Eteocles
Eteocles
7 min read
Eteocles is a mythical king of Thebes, son of Oedipus and Jocasta, brother of Polynices, Antigone, and Ismene. He refuses to hand over the throne to his brother as their power-sharing agreement required, triggering the war of the Seven against Thebes, at the end of which the two brothers kill each other.
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Son of Oedipus and Jocasta, he belongs to the cursed line of the Labdacids
- Makes a pact with his brother Polynices to rule Thebes in alternation, one year each
- Refuses to relinquish power at the end of his year, provoking the expedition of the Seven against Thebes
- Kills and is killed by Polynices in single combat before the walls of Thebes
- His death and the quarrel over Polynices' burial form the mainspring of Sophocles' *Antigone*
Works & Achievements
Eteocles organizes the city's defense by posting a champion at each of the seven gates against the Seven Champions of Argos. His military command structures the whole of Aeschylus's narrative.
An agreement made with Polynices to reign one year each. Its breach by Eteocles is the founding act of the fratricidal war.
A tragedy in which Eteocles is the central character, a clear-sighted king marching toward his own doom. The play closes a trilogy on the House of Labdacus.
A tragedy presenting Eteocles as an unabashed tyrant, cynically defending his refusal to share power before his mother Jocasta.
A vast Latin epic in twelve books devoted to the war of the Seven and the duel of the two brothers, which passed the legend down to the Middle Ages.
Racine's first tragedy, which reworks the conflict of Eteocles and Polynices for the French classical stage.
Anecdotes
Eteocles and his brother Polynices had made a pact: to rule over Thebes for one year each, taking turns. But once on the throne, Eteocles refused to give it up when the agreed time came, sending his brother out onto the roads of exile. This broken promise is the true spark of the war.
According to tradition, Oedipus is said to have cursed his two sons because they had mistreated or neglected him after his downfall. He foretold that they would divide his inheritance “by the sword” — a prophecy that would come true when the two brothers ran each other through beneath the walls of Thebes.
During the assault of the Seven against Thebes, Eteocles personally faced his brother Polynices at the seventh gate of the city. The two brothers killed each other with the same blow, fulfilling their father's curse and illustrating the doom that hung over the cursed line of the Labdacids.
In Sophocles' Antigone, King Creon orders an honorable funeral for Eteocles, defender of the city, but forbids the burial of Polynices, treated as a traitor. It is this decree that drives their sister Antigone to defy the ban, setting off a new tragedy.
It is said that on the pyre where the bodies of the two brothers were burned, the flame split into two distinct jets, as if even the smoke refused to mingle — a striking image of their fraternal hatred carrying on beyond death.
Primary Sources
Eteocles: “May the city be saved!” He himself chooses to go and defend the seventh gate against his own brother, knowing that the curse of Oedipus is about to be fulfilled.
Creon orders that Eteocles, who died defending his homeland, be buried with full honours, while the body of Polynices is to be left without burial, given over to the birds and the dogs.
Jocasta tries in vain to reconcile her two sons; Eteocles declares that he would keep power even at the price of injustice, for “if one must commit injustice, it is for the sake of ruling that it is most glorious to commit it”.
Oedipus curses his sons, and they agreed to reign in turn, one year each. But Eteocles, having reigned first, refused to give up the throne and drove out Polynices.
The Latin poem describes at length the fratricidal war and the final duel in which the two brothers fall together, their hatred not dying out even on the funeral pyre.
Key Places
City of the seven gates, ruled by Eteocles. The setting for the entire tragedy, from the broken pact to the fratricidal duel beneath its walls.
The gate in the ramparts where Eteocles resolves to confront his brother Polynices in person. It is here that the two brothers kill each other.
City of the Peloponnese where the exiled Polynices finds refuge and raises the army of the Seven. It is from here that the expedition against Thebes sets out.
A mountain near Thebes linked to the legend of Oedipus, abandoned as a child on its slopes. The backdrop to the family curse.
Site of the oracle of Apollo that governs the fate of the Labdacids, from Laius to Oedipus. The Delphic prophecies weigh upon the entire lineage of Eteocles.