ἑπτὰ λοχαγοί. In O. C. 1313 ff. the list agrees with that of Aesch. ,— Amphiaraus, Tydeus, Eteoclus, Hippomedon, Capaneus, Parthenopaeus, Polyneices. (Adrastus, who escaped, is not counted as one of the seven.) Capaneus, though not slain by human hand, is included, since he was vanquished. Amphiaraus, according to the legend which Soph. recognises in El. 837, was swallowed up by the earth, but seems here to be reckoned among those who fell in fight (cp. n. on O. C. 1313). ἴσοι πρὸς ἴσους, instead of saying simply “πρὸς ἑπτά”,—a common idiom: Eur. Phoen. 750 “ἴσους ἴσοισι πολεμίοισιν ἀντιθείς”: Her. 1.2 “ἴσα πρὸς ἴσα”: 9. 48 “ἴσοι πρὸς ἴσους”: Plat. Legg. 774C “ἴσα ἀντὶ ἴσων”. Ζηνὶ τροπαίῳ, to Zeus who makes a “τροπή”, or rout, of enemies. Eur. El. 671 “ὦ Ζεῦ πατρῷε καὶ τροπαῖ᾽ ἐχθρῶν ἐμῶν”. So he is invoked after a victory, Her. 867.(In Tr. 303 “ὦ Ζεῦ τροπαῖε” is usu. taken as=“ἀποτρόπαιε”, ‘averting.’) In his relation to war, Zeus was worshipped also as “Ἀγήτωρ” (esp. at Sparta), “Ἄρειος” (at Olympia, etc.), “Στράτιος, Χρυσάωρ” (in Caria), “Στήσιος” or “Ἐπιστάσιος” (the Roman stator, stayer of flight). πάγχαλκα τέλη, ‘tributes of panoplies,’ as Tr. 238 Heracles dedicates “βωμοὺς τέλη τ᾽ ἔγκαρπα Κηναίῳ Διΐ”, i.e. ‘dues of fruits,’—alluding to the “τέμενος” of which the produce was given to the god (ib. 754). Not, (1) ‘complete suits of armour’: nor (2) “ὁπλιτικὰ τάγματα”, ‘troops of warriors,’ as Eustath. took it (p. 686. 16), led perh. by Aesch. Pers. 47 “δίρρυμά τε καὶ τρίρρυμα τέλη”. It was the ordinary practice to set up a “τρόπαιον” (old “ αττ.τροπαῖον”) after a victory, on the spot where it had been won, or, in the case of a sea-fight, on the nearest land (Thuc. 2.92). Such a trophy ordinarily consisted of shields, helmets, and weapons, conspicuously displayed on wooden supports, and dedicated, with an inscription, to a deity. Cp. Eur. Phoen. 1473 (of the Thebans after the victory) “οἱ μὲν Διὸς τροπαῖον ἵστασαν βρέτας” (i.e. a wooden image of “Ζεὺς Τροπαῖος”), | “οἱ δ᾽ ἀσπίδας συλῶντες Ἀργείων νεκρῶν ι σκυλεύματ᾽ εἴσω τειχέων ἐπέμπομεν”. Part of the armour would be affixed to the walls of Theban temples (cp. Aesch. Ag. 577, Th. 276).
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Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part III: The Antigone. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1900.
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