Source edition
Aeschyli Tragoediae. Sidgwick, Arthur, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902.
Source data
Perseus Digital Library · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This Greek tragedy depicts the conflict between two brothers cursed by their father, Oedipus, and the desperate battle for the survival of their homeland, Thebes. Set within the besieged city, the drama begins with the tense interactions between King Eteocles and the chorus of terrified Theban women. As a messenger reports on the seven enemy commanders and the designs on their shields, Eteocles strategically assigns defender generals to each of the city's seven gates. Upon learning that his own brother, Polyneices, stands at the seventh gate, Eteocles realizes the inevitability of their family curse yet resolves to face him in single combat. Ultimately, while the city of Thebes is saved from destruction, the two brothers slay each other in a fatal clash. The play concludes with their sisters, Antigone and Ismene, mourning the tragedy, and Antigone's defiant vow to bury Polyneices in violation of the state decree, foreshadowing further familial doom.