to war. Thus, the Seven were assembled: Adrastus, Amphiaraus, Capaneus, Hippomedon, Parthenopaeus, Tydeus, and Polynices himself. They marched across the Peloponnese, their armor gleaming with the promise of blood, and arrived at the plain before the Cadmea, the citadel of Thebes.
Inside the city, Eteocles prepared for the onslaught. The air was thick with the scent of sacrifice and the metallic tang of sharpening blades. According to the accounts preserved by the playwright Aeschylus, a scout entered the royal palace to report that the Argive champions had drawn lots to determine which of the seven gates each would assault. Eteocles, acting as the strategic heart of the city, had to choose seven Theban defenders who could match the specific prowess and psychological terror of the Argive invaders. This set the stage for a series of thematic confrontations at the legendary gates of the city.
At the first gate, the Proitides Gate, the champion Tydeus paced like a hungry dragon. His shield was a marvel of craftsmanship, depicting a night sky filled with stars and a gleaming full moon at the center—the eye of Night. Tydeus roared with impatience, mocking the Thebans. Eteocles, unimpressed by the heraldry, dispatched Melanippus, a man of noble birth and quiet courage, to meet the raging Argive. Eteocles argued that a shield’s decorations do not wound men, and that Tydeus’s arrogance would be his undoing.
The second gate, the Electran Gate, was challenged by Capaneus. He was a man of such immense stature and hubris that he claimed not even Zeus’s lightning could stop him from burning Thebes to the ground. His shield showed a naked man carrying a torch, with the inscription 'I will fire the city.' Against this blasphemous giant, Eteocles sent Polyphontes, a warrior favored by Artemis. The king prayed that the actual lightning of Zeus would find the boaster before he reached the battlements—a prayer that would famously be answered during the height of the siege.
At the third gate, the Neistan Gate, Eteoclus (not to be confused with the king) prepared his assault. His shield displayed a soldier climbing a ladder up a city wall, with a boast that Ares himself could not throw him down. To counter this, Eteocles chose Megareus, son of Creon, a youth who fought not for glory but for the protection of his ancestral home. The king hoped that Megareus's humility would provide a stable defense against Eteoclus’s reckless ascent.
The fourth gate, the Oncaean Gate, was targeted by Hippomedon. He was a man of massive frame, and his shield featured the monstrous Typhon breathing fire from his many mouths. It was a terrifying sight, intended to break the spirit of the defenders. Eteocles countered by sending Hyperbius, a man whose shield bore the image of Zeus standing triumphant with a thunderbolt. The King remarked that since Zeus had defeated Typhon in myth, the image on Hyperbius’s shield would surely prevail over the monster on Hippomedon’s.
The fifth gate, the Northern Gate near the tomb of Amphion, was assigned to Parthenopaeus, the youth of Arcadia. Though beautiful to look upon, he was fierce and eager to prove his manhood. His shield featured the Sphinx, the ancient scourge of Thebes, holding a Theban man in her claws. Eteocles chose Actor, a man of solid resolve and few words, to defend this post. Actor’s task was to ensure that the Sphinx—a symbol of Thebes’s past traumas—would not enter the city again to cause new sorrow.
The sixth gate, the Homoloidian Gate, was the station of the reluctant seer Amphiaraus. Unlike his peers, he carried a shield with no device or emblem upon it. He did not wish to seem the best, but to be the best, and he spent his time not in boasting, but in rebuking the other champions for their pride and for bringing war to a sovereign city for the sake of a family feud. Eteocles recognized the virtue in his opponent and sent Lasthenes, a seasoned and wise defender, to meet the prophet, acknowledging that even a good man must be fought when he stands on the side of an enemy.