Adrastos, king of Argos, was the son of Taraus, and he had five children, among whom were two beautiful daughters, Archie and Deipil.Concerning their fate a strange oracle said that their father would marry one to a lion and the other to a boar.The king thought about it, but could not understand the meaning of this sentence.When his daughters grow up, he wants to marry them as soon as possible, so that this terrible prophecy cannot be fulfilled, but the prophecy of the gods will definitely be fulfilled. One day, two fugitives arrived at the gate of Argos' palace at the same time from different directions.One was Polynices of Thebes, who was expelled from his homeland by his brothers.The other was Tydeus, the son of Onius and Peripaea, who escaped from Calydon after inadvertently killing a relative while hunting.When the two met at the gate of the palace, they couldn't tell each other clearly because of the hazy night, and each regarded the other as an enemy and fought each other.When Adrastus heard the fighting outside the door, he came out with a torch and separated the two.When he saw the two fighting heroes standing on either side of him, he couldn't help being startled, as if he saw a wild beast.He saw a lion's head painted on Polynices' shield, and a wild boar on Tydeus' shield.Adrastus immediately understood the meaning of the oracle, and he recruited the two exiled heroes as sons-in-law.Polynices married his eldest daughter Archek, and his younger daughter Deipole married Tydeus.

The king also solemnly promised to help them restore the country and regain the throne. First expedition to Thebes.Adrastus summoned heroes from all sides, including himself, a total of seven princes, leading seven armies.These seven princes were Adrastus, Polynices, Tydeus, Amphiaraus, the king's brother-in-law, Capaneus, the king's nephew, and Hippomais, the king's two brothers. Winter and Parthenopaeus.Amphiaraus had been the king's enemy in the past. He had the ability to foretell and knew that this battle would inevitably fail.He repeatedly persuaded King Adrastros and other heroes to give up the war.But his various efforts were unsuccessful, so he had to find a place to hide, which was known only to his wife Erifele, the sister of King Adrathos.They searched everywhere, but could not find him.Adrastos was indispensable, because the king regarded Amphiaraus as the eyes of the entire army, and he would not dare to go on an expedition without him.

When Polynices escaped from Thebes, he took a necklace and a kerchief with him.These are two treasures, a wedding gift from the goddess Aphrodite to Harmonia and Cadmus.Anyone who wears these two things will bring disaster.They had killed Harmonia, Semele, mother of Bacchus, and Jocasta.In the end, they fell into the hands of Polynices' wife Archie.Now Polynices tries to bribe Eliphele with a necklace to tell her where she hides her husband. Erifele had long coveted the necklace given to his niece by a stranger.When she saw the glittering gemstones on the necklace with gold chains, she couldn't resist this great temptation, and finally she took Polynices to Amphiaraus' secret hiding place.Amphiaraus really did not want to take part in this expedition, but he could no longer refuse, because when he married the sister of Adrastus, he had promised that in case of controversial issues, all would be handled by his wife Erifel. call the shots.Now his wife led someone to find him, so he had to put on his weapon and summon the warriors.Before he set off, he called his son Alcmeon to him, and solemnly told him that if he heard of his father's death, he must avenge his unfaithful mother.