Epigoni (play)

Epigoni
Eriphyle being bribed by Polynices to coerce her husband Amphiaraus to partake in the war against Thebes. Their son Alcmaeon apparently avenged Amphiaraus as part of the plot of Epigoni.
Written by	Sophocles
Original language	Ancient Greek
Genre	Athenian tragedy

The Epigoni (Ancient Greek: Ἐπίγονοι, Epigonoi, "progeny") is an ancient Greek tragedy written by the Greek playwright Sophocles in the 5th century BC and based on Greek mythology.

According to myth, Polynices and six allies (the seven against Thebes) attacked Thebes because Polynices' brother, Eteocles, refused to give up the throne as promised. All but one (Adrastus) of the seven would-be conquerors were killed. Their children swore vengeance and attacked Thebes. This was called the war of the Epigonoi ("the offspring, the next generation"); the story had been told, before Sophocles, in the lost epic Epigonoi. These Epigonoi defeated and killed (or drove out) Laodamas, son of Eteocles, and conquered Thebes, installing Thersander on the throne. All of the Epigonoi but Aegialeus, the son of Adrastus, or else Alcmaeon, son of Amphiaraus, survived this battle.

Amphiaraus had known that the attack against Thebes was doomed to fail and had not wanted to partake, but was coerced to do so by his wife Eriphyle, who had been bribed by Polynices. Amphiaraus had instructed his son Alcmaeon to avenge him against his mother, and Alcmaeon killed her, either before or after the war of the Epigonoi, depending on the version of the myth. Alcmaeon was then pursued by the Erinyes, similar to the fate of Orestes after killing his mother Clytemnestra.