Seven Against Thebes

The Quest of the Original Magnificent Seven

By: Stephen Dando-Collins

Narrated by: Gildart Jackson

In the thirteenth century BC, a quarter of a century before the Trojan War, seven Greek warrior heroes went against the Greek city of Thebes to restore one of their number to the throne of his father, the famous King Oedipus. Several children of those seven heroes would later take part in the siege of Troy.

This adventure was equal in the minds of Greeks and Romans with the siege of Troy as told in Homer’s epic The Iliad, an event which it predated by a generation. And while the story contains mythical elements, there are no factual, historical, or archaeological reasons to suggest that the military campaign did not take place much as described.

Initially sung in verse and later committed to written form via histories, ancient poems, and plays, Seven Against Thebes is a historical narrative concerning one of the greatest military adventures of all time.

©2023 Stephen Dando-Collins (P)2023 Dreamscape Media

Excellent Distillation

I very much enjoyed this work. I admire the meticulous work by the author in drawing from various sources to create a modern retelling of the story in a credible manner. The author admirably resists the temptation to dilute or alter the tone for the sake of pleasing 21st-century trends. Instead, he maintains a tone that, while some may find a bit dry, allows us to connect with the ancients in a way that some other contemporary writer-narrators lack. The pacing of the plot is effective, and only in the telling of the second campaign by the sons of the seven does it feel like some balance issues arise (i.e., more detail of the second campaign may have provide better balance in relation to the two earlier segments of Oedipus and the original Seven). But another part of me preferred the briefer summary of the second campaign. Note that the Afterward is extremely dry and academic, but at the same time, it helps shed light on just how thorough the author was in his process.

I also note how much I liked the narrator approach adopted by Gildart Jackson here. Jackson is my favorite narrator, but I have sometimes felt in his other work (as with some other popular audiobook narrators who come from acting backgrounds) the presence of over-dramatization of plots, scenes, and characters beyond the intention of prose authors. (These are, after all, audiobooks, not plays.) I appreciated Jackson's more subdued approach here. While he still provided ample characterizations, he first and foremost maintained the tone of a narrator, toning down the word-by-word dramatization he often imbues in his other work.

Stephen Dando-Collins does it again...

A masterful retelling of the greatest conflict of Greeks against Greeks in the Archaic period. The author is well-versed in the source material and sheds light on even those improbable apsects of the tale by Aeschylus. Those interested in ancient drama and history will not be disappointed. It's also worth noting Gildart Jackson's wondrous addition to this production as narrator.