#capaneus

[bellspun]

I recently got tiktok a few weeks ago and wanted to participate in this trend 🤞

[ilions-end]

i'm rereading aeschylus' seven against thebes (Actually Aware of Who The Characters Are edition). i mostly remember i really enjoyed the shield descriptions for the seven, and yeah they still rock.

list for my own future reference:

tydeus' shield: a night sky with stars, and the full moon at the center. also the shield has bells hanging from it to "make a fearsome sound". exploring new avenues of fear tactics, i like it

capaneus' shield: a naked man carrying a flaming torch in each hand, and the text ‘I will burn down the city’. ZERO subtlety. capaneus oh my god

eteoclus' shield: an armored man scaling an enemy wall, and the text, 'Not even the war god Ares can dislodge me and hurl me from the wall'. B-. too much of a mouthful. come back when you've found a more succinct way to disrespect the gods and tempt fate.

hippomedon's shield: fire-breathing typhon encircled by twining serpents. sounds like an instant classic. good. (also OF COURSE his opponent's shield depicts zeus with a lightning bolt so. you know how this will play out)

parthenopaeus' shield: the sphinx eating a theban man. now THAT'S going above and beyond, that's reading up on your enemy team before the match. chef's kiss.

amphiaraus' shield: isn't decorated in any way because he isn't boastful and wants to let his actions speak for themselves 🥺 amphiarauuuus man you're like. the coolest guy here

polynices' shield: a man in golden armor led by justice personified, with the text ‘This man I will lead back, and he will have his land and will roam free in his ancestral home.’ noooo you could have had something DEVASTATING and you went with like. a political newspaper cartoon. and too many words again. polynices i NEED you to get your head in the game here

[en-theos]

fratricide group project (colourized)

fltr clockwise king adrastus, parthenopaeus, amphiaraus, tydeus, polynices, capaneus, hippomedon

[laiapolypharmakos]

Late Christmas gifts for moots

A Diomedes centered post but let’s go by parts: first start with the presentation of this man and Dauinian wife for number 1 fan @venomspecs 😆, then for great souled Tydeus for his biggest obsessed @herb-on-a-stick😄 and Diomedes for @thewingedgoat 😁.

tw blood really

First presenting Diomedes and Euippe🥰🥰:

I would feel bad not mentioning Euppie as a Daunian😭😭😭

Secondly, presenting Tydeus in Aeschylus' oath in the play Seven Against Thebes:

Seven warriors, fierce regiment-commanders, slaughtered a bull over a black shield, and then touching the bull's gore with their hands they swore an oath by Ares, by Enyo, and by Rout who delights in blood, that either they will level the city and sack the Cadmeans' town by force, or will in death smear this soil with their blood.

This felt so wrong, I want shorty Tydeus🤣

Third Diomedes Aristeia:

Protected by Minerva, Diomedes wounds the god Mars

Had lots of fun paiting Ares😍

Some artistic justifications:

The text was really random and a perfect to see different coloured and sized, also didn’t really like the texts mentioning Euippe. Had lots of fun but the nib and the ink betrayed me in the u😭😭.

Seven against Thebes:

In the Aeschylus play is described the shield of Tydeus as “a well-crafted sky, ablaze with stars, and the brightness of the full moon shining in the center of the shield, the moon that is the most revered of the stars, the eye of night.” So night blue stars and moon white.

Is described the shield of Hippomedont:  the symbol is Typhon, spitting out of his fire-breathing mouth a dark, thick smoke, the darting sister of fire. And the rim of the hollow-bellied shield is fastened all around with snaky braids. So flames and smoke for Typhon

And also the shield of Parthenopaeus is described as bronze-forged with the Sphinx (LOL)

For the rest of the armours I went feral and put a lot of colours in them I loved so much (I refrained from painting Polynices' malliot purple, @aaronofithaca05 knows)

Diomedes aristeia:

I painted brown-haired Tydeus so brown haired Diomdes as well

Athena is a weaver and very coquette imo so she stiled Zeus tunic with the aegis turquoise. I love scarlet could help it.

Love the position of ares and also the colours I selected also the white points are pearls in allusion to Aphrodite 😁

The spears are made from ash tree as Homer instits on describing them 

The helmet's plumage is white, as suggested by @jamescartoon

I painted the car white and added the details it already had in the Austrian style LOL.

AAAAAAAAH GUYYYYYS HOPE YOU LIKE IT🤩🤩🤩🤩

[sarafangirlart]

Evadne by Leonard Gaultier

She loved Capaneus so much ☹️

The imagery of Erotes feeding the fire is kinda creepy but very compelling ngl. Kinda depressing to think that some ppl’s only introduction to Evadne is that one Medusa retelling that makes it so she actually hated her husband. Also kinda crazy that ppl loooove to insult Zeus left and right yet no one brings up that this widow would’ve gladly died by his lightning bolt just like her husband was killed when he openly insulted Zeus.

[argeiarenga]

kapa and sthe

damn it's so hard to draw a person i almost gave up

[theogonyofbeauty]

Capaneus being struck down by Zeus.

According to the legend, Capaneus had immense strength and body size and was an outstanding warrior. He was also notorious for his arrogance. He stood just at the wall of Thebes during the war of the Seven against Thebes and shouted that Zeus himself could not stop him from invading it.

[superkooku]

Who did Asclepius resurrect ?

A couple days ago, I discussed the idea of mortals defeating gods with @kill-me-with-a-spoon on a comment section of my "thoughts on Epic" post.

We talked about Diomedes and Perseus briefly, but then a third example came in : Asclepius.

And I find this specific mention interesting because I didn't think about it but it kinda makes sense 😂

He didn't defeat any god like the two former heroes, that being physically overwhelming them. Instead, he simply "cures" death, thus Thanatos' doing. Not only his, but the Fates' too considering they cut the thread of life. And he meddled with Hades' realm, something that he hated and we know how that ended.

(Hades hating doctors will never not be funny)

I made some research on him for personal projects and so I want to use it right now for personal ramblings about who exactly Asclepius resurrected.

@kill-me-with-a-spoon was pointing out that if, by technicality, he didn't interfere with Hades' domain if souls he resurrected didn't cross the Styx. And I've got to say, I think he did.

Also, I completely agree with the fact that they're still killable. They won't die from the same cause since Asclepius heals their injuries but he doesn't deify anyone.

If we look up different sources, here's the list of people he resurrected.

Hippolytus (according to Pausanias and latin sources like Pseudo-Hyginus or Ovid)

What makes this particularly interesting is that Artemis is the one who has this idea. It shows that portraying her as a man hater is completely wrong since she asks her male nephew to resurrect her male friend/devotee. It shows her bond with Hippolytus (his death was very unfair, so I get it) and with Apollo too, since she trusted her brother's son completely.

Then, it's just funny but in-character that Theseus isn't the one who has the idea to resurrect his son, because of course he wouldn't think about it 😂. It's even funnier if we take late sources stating that Asclepius was among the Argonauts. Because Theseus was too, so they knew each other personally and yet Theseus couldn't think about it.

Another detail : Hippolytus seems to forgive Theseus in Euripides' play, but NOT after coming back to life in Pausanias' version. Different versions, I know, but if we mix the two, then we could interpret that maybe all this time in the Underworld gave him the opportunity to think about it, or maybe, with a new chance to live, he doesn't want to stay with his father.

I get you, Hippolytus. Go have fun.

Capaneus (according to Stesichorus)

What's interesting here is how Capaneus died : he participated in Polynice's siege against Thebes but was killed... by Zeus. He was struck by lightning because of hubris.

And then Asclepius comes and resurrects this guy. All the more reasons for Zeus to be angered. That means he came in and decided to undo divine punishment, the same one that will be his own doom in the future. It's pretty chilling for me.

Lycurgus

So, there are a lot of Lycurguses in mythology.

In the beginning, I thought it was Lycurgus of Thrace, which would've been hilarious because if this guy comes back to life, he'll come back traumatized and insane (also, any grapevine would be the source of PTSD flashbacks). And again, that would've mean undoing divine punishments.

BUT it seems to be a separate Lycurgus that was resurrected. Not the one who offended Dionysus.

It's also not Admetus' brother of the same name, though the logical link would've been easy to make (because of Apollo's servitude and Admetus also being an Argonaut according to some sources).

Honestly, Wikipedia is the only place where the Lycurgus that Asclepius resurrected is distinguished. Even then, the article speaks of a probable case and lists Apollodorus as a source. So not even researchers are completely sure of which Lycurgus it was.

Hymen/Hymenaios : yeah, according to the Orphics, he resurrected some guy named Hymen, even though the only figure with this name is a god... it would've been very interesting to analyze if I had more details about it. Unfortunately, there aren't really.

Tyndareus

Glaucus : It's funny how Asclepius resurrects both Theseus AND Minos' son. Though that exploit is more often attributed to the prophet and healer Polyidos. I wonder if there was some untold teacher-student relationship between the two, since Asclepius is one of the inventors of medicine (with Chiron)

And then there's this woman :

This cracks me up, because this little story alone states that Asclepius as a GOD still resurrects the dead even though he was punished for it. Tbf, he probably had to explain this to Zeus, that he had to compensate his partners' mistake. Still, that's hilarious that not even divine might stopped him.

Don't tell me he didn't know what he was doing. He's a smart guy and his father is literally mr. God of prophecy. I like his audacity.

So, coming back to the initial subject, with the sheer number of mentioned names, I do think they had the time to be buried and cross the Styx (except Capaneus, who was probably turned into ashes lol).

Asclepius definetly meddled with Hades' domain, thus angering the god of the dead and he 100% provoked Zeus.

But, not all the gods were agaisnt him. If we take the version where he resurrects people with gorgon blood, then Athena, who gave it to him, was in favor of his operations.

Then, there is Artemis who asked him to bring back Hippolytus and finally, quite obviously, his n°1 supporter is his own father Apollo (oh god, I could make a whole new post rambling just about Apollo and Asclepius).

So yeah, I really like this myth for many reasons and this is one of them : how it's tied to many other stories, how different figures behave and react to Asclepius' antics, how it puts the system of life and death into questions, etc...

Anyways, if you have anything to comment on about this myth, don't hesitate. I'd love to discuss it more !

My main source about all of this was Theoi.