THE ROYAL HOUSE

OF THEBES
 How Thebes Came To Be

cadmus the founder and the first king of thebes He was the son of King Agenor and
Queen Telephassa of the Phoenician city of Tyre

• Europa’s brothers were sent to search for her

• Cadmus went to Apollo’s oracle at Delphi
• Apollo told Cadmus to found his own city

Founding Thebes did not come without its challenges

• Cadmus had to fight a fierce dragon

• Athena then told him to sow the earth with the dragon’s teeth
• Armed men sprang from the furrows and killed each other
survived and became Cadmus’ helpers
 CADMUS AND HIS CHILDREN

• It is believed that Cadmus first introduced the alphabet to

Greece
• Cadmus married Harmonia
• harmonia was the daughter of Aphrodite
• Harmonia was given a necklace from Aphrodite
Cadmus and Harmonia had 4 daughters and 1 son
Semele was a princess of Thebes daughter of the hero Cadmus and Harmonia. She was the only mortal to
become the parent of a god.
Ino was a queen of Thebes in Greek mythology, the daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. She was the
second wife of King Athamas, with whom she had two children
Agave was the eldest daughter of Cadmus She was the queen of the Maenads, followers of Dionysus
(also known as Bacchus).
Autonoe She was married to Aristaeus, and had two children, Actaeon and Macris. Her son, Actaeon,
was a capable hunter, who was torn to pieces by his hounds, punished for seeing the goddess Artemis
naked.
Polydous as a king of Thebes.

Cadmus and Harmonia were turned into serpents by the punishment of God Ares when cadmus
slain the sacred dragon
The Reign of King Laius and Jocasta
• With Laius as King, Apollo’s oracle at Delphi began to play a large role in their
family’s fortunes
• The oracle told Laius a prophecy

Oedipus and the Sphinx

The details of Laius’ murder were not investigated because of the Sphinx
• The Sphinx had the winged body of a lion, and the breast and face of a
woman
• As travelers passed, the Sphinx would ask them her riddle
• Her riddle was, “What goes on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon,
and on three legs in the evening?
• Oedipus, a traveler from Corinth, successfully answered the riddle by
answering “human being”
• The Sphinx, in disbelief, killed herself
The Reign of Oedipus
 Oedipus became king and was given Jocasta as his wife
 Together, they had 2 sons and 2 daughters Polyneices, Eteocles, Antigone, and
Ismene
 Creon said the plague would lift when the murderer of Laius was punished

 Jocasta told Oedipus the prophecy told to Laius and of his murder
 Oedipus tells of his prophecy and that he killed a group of men at a place
where 3 roads meet
 In the meantime, a messenger from Corinth arrived to tell Oedipus of
Polybus’ death
 Jocasta told him there was no truth in prophecy
 The messenger then tells Oedipus he wasn’t Polybus’ son and he himself
received him from a shepherd, a servant of Laius
 Jocasta killed herself and Oedipus blinded himself
 After Oedipus Oedipus lived on in Thebes and resigned from the
throne.The Thebans then accepted Creon as their ruler
 Antigone guided her father after he was driven out of the city.Ismene
stayed in Thebes to keep them informed
 Shift In Power After Oedipus left, his two sons fought for their right to
the throne Eteocles succeeded and exiled his brother from Thebes
Polyneices resided in Argos and rallied an army together to march
against Thebes
 Oedipus’ death In the meantime, Antigone and Oedipus had traveled to
Colonus.Apollo told Ismene he would be received by the King of Athens
with all honor
 Ismene went to Colonus to tell Oedipus of Apollo’s words and was with
him when he dies
Polyneices Attacks Thebes
 When Antigone and Ismene returned home, their brothers were fighting
Polyneices was accompanied by 6 other men .Each man attacked one of the 7
Great Gates of Thebes
The outcome was to be determined by a battle between Polyneices and
Eteocles.Neither was victorious and they killed each other
 Polyneices’ last wish was to be buried in his homeland

Creon’s Rule
 The battle restarted, and the Thebans were victorious
 Creon became King
 Creon made it law that none of the men against Thebes should be buried there
 Antigone disobeyed Creon and buried him herself She was sentenced to death
 The House of Oedipus, the last of the royal family of Thebes, was no more
The Seven Against Thebes

 Adrastus and the mothers and sons of the dead went to Theseus, King of
Athens, to ask him to convince Creon to allow his men be buried in Thebes
 Theseus pleaded to Creon, but he ignored it
 The Athenians then marched against Thebes and conquered
 The 5 dead men were burned on a pyre and peace overcame their mothers
 Their sons vowed to take vengeance upon Thebes when they were grown
 These were Tydeus, Capaneus, Adrastus, Hippomedon, Parthenopeus,
Amphiaraus, and Polynices himself. During the battle, they were confronted
at the seven gates of Thebes
 Ten years later, they marched to Thebes and were victorious
 The Thebans fled and their city was destroyed
 The only remains was Harmonia’s necklace, which was taken to Delphi to
be shown to pilgrims
 REFRENCES

Works Cited Hamilton, Edith. Mythology . New York: Grand Central Publishing, 1942.
Greek-Style Sphinx from the Delphi Museum. Flickr.com . 26 May 2006.Antigone from
the Beijing Capital Museum. Flickr.com . 29 August 2007. Join Scribd Today!
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