Theban kings in Greek mythology the pact, and Polyneices was banished from Thebes. Polyneices fled to the court of King Adrastus of Argos to raise an army, known as the "Seven Against Thebes". In this war, Polyneices and Eteocles were each slain by the other, thus fulfilling Oedipus' curse. After the deaths of Polyneices and Eteocles, Jocasta's brother "Creon", who before had governed Thebes after the death of Laius and after the exile of Oedipus, became regent for Eteocles' son Laodamas. It was during one of Creon's reigns that Heracles was born in Thebes. Creon served as protector of Heracles, his stepfather Amphitryon, and mother
Oedipus and the Sphinx which also contains the gory remains of conflict. Another critic observed that a Greek sphinx, half-woman and half-vulture, was shown, rather than an Egyptian seated sphinx, but felt that whereas Ingres had presented a modern Oedipus, Moreau had better interpreted the classical Oedipus. After the "Salon", Moreau quickly gained a reputation for eccentricity. One commentator said Moreau's work was "like a pastiche of Mantegna created by a German student who relaxes from his painting by reading Schopenhauer". The painting was first sold by the artist in 1864 to Prince Napoléon Bonaparte, who had a reputation as a discerning connoisseur, and