Seven Against Thebes and Epigoni

Seven Against Thebes

Here is a list of the seven Argive champions who fought against Thebes. It also shows the gate the hero fought at, and which Theban champions they were killed by.

Champions	Parentage	Gate	Killed By
Adrastus (Ἄδραστου)	son of Talaus & Lysimache	–	–
Amphiarüs (Ἀμφιάραος)	son of Oícles & Hypermnestra	Homoloean Gate	Zeus (or Periclymenus)
Hippomedon (Ἱππομέδων)	son of Talaus & Lysimache or Lysianassa	Athena Onca	Ismarus
Mecisteus (Μηκιστεύς)	son of Talaus & Lysimache or Lysianassa	–	Melanippus
Capaneus (Καπανεύς)	son of Hipponous & Astynome	Electran Gate	Zeus
Eteoclus (Ἐτεοκλυς)	son of Iphis	Neïstan Gate	Leades or Megareus
Parthenopaeüs (Παρθενοπαἳος)	son of Ares, Hippomenes, Melanion or Meleager & Atalanta	Borraean Gate	Periclymenus, Asphodicus or Amphidicus
Tydeus (Τυδεύς)	son of Oeneus & Gorge or Periboea	Proëtid Gate	Melanippus
Polyneices (Πολυνείκης)	son of Oedipus & Jocasta	Seventh Gate	Eteocles

Adrastus, king of Argos, was the leader of the Seven champions. He was the only leader of the Seven to survive the war.

Capaneus was killed by the thunderbolt of Zeus. While Zeus did not actually kill Amphiarüs, the god did cause the earth to open up in front of Amphiarüs' chariot, swallowing up the seer and his charioteer.

Note that nine people are listed here, instead of seven. The Seven champions were seven Argive chieftains listed above (including Adrastus, king of Argos). Polyneices and Tydeus were foreign princes (and sons-in-law of Adrastus); therefore, they were not counted as members of the Seven, though they both took very active roles in the war. For this reason, I have placed Polyneices and Tydeus at the bottom of the list, anyway.

However, some writers do count Polyneices and Tydeus as two of the seven champions. In this case, you could leave out Mecisteus and Adrastus (eg. Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes). The names of the gates attacked by the Seven were also given in Aeschylus' play.

Epigoni


Leaders	Parents
Aegialeus (Αἰγιάλεος)	son of Adrastus & Amphithea
Cyanippus (Κυάνιππος)	son of Adrastus & Amphithea
Alcmeon (Ἀλκμάιων)	son of Amphiarüs & Eriphyle
Amphilochus (Ἀμφίλοχος)	son of Amphiarüs & Eriphyle
Sthenelus (Σθένελος)	son of Capaneus & Evadne
Polydorus (Πολύδωρος)	son of Hippomedon
Euryalus (Εὐρύαλος)	son of Mecisteus
Promachus (Πρόμαχος)	son of Parthenopaeüs
Diomedes (Διομήδης)	son of Tydeus & Deïpyle
Thersander (Θέρσανδρος)	son of Polyneices & Argeia

Alcmeon was the elected leader of the Epigoni. Aegialeus was the only leader to die in Thebes. Adrastus, king of Argos, died from grief, when he heard that his son (Aegialeus) had fallen in battle. Apparently, one of the prophecies stated that the Argives couldn't win the war unless the last leader of the original Seven died.

One writer also listed Timeas and Adrastus, the sons of Polyneices & Argeia, as members of the Epigoni.