Capaneus (CAP-uh-noose, "chairoteer"), son of
Hipponous and
Astynome, was one of the
Seven Against Thebes, the warriors gathered by King
Adrastus and
Polynices to reclaim the throne of
Thebes for the latter. He bragged that he would scale the walls of Thebes in spite of
Zeus, so naturally (bet you didn’t see this one coming) Zeus struck him down with a
thunderbolt. His wife
Evadne threw herself on his
funeral pyre.
The
hubris of Capaneus earned him a place in the seventh circle of
Hell, according to
Dante.
Canto XIV of
The Inferno:
At this
my Guide spoke with such vehemence
as I had not heard from him in all of Hell:
"O Capaneus, by your insolence
you are made to suffer as much fire inside
as falls upon you. Only your own rage
could be fit torment for your sullen pride.
Then he turned to me more gently. "That," he said,
"was one of the Seven who laid siege to Thebes.
Living, he scorned God, and among the dead
he scorns Him yet. He thinks he may detest
God’s power too easily, but as I told him,
his slobber is a fit badge for his breast.
- translated by John Ciardi