Polynices- Greek FigureMortal"Prince of Thebes"

Exile from Thebes

Polynices was one of four children born to the incestuous union of Oedipus and Jocasta. After Oedipus was exiled from Thebes in disgrace, his sons Eteocles and Polynices agreed to share the kingship by ruling in alternate years. When Eteocles's first year ended, however, he refused to yield the throne. Polynices was driven from Thebes and wandered as an exile, eventually arriving at the court of King Adrastus in Argos. There he quarreled with another exile, Tydeus of Calydon — the two fought like wild beasts on Adrastus's doorstep. Adrastus, remembering an oracle that he should wed his daughters to a lion and a boar, saw the beasts on their shields and understood. He gave each man a daughter in marriage. Polynices wed Argeia and gained Adrastus's pledge to restore him to the Theban throne by force.

The Seven against Thebes

Adrastus assembled six other champions to march on Thebes: himself, Polynices, Tydeus, Capaneus, Hippomedon, Parthenopaeus, and the seer Amphiaraus. Amphiaraus foresaw that all but Adrastus would die, and he refused to join until Polynices bribed his wife Eriphyle with the cursed Necklace of Harmonia to compel him. The army marched to Thebes and each champion assaulted one of its seven gates. The siege was catastrophic — Zeus struck down Capaneus with a thunderbolt, and the earth itself swallowed Amphiaraus alive.

The Duel and Its Aftermath

The war culminated when Polynices and Eteocles met in single combat before the walls of Thebes, fulfilling the curse their father Oedipus had laid upon them — that they would divide their inheritance by the sword. The brothers killed each other simultaneously. Creon assumed power and honored Eteocles with a hero's burial but decreed that Polynices's corpse be left unburied as a traitor. Polynices's sister Antigone defied the decree, performed the forbidden burial rites, and was condemned to death by Creon.