I had the joy to read a number of articles on parts of the Theban circle, and particularly the era of the campaign against Thebes (famously termed "The Seven against Thebes"). While i found a lot of very interesting information, i have some questions and hope that people here might be able to help 
General background
The campaign of the Seven against Thebes is a war which is placed one generation before the war against Troy, in which a number of heroes are the direct descendants of the heroes of the Theban siege.
The war was an inevitable result of Oedipous' tragic fate, since after blinding himself he cursed his children to divide their kingdom by the sword. The two male children were Eteokles and Polynikes, who thought they could avoid the curse by agreeing to rule Thebes at different times, each one for a year and then the other returning to rule. But Eteokles rejected to give the rule over to Polynikes after the first year ended, and instead banished him to Argos.
In Argos Polynikes became the son-in-law of the local king, who in the end accepted to help him siege the city of Thebes. For this seven armies were created, cause Thebes had seven gates, and before each one an army would block the way and concentrate its efforts to break through. Apart from Polynikes, another of the commanders (the Seven) was Tydeus, the father of Diomedes, a main hero of the Iliad.
While the siege of Thebes in the end had as a result the death of both brothers (its current king, and Polynikes, who faced off in the seventh gate), a main part of the story was that of the role of Tydeus.
Tydeus
Tydeus was from Calydon, a main city of Aetolia. Much like Polynikes, he too arrived at Argos because he had been banished, by his uncle Agrios, who in turn had banished the previous king, Oineos (the father of Tydeus and grandfather of Diomedes). While he got promoted to a prince of Argos at the same time Polynikes did (because the king of Argos, Adrastos, found them fighting in his chamber, and recalled an old oracle which he thought was about those two warriors) Tydeus was not innocent of bloodshed. He was exiled because he killed other members of the royal family of Calydon.
And his violent nature did not end there. Easy to taunt, he had the favor of Athena and when he reached Thebes before the invading army, as a negotiator, King Eteokles refused to meet him, so he became enraged and challenged a number of local warriors, who he ended up killing. Eteokles decided to send an ambush party of fifty Theban soldiers, lead by two notables, so as to kill Tydeus before he reached his camp. However Athena intervened again, and Tydeus murdered all of the small regiment, apart from one person who he let go.
However the most violent act of Tydeus came during the siege of Thebes. When Melanippos, son of Astakos, was killed after defending one of the gates, his head was brought to Tydeus who broke open his skull and ate his brain... Up to that time it was said that Athena aimed to turn him into an immortal, but afterwards she removed all protection of him. According to other accounts it was Melanippos who killed Tydeus, but the dieing Tydeus dealt the other hero a mortal blow so they died alongside one another in that gate.
Back in Calydon
Calydon was an important Aetolian city, and enjoyed the protection of the godess Artemis, divinity of the hunt. When the city failed to honor her, Artemis punished it by sending the Calydonian Boar, a monstrous wild pig which was ruining the land and killing farmers and other local people. It led to the Calydonian Hunt, during which it was a woman, Atalante, who first managed to make the beast bleed. The sense of anger that a woman was so crucial in the hunting affair later on caused a number of murders, leading in the end to the metamorphosis of Atalanta and her lover (who commited the murders) into two lions, because they corrupted the temple of Zeus with their sexual act inside it.
Their son was also banished to Argos, and fought in the siege of Thebes, where he died by one of the brothers of Melanippos.
Later on, in the next generation, after the war with Troy, Diomedes returned to Calydon to avenge the overthrow of his grandfather. It is interesting that one of the sons of the King Agrios, who was killed by Diomedes, was also named Melanippos, so both Diomedes and his father Tydeus killed a Melanippos...
The Questions
I would like some information on the following:
1) What is the exact timeline of the siege of Thebes in regards to the change of power in Calydon? When was Agrios the King, and for how long? When exactly was the son of Atalante banished, in regards to the time Tydeus had the same fate?
2) Which is the more sited account of the end of Melanippos, and what role does Tydeus play in it?
3) It was said that the King of Argos, Adrastos, regarded Tydeus and Polynikes while they were fighting in his court, as the likeness of a boar and a lion. Which one was attributed to Tydeus, and which to Polynikes?
Thank you in advance! (as usual i am needing this for a short story of mine).
General background
The campaign of the Seven against Thebes is a war which is placed one generation before the war against Troy, in which a number of heroes are the direct descendants of the heroes of the Theban siege.
The war was an inevitable result of Oedipous' tragic fate, since after blinding himself he cursed his children to divide their kingdom by the sword. The two male children were Eteokles and Polynikes, who thought they could avoid the curse by agreeing to rule Thebes at different times, each one for a year and then the other returning to rule. But Eteokles rejected to give the rule over to Polynikes after the first year ended, and instead banished him to Argos.
In Argos Polynikes became the son-in-law of the local king, who in the end accepted to help him siege the city of Thebes. For this seven armies were created, cause Thebes had seven gates, and before each one an army would block the way and concentrate its efforts to break through. Apart from Polynikes, another of the commanders (the Seven) was Tydeus, the father of Diomedes, a main hero of the Iliad.
While the siege of Thebes in the end had as a result the death of both brothers (its current king, and Polynikes, who faced off in the seventh gate), a main part of the story was that of the role of Tydeus.
Tydeus
Tydeus was from Calydon, a main city of Aetolia. Much like Polynikes, he too arrived at Argos because he had been banished, by his uncle Agrios, who in turn had banished the previous king, Oineos (the father of Tydeus and grandfather of Diomedes). While he got promoted to a prince of Argos at the same time Polynikes did (because the king of Argos, Adrastos, found them fighting in his chamber, and recalled an old oracle which he thought was about those two warriors) Tydeus was not innocent of bloodshed. He was exiled because he killed other members of the royal family of Calydon.
And his violent nature did not end there. Easy to taunt, he had the favor of Athena and when he reached Thebes before the invading army, as a negotiator, King Eteokles refused to meet him, so he became enraged and challenged a number of local warriors, who he ended up killing. Eteokles decided to send an ambush party of fifty Theban soldiers, lead by two notables, so as to kill Tydeus before he reached his camp. However Athena intervened again, and Tydeus murdered all of the small regiment, apart from one person who he let go.
However the most violent act of Tydeus came during the siege of Thebes. When Melanippos, son of Astakos, was killed after defending one of the gates, his head was brought to Tydeus who broke open his skull and ate his brain... Up to that time it was said that Athena aimed to turn him into an immortal, but afterwards she removed all protection of him. According to other accounts it was Melanippos who killed Tydeus, but the dieing Tydeus dealt the other hero a mortal blow so they died alongside one another in that gate.
Back in Calydon
Calydon was an important Aetolian city, and enjoyed the protection of the godess Artemis, divinity of the hunt. When the city failed to honor her, Artemis punished it by sending the Calydonian Boar, a monstrous wild pig which was ruining the land and killing farmers and other local people. It led to the Calydonian Hunt, during which it was a woman, Atalante, who first managed to make the beast bleed. The sense of anger that a woman was so crucial in the hunting affair later on caused a number of murders, leading in the end to the metamorphosis of Atalanta and her lover (who commited the murders) into two lions, because they corrupted the temple of Zeus with their sexual act inside it.
Their son was also banished to Argos, and fought in the siege of Thebes, where he died by one of the brothers of Melanippos.
Later on, in the next generation, after the war with Troy, Diomedes returned to Calydon to avenge the overthrow of his grandfather. It is interesting that one of the sons of the King Agrios, who was killed by Diomedes, was also named Melanippos, so both Diomedes and his father Tydeus killed a Melanippos...
The Questions
I would like some information on the following:
1) What is the exact timeline of the siege of Thebes in regards to the change of power in Calydon? When was Agrios the King, and for how long? When exactly was the son of Atalante banished, in regards to the time Tydeus had the same fate?
2) Which is the more sited account of the end of Melanippos, and what role does Tydeus play in it?
3) It was said that the King of Argos, Adrastos, regarded Tydeus and Polynikes while they were fighting in his court, as the likeness of a boar and a lion. Which one was attributed to Tydeus, and which to Polynikes?
Thank you in advance! (as usual i am needing this for a short story of mine).
