Polydorus died while Labdacus was a young child, leaving Nycteus as his regent, although
Lycus soon replaced him in that office.[1] When Labdacus had grown, he ruled Thebes for a short time. He died while he was still young, after he lost a war with the king of
Athens,
Pandion, over their borders.[2] Apollodorus writes that he, like his cousin
Pentheus, was ripped apart by women in a
bacchic frenzy for disrespect to the god
Dionysus.[3] Lycus became regent once more after his death, this time for Labdacus' son,
Laius. His descendants were called the Labdacids, and included his son Laius, who fathered
Oedipus; Oedipus' children were
Polynices,
Eteocles,
Antigone, and
Ismene.
Dotted lines indicate extra-marital relationships or adoptions.
Kings of Thebes are numbered with bold names and a light purple background.
Joint rules are indicated by a number and lowercase letter, for example, 5a. Amphion shared the throne with 5b. Zethus.
Regents of Thebes are alphanumbered (format AN) with bold names and a light red background.
The number N refers to the regency preceding the reign of the Nth king. Generally this means the regent served the Nth king but not always, as Creon (A9) was serving as regent to Laodamas (the 10th King) when he was slain by Lycus II (the usurping 9th king).
The letter A refers to the regency sequence. "A" is the first regent, "B" is the second, etc.