Studies on the Seven Against Thebes of Aeschylus 9783112319437, 9783112308295

Citation preview

S T U D I E S IN CLASSICAL LITERATURE,

8

STUDIES ON THE SEVEN AGAINST

THEBES

OF AESCHYLUS by

H. D. C A M E R O N

1971 MOUTON THE HAGUE • PARIS

© Copyright 1971 in The Netherlands. Mouton & Co. N.V., Publishers, The Hague. No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publishers.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 70-108138

Printed in The Netherlands by Mouton & Co., Printers, The Hague.

XaXercoì jtóXe|iA/r| can mean 'porthole'. That is an attractive suggestion but untrue. It may require long discussion to demonstrate that some technical term of husbandry or engineering or law which by its nature is rare in literary texts, being usually confined by accident to out-of-the-way parts of the corpus of the Greek language, but which can be supposed to be familiar to the Greek audience, is indeed to be found hidden in the ambiguities of Aeschylean diction. Then again it is not enough to prove that cppaxTco, for example, is a term used in irrigation unless it can be shown that there is some poetic point to the ambiguity. Without the developed symbolism in the Seven of rushing streams stemmed by dikes and sluice-gates used to represent the defense of the city, such ambiguity could not be justly claimed.

II THE BACKGROUND OF THE SEVEN AGAINST

THEBES

In order to understand the story of the seven chieftains who marched against Thebes as it is told by Aeschylus, one must begin with the story of the founder of that city, Cadmus, the son of Agenor, king of Tyre. Agenor had a beautiful daughter, Europa by name, who had been carried off by Zeus disguised for the purpose as a handsome white bull. The king sent the brothers of the abducted maiden through the world to search for her. Cadmus, who was looking for his sister in Asia Minor and Greece, came at last to Delphi where the oracle of Apollo bade him abandon his search for Europa and found a city in a place to which he would be directed. According to the instructions given to him by the oracle he followed a cow which he found outside the temple. He was to follow her until she lay down and then he was to establish a city, the Cadmeia. When they had arrived at the place where Thebes was to be built, Cadmus made ready to sacrifice the cow to Athena and being in need of water for the sacrifice sent some of his men to a nearby spring.1 As it happened this spring was sacred to Ares, who had set a terrible serpent, his offspring, to guard it. The dragon slew most of those that were sent and Cadmus in anger killed the monster. Upon the advice of Athena he took the serpent's teeth and sowed them in the ground like grain. When he had scattered the seed of the dragon's teeth, there sprang up from the ground a band of men fully armed with golden helmets, who then set upon each other. Some say that Cadmus threw a stone into the midst of them as they grew up 1

Euripides identified it with the spring of Dirce, Pausanias with the Ismenian spring. Cf. Frazer on Pausanias 9.10.

18

THE BACKGROUND OF THE "SEVEN AGAINST THEBES"

out of the ground, and, supposing they were being stoned by their fellows, they came to blows. Others say that they killed each other in a chance brawl. In any case, these sons of Mother Earth fought among themselves until only five remained: Echion, Udaeus, Chthonius, Hyperenor, and Pelopus, whose names may be rendered respectively, Offspring of the Viper, Son of the Ground, Son of Earth, Overweening, and Monster.2 These five, called the Spartoi or Sown Men, became the nobility of Thebes.3 According to the traditional genealogy, Laius, whose transgression initiates three generations of trouble for his family, is a direct descendant of Cadmus.4 It will be well to take some care in the discussion of the story of Laius to distinguish between the version of the tale used by Aeschylus in this trilogy and the other versions of the story which are perhaps more familiar. It is easy to be misled in the interpretation of the Seven against Thebes if one assumes Aeschylus used any element of the tale for which there is no evidence in the play. In particular Aeschylus includes one element which occurs nowhere else and is central to the interpretation of the trilogy and of the Seven in particular, namely the version of the oracle given to Laius. After an involved series of adventures and misfortunes of the sort that was more or less usual for orphans or foundlings, Laius finally succeeded to the throne of Thebes and took to wife Jocasta, the daughter of Menoeceus.5 It is not clear what circumstance led him to consult the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, but the usual story is that he was childless and sought to have offspring. Aeschylus says nothing of this, at least directly. The element that 2

For the names: Pausanias 9.5.3; Apollodorus 3.4.2; Schol. Eur. Phoen. 942. For the whole story: Apollodorus 3.4.1; Eur. Phoen. 638ff. with scholia; Apoll. Rhod. 3.1177; Plut. Sulla 17; Ovid Metam. 3.10ff. Some sources regard the Spartoi as ancestors of the whole people of Thebes (Eur. H. F. 4; Apoll. Rhod. 3.1184; Soph. O. C. 1533) while others say that they were the ancestors only of a part, Eur. Suppl. 703; I. A. 258; Plut. Mor. 563. Aesch. Sept. 410 seems to agree with the latter opinion although we cannot say that the rest of the defenders were NOT regarded as descendants of the Spartoi. 4 Hes. Th. 978; Eur. Phoen. 7ff.; Apollodorus 3.5.5. 6 The name Jocasta does not occur in Aeschylus. 3

THE BACKGROUND OF THE "SEVEN AGAINST THEBES"

19

Aeschylus emphasizes is the salvation of Thebes. It would seem that the city was in some danger or other and Laius sought from the oracle some means to save it. Apollo answered that if Laius would die childless the city would be saved. ...'AnoWavoq...

745

...xpi a|xdpr|T5e