(Group ), that is, the heirs or descendants. By
this name ancient mythology understands the sons of the seven heroes who had undertaken an
expedition against Thebes, and had perished there. [ADRASTUS.] Ten
years after that catastrophe, the descendants of the seven heroes went against Thebes to
avenge their fathers, and this war is called the war of the Epigoni. According to some
traditions, this war was undertaken at the request of Adrastus, the only surviver of the seven
heroes. The names of the Epigoni are not the same in all accounts (Apollod. 3.7.2, &c.; Diod. 4.66; Paus. 10.10.2; Hyg. Fab. 71); but the
common lists contain Alemaeon, Aegialeus, Diomedes, Promachus, Sthenelus, Thersander, and
Euryalus. Alcmaeon undertook the command, in accordance with an oracle, and collected a
considerable band of Argives. The Thebans marched out against the enemy, under the command of
Laodamas, after whose fall they took to flight to protect themselves within their city. On the
part of the Epigoni, Aegialeus had fallen. The seer Teiresias, however, induced the Thebans to
quit their town, and take their wives and children with them, while they sent ambassadors to
the enemy to sue for peace. The Argives, however, took possession of Thebes, and razed it to
the ground. The Epigoni sent a portion of the booty and Manto, the daughter of Teiresias, to
Delphi, and then returned to Peloponnesus. The war of the Epigoni was made the subject of epic
and tragic poems. (Paus. 9.9. 3.) The statues of the seven
Epigoni were dedicated at Delphi. (Paus. 10.10.2.)