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Historical person

Polynices

mythological figure

Polynices is a figure of Greek heroic myth rather than a securely historical person. In the Theban cycle he is one of the sons of Oedipus, usually paired with his brother Eteocles. Traditions differ over the precise reason for their quarrel, but the brothers become rivals for rule of Thebes. Polynices leaves the city, gains support in Argos and returns at the head of the expedition remembered as the Seven Against Thebes.

The assault fails, and Polynices and Eteocles kill one another in single combat or in the climactic fighting, leaving Thebes under a new ruler. The aftermath becomes central to Sophocles’ Antigone: Creon permits Eteocles an honourable burial but forbids burial of Polynices as a traitor, prompting Antigone’s defiance. Because the story developed through epic, lyric and tragic traditions over centuries, no single version should be treated as an account of an actual Bronze Age prince.

Sophocles’ The Three Theban Plays is the most directly relevant linked volume, preserving the dramatic sequence in which Polynices’ disputed burial drives Antigone. The linked collections of Aeschylus and Euripides contain works from the wider Theban and heroic mythic world. Homer’s The Iliad belongs to the broader heroic tradition rather than providing a full Polynices narrative, so its relationship is contextual rather than a straightforward biographical appearance. In Euripides’ Orestes and Other Plays, The Phoenician Women returns to Thebes and follows Jocasta’s attempt to reconcile Polynices and Eteocles before their contest for Oedipus’s throne becomes civil war. Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound and Other Plays includes Seven Against Thebes, where Polynices leads the attack on his native city and the inherited curse of Oedipus culminates in the brothers killing one another. In Euripides’ The Bacchae and Other Plays, The Phoenician Women again makes Polynices one side of the fatal struggle for Thebes, opposing his brother Eteocles despite Jocasta’s attempt at reconciliation.

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring Polynices (1 series)

Penguin Classics: Ancient World in Order

by various authors 32 books 4.6(13,212)

Penguin Classics: Ancient World brings together foundational works of literature, history, philosophy, drama and poetry from the earliest civilisations through classical Greece and Rome. The wider Penguin Classics series began in 1946 with E. V. Rieu’s translation of Homer’s Odyssey, reflecting its original aim of making important texts…

All books in this series