The Fratricidal Succession

Antigone

This thread traces the brothers’ failed agreement to rule in turns, their mutual betrayals, and the public myth built over their deaths.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Rotating Crown A Rotating Crown from "Antigone". A Rotating Crown Shared rule promised Eteocles and Polynices are supposed to govern Thebes one year at a time.

A Rotating Crown from "Antigone". A Rotating Crown Shared rule promised Eteocles and Polynices are supposed to govern Thebes one year at a time.

A Rotating Crown Shared rule promised Eteocles and Polynices are supposed to govern Thebes one year at a time. A fragile arrangement The agreement depends on each brother surrendering power in turn. Its failure leaves the city with a succession crisis.

The Refused Handover The Refused Handover from "Antigone". The Refused Handover A broken promise Eteocles refuses to give the throne to Polynices.

The Refused Handover from "Antigone". The Refused Handover A broken promise Eteocles refuses to give the throne to Polynices.

The Refused Handover A broken promise Eteocles refuses to give the throne to Polynices. Conflict becomes inevitable The succession agreement can no longer restrain their rivalry. Their private breach draws allies and the city into war.

The Foreign Alliance The Foreign Alliance from "Antigone". The Foreign Alliance A claim backed by force Polynices wins support from seven foreign princes and the Argive army.

The Foreign Alliance from "Antigone". The Foreign Alliance A claim backed by force Polynices wins support from seven foreign princes and the Argive army.

The Foreign Alliance A claim backed by force Polynices wins support from seven foreign princes and the Argive army. A city under threat The alliance turns a dynastic quarrel into an assault on Thebes. Its defeat will not settle the brothers’ struggle peacefully.

The Brothers’ Duel The Brothers’ Duel from "Antigone". The Brothers’ Duel Mutual destruction Eteocles and Polynices kill each other outside the city walls.

The Brothers’ Duel from "Antigone". The Brothers’ Duel Mutual destruction Eteocles and Polynices kill each other outside the city walls.

The Brothers’ Duel Mutual destruction Eteocles and Polynices kill each other outside the city walls. The succession ends in blood Neither brother gets a lasting victory or the promised turn at rule. Their deaths pass the conflict to Creon and the survivors.

A Convenient Hero A Convenient Hero from "Antigone". A Convenient Hero Unequal public honor Creon gives Eteocles a state funeral and leaves Polynices unburied.

A Convenient Hero from "Antigone". A Convenient Hero Unequal public honor Creon gives Eteocles a state funeral and leaves Polynices unburied.

A Convenient Hero Unequal public honor Creon gives Eteocles a state funeral and leaves Polynices unburied. An acknowledged fiction He later reveals that both brothers betrayed their father and city. The official distinction serves political order more than historical truth.

The Story Antigone Inherits The Story Antigone Inherits from "Antigone". The Story Antigone Inherits Memory meets evidence Creon challenges Antigone’s affectionate memory of Polynices with accounts of his cruelty and ambition.

The Story Antigone Inherits from "Antigone". The Story Antigone Inherits Memory meets evidence Creon challenges Antigone’s affectionate memory of Polynices with accounts of his cruelty and ambition.

The Story Antigone Inherits Memory meets evidence Creon challenges Antigone’s affectionate memory of Polynices with accounts of his cruelty and ambition. A moral complication His revelation weakens the heroic story but does not erase her kinship. The brothers’ conflict becomes inseparable from the stories told about them.

Before the play’s opening, after Oedipus leaves power

At the end of Eteocles’ first year

Before the attack on Thebes

At the end of the battle outside Thebes

The day after the battle

During Creon’s revelation to Antigone