His rule began after the death of Polydorus, and ended when he was succeeded by his brother Lycus.
Nycteus and his brother Lycus were the sons of either Chthonius, one of the Spartoi,[1] or of the nymph Clonia and Hyrieus, the son of Poseidon and the Atlantid Alkyone,[2] or of Poseidon and the Pleiad Celaeno.
[3] Nycteus's daughter, Nycteis married Polydorus, who was the successor of Pentheus, and their son was Labdacus.
[1] After Antiope was impregnated by Zeus and fled to marry king Epopeus in Sicyon, the Bibliotheca reports that Nycteus killed himself in shame, after asking Lycus to punish her.
[4] Pausanias, however, states that Nycteus led the Thebans against Epopeus, but was wounded and carried back to Thebes, where he died after asking Lycus to continue the battle.