# Polyneices — Oedipus at Colonus character guide

> Polyneices in Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0002-oedipus-at-colonus

## Snapshot

Oedipus's exiled son, who comes as a suppliant to beg his father's blessing for the war he means to wage on Thebes.

## Who they are

Polyneices has been disinherited and driven out, and now he returns — not to reconcile, but to recruit. He knows an oracle promises victory to whichever side Oedipus favors, and he wants that favor for his march on his brother Eteocles. His plea is filial in form and strategic in substance, and Oedipus sees through it instantly. The confrontation between father and son is the play's harshest scene, and Polyneices leaves cursed, carrying the doom of Thebes with him.

## Relationships

### [Oedipus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_at_colonus_se/characters/oedipus)

_family_

Oedipus curses his son Polyneices for abandoning him, refusing his plea for help in a bitter familial conflict.

### [Antigone](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_at_colonus_se/characters/antigone)

_family_

Antigone pleads with her brother Polyneices to reconcile with Oedipus, but fails to soften her father's curse.

### [Antigone](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_at_colonus_se/characters/antigone)

_family_

Antigone pleads with her brother Polyneices to reconcile with Oedipus, but fails to soften her father's curse.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_at_colonus_se/characters/polyneices
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_at_colonus_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oedipus_at_colonus_se/characters