Chapter 5 Seven Heroes' Expedition to Thebes-5

Menocus gave his life, and the oracle was fulfilled.Creon struggled to hold back his grief.Eteocles commanded seven chiefs to guard seven cities, so that every vulnerable place was guarded.The Argives began to attack.An offensive and defensive battle has begun.The shouts from both sides were loud, the battle songs were loud and clear, and the horns neighed.Parthenopaeus, son of the huntress Atalanta, was at the forefront, and with his host, shielded by shields, he attacked the first gate.His shield bears an image of his mother conquering the Aetolian boar with her flying arrows; Amphiaraus the seer rushes under the second city gate.He loaded the sacrificial offerings in his chariot.His shield was undecorated, devoid of any design or colour.Hippomedon attacked the third city.On his shield is the image of the hundred-eyed giant Argos guarding Io who was turned into a cow by Hera.Tydeus led an army against the fourth gate.He has painted a furry lion's skin on his shield, and savagely wields a torch in his right hand.The attack on the fifth gate was commanded by the exiled king Polydeuces, whose shield was painted with angry horses.Capanius led the soldiers to the sixth gate.He even boasted that he could compete with Ares, the god of war, and his shield was painted with a giant lifting a city and carrying it on his shoulders.Finally, a gate, the seventh, was attacked by Adrastos, king of Argos, whose shield was painted with a hundred serpents with children of Thebes in their mouths.

When the seven armies approached the city gate, they threw stones and arrows and swung their spears, but the first attack was met with tenacious resistance from the Thebes, and the Argives were forced to retreat.Tydeus and Polynices shouted the order: "Infantry, cavalry, and chariots, attack the city gate together!" The order spread throughout the army.The Argives regained their strength and launched a fierce attack, but they were hit head-on, and rows of people died below the city, blood flowing in rivers. At this moment, Parthenopaeus, the Arcadian, rushed towards the city gate like a whirlwind.He cried out to break down and burn the gates with fire and axe.The Thebes Pericerius Menos was guarding the city gate. When he saw the opponent rushing, he ordered the iron protective wall to be pulled open, just enough to allow a chariot to enter and exit, and then slammed it down, knocking Parr Ertenopaeus was crushed to death by the walls.In front of the fourth gate, Tydeus raged like a dragon.He shook his feathered helmet rapidly, swished his shield in one hand, and with the other hand hurled javelins at the city, and the soldiers around him also rained javelins on the city. The Bis had to retreat from the wall.Just then Eteocles arrived.Gathering his soldiers, he led them back to the city wall, and then went round the gates one by one.He saw a distraught Capanius carrying a ladder.Capanius boasted that not even Zeus's lightning could stop him from taking the city.He leaned the ladder against the wall, protected himself with a shield, braved the stones flying from the city, and bravely climbed up.Then Zeus himself came to punish the madman.When he jumped from the ladder to the top of the city, Zeus struck him with a thunderbolt. The thunder shook the earth, his limbs were scattered, his hair was burning, and blood spattered.

King Adrastros thought this was a sign that Zeus had ordered against their siege.He led the soldiers out of the trenches and ordered a retreat.Immediately the Thebes rushed out of the city in chariots or on foot.They thanked Zeus for his blessings.After a scuffle, the Thebes won a complete victory and drove the enemy a long way before retreating back into the city.