Here, as in v. 571, Tydeus appears as the real leader of the expedition, who had persuaded Adrastos and the other chiefs to join in it, and Amphiaraos, the prophet, the son of Œcleus, as having all along foreseen its disastrous issue. The account of the expedition in the _Œdipus at Colonos_ (1300-1330) may be compared with this. Footnote 95: The legend of the Medusa's head on the shield of Athena shows the practice of thus decorating shields to have been of remote date. In Homer it does not appear as common, and the account given of the shield of Achilles lays stress upon the work of the artist (Hephæstos) who wrought the shield in relief, not, as here, upon painted insignia. They were obviously common in the time of Æschylos. Footnote 96: The older families of Thebes boasted that they sprang from the survivors of the Sparti, who, sprung from the Dragon's teeth, waged deadly war against each other, till all but five were slain. The later settlers, who were said to have come with Cadmos, stood to these as the “greater” to the “lesser _gentes_” at Rome. Footnote 97: So in the _Antigone_ of Sophocles (v. 134), Capaneus appears as the special representative of boastful, reckless impiety. Footnote 98: Artemis, as one of the special Deities to whom Thebes was consecrated. Footnote 99: Apparently an Asiatic invention, to increase the terror of an attack of war-chariots. Footnote 100: The phrase and thought were almost proverbial in Athens. Men, as citizens, were thought of as fed at a common table, bound to contribute their gifts to the common stock. When they offered up their lives in battle, they were giving, as Pericles says (Thucyd. ii. 43), their noblest “contribution,” paying in full their subscription to the society of which they were members. Footnote 101: Thyiad, another name for the Mænads, the frenzied attendants on Dionysos. Footnote 102: _Sc._, in the legends of Typhon, not he, but Zeus, had proved the conqueror. The warrior, therefore, who chose Typhon for his badge was identifying himself with the losing, not the winning side. Footnote 103: The name, as we are told in v. 542, is Parthenopæos, the maiden-faced. Footnote 104: The Sphinx, besides its general character as an emblem of terror, had, of course, a special meaning as directed to the Thebans. The warrior who bore it threatened to renew the old days when the monster whom Œdipus had overcome had laid waste their city. Footnote 105: _Sc._, the Sphinx on his shield will not be allowed to enter the city. It will only serve as a mark, attracting men to attack both it and the warrior who bears it. Footnote 106: The quarrel between Tydeus and the seer Amphiaraos had been already touched upon. Footnote 107: