Eteocles

Eteocles is presented in Greek sources as a son of Oedipus and Jocasta who succeeds to rulership in Thebes in the generational sequence following Oedipus. Multiple traditions explain the quarrel with his brother Polynices differently: Hellanicus is recorded as saying Eteocles offered Polynices a choice of rule or a share of property; Pherecydes is cited for an account in which Eteocles expels Polynices by force; the Bibliotheca and Diodorus present the brothers as agreeing to alternate the kingship yearly, with Eteocles allotted the first year and refusing to surrender the crown. Across these variants the narrative converges on a fratricidal outcome—because of family curse(s) associated with Oedipus and ensuing oath-breaking or refusal to share power, the two brothers die fighting each other—after which Creon (their uncle) assumes rule in Thebes.

The surviving sources consulted focus on Eteocles' role and actions rather than giving a consistent physical portrait. Dramatic treatments (Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles) stage him in the functional guise of king and military commander—that is, performing kingly and martial roles onstage—yet none of the provided excerpts supply a systematic, detailed physical description (hair, height, distinguishing marks). Therefore descriptions of his appearance in these texts are absent; dramatic convention implies royal/military dress appropriate to a Theban king but this is an inference from role rather than an attested, cited physical description.

Eteocles' capacities as represented in the sources are political and martial rather than supernatural. He functions as claimant and defender of Theban kingship, takes command in the defense of the city during the war of the Seven against Thebes, and engages in combat with his brother Polynices—accounts report that the two kill one another in single combat or in the course of battle. No supernatural powers are attributed to him in the cited materials; his agency is human: leadership, military command, and the capacity to make (or refuse) political agreements and to enforce them by force.