Polynices, Adrastus, Tydeus, Amphiaraus, Capaneus, Hippomedon, and Parthenopaeus. At Thebes, panic breaks out at the news that an Argive army is preparing. Eteocles orders the seer Tiresias to consult the gods. In a necromantic ritual, he predicts a horrific war with a good outcome for Thebes. Nemea As the Argives pass through Nemea on their way to Thebes, they are spotted by the god Bacchus who harbours sympathies for the Thebans. To prevent the army's arrival, he withdraws all water from the area. The Argives are struck by a parching thirst but they are saved by a young woman named Hypsipyle who shows them the way to a nearby stream. After they drink from the muddy river, Hypsipyle reveals that she is the daughter of Thoas, the former king of the island of Lemnos. In a narrative taking up the fifth book almost in its entirety, the princess tells the story of how she came to Nemea: the women of Lemnos had disrespected the goddess Venus who, in return, inspires their husbands to embark on a military campaign against Thrace. In the men's absence, the women fall into a frenzy and conspire to kill all male children on the island. When the Lemnian men return, they too are murdered by their wives. Only Hypsipyle is unaffected by the women's condition and guides her father Thoas to safety in a chest. She then becomes queen of Lemnos. After a while, the Argonauts pass by Lemnos on their way back from Colchis. Although the women try to prevent them from disembarking, the Argonauts invade the island and, in a mass rape, father a new population of Lemnians. Hypsipyle is raped by their leader, Jason, and gives birth to two sons. In spite of their offspring, the Argonauts decide to leave the island. When rumour of Thoas' survival reaches the island, Hypsipyle is forced to flee. Apprehended by pirates, the princess is sold to Lycurgus, king of Nemea who makes her a nurse to his infant son Opheltes. While Hypsipyle talks to the Argives, Opheltes sleeps unwatched. A large serpent sacred to Jupiter grazes the child with its scales and kills him. The Argive princes attack the serpent in order to avenge the child's death; Capaneus succeeds in killing it and thereby incurs the enmity of Jupiter. Opheltes parents, Lycurgus and his wife Eurydice, accuse Hypsipyle of neglecting their son. Keen to protect