|
Laius
In Greek mythology, King Laius ( ) or Laios () of Thebes was a key personage in the Theban founding myth. Family Laius was the son of Labdacus. He was the father, by Jocasta, of Oedipus, who killed him. Mythology Abduction of Chrysippus After the death of his father Labdacus, Laius was raised by the regent Lycus but Amphion and Zethus usurped the throne of Thebes. Some Thebans, wishing to see the line of Cadmus continue, smuggled the young Laius out of the city before their attack, in which they killed Lycus and took the throne. Laius was welcomed by Pelops, king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus. According to some sources, Laius abducted and raped the king's son, Chrysippus, and carried him off to Thebes while teaching him how to drive a chariot, or as Hyginus records it, during the Nemean Games. Because of this, Laius is considered by many to be the originator of pederastic love, and the first pederastic rapist. This abduction is thought to be the subject of one o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oedipus
Oedipus (, ; "swollen foot") was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby bringing disaster to his city and family. The story of Oedipus is the subject of Sophocles' tragedy ''Oedipus Rex'', which is followed in the narrative sequence by '' Oedipus at Colonus'' and then '' Antigone''. Together, these plays make up Sophocles' three Theban plays. Oedipus represents two enduring themes of Greek myth and drama: the flawed nature of humanity and an individual's role in the course of destiny in a harsh universe. In the best-known version of the myth, Oedipus was born to King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes. Laius wished to thwart the prophecy, so he sent a shepherd-servant to leave Oedipus to die on a mountainside. However, the shepherd took pity on the baby and passed him to another shepherd who gave Oedipus to King Polybus and Queen Merope to raise ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jocasta
In Greek mythology, Jocasta (), also rendered as Iocaste ( ) and EpicasteHomer, ''Odyssey'', Vol. XI11.271/ref> (; ), was Queen of Thebes through her marriages to Laius and her son, Oedipus. She is best known for her role in the myths surrounding Oedipus and her eventual suicide upon the discovery of his identity. Family Jocasta was the daughter of an unknown woman and Menoeceus, a descendant of Cadmus, the legendary founder of Thebes, and the Spartoi Echion. She had two siblings: Creon and Hipponome. She was a member of the ruling class of Thebes, but her exact role before her marriage to Laius, the king of Thebes, is unknown. With Laius, she became Queen of Thebes and gave birth to a son, Oedipus. Later, not knowing of Oedipus's identity, she married him and gave birth to Antigone, Eteocles, Polynices and Ismene. She was therefore both the mother and the grandmother of her children. Mythology After Laius married Jocasta, he received an oracle from the Pythia at Delp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polybus Of Corinth
Polybus (Ancient Greek: Πόλυβος) is a figure in Greek mythology. He was the king of Corinth whose wife was variously referred to as Periboea, Merope or Medusa, daughter of Orsilochus. Mythology Polybus reigned over the city like a gentle man and loved his wife, but unfortunately their marriage remained childless for many years. When Oedipus was abandoned as an infant by his parents Laius and Jocasta, the rulers of Thebes, Periboea, who was washing garments at the shore, found and rescued him. In other accounts, either shepherds or keepers of horses of Polybus found the small child in Mount Cithaeron and brought him to Periboea; in other versions, Laius' household slaves, who were unwilling to expose the child, gave him as a present to the wife of Polybus, since she could bear no children. With Polybus' consent, since they were childless, they adopted and raised him as their own son, and after his wife had healed the child's ankles, Periboea called him Oedipus, givi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chrysippus Of Elis
In Greek mythology, Chrysippus (; ) was a divine hero of Elis in the Peloponnesus (Greece), sometimes referred to as Chrysippus of Pisa. Family Chrysippus was the bastard son of Pelops, king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus, and the nymph Axioche or Danais. According to Pseudo-Plutarch, of all his children Pelops loved Chrysippus best. Mythology Chrysippus was kidnapped by the Theban prince Laius, his tutor, who was escorting him to the Nemean Games, where the boy planned to compete. Instead, Laius carried him off to Thebes and raped him, a crime for which he, his city, and his family were later punished by the gods. Others named as Chrysippus' kidnappers Zeus and even Theseus. In one version Chrysippus' father Pelops, following his son's abduction, curses Laius to be killed by one of his own children. Chrysippus's death was related in various ways. One author who cites Peisandros as his source claims that he killed himself with his sword out of shame. Hellanicus of Lesbos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merope (Oedipus)
In Greek mythology, Merope (; ) was a Queen of Corinth, and wife of King Polybus. In some accounts, she was called Periboea. Mythology In the most versions of the myth of Oedipus, Merope is generally considered a minor character as simply the wife of King Polybus, the queen of Corinth, adoptive mother to Oedipus, and the adoptive grandmother to Oedipus’ children.Sophocles, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' 776, 990. After Oedipus is abandoned as an infant by his biological parents King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes, Merope and Polybus raise Oedipus as their adoptive son. Eventually, when questioned by Oedipus, Merope and Polybus deny the adoption. As a result of this denial, Oedipus continues to believe that Merope and Polybus are his true biological parents. Later, when Oedipus receives a prophecy from the oracle in Delphi that he was destined to murder his father and marry his mother, he does not return to Corinth and thereby sets in motion the events that result in his murder o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)
Thebes ( ; , ''Thíva'' ; , ''Thêbai'' .) is a city in Boeotia, Central Greece, and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It is the largest city in Boeotia and a major center for the area along with Livadeia and Tanagra. It played an important role in Greek myths, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus, Heracles and others. One myth had the city founded by Agenor, which gave rise to the (now somewhat obscure) name "Agenorids" to denote Thebans. Archaeological excavations in and around Thebes have revealed a Mycenaean settlement and clay tablets written in the Linear B script, indicating the importance of the site in the Bronze Age. Thebes was the largest city of the ancient region of Boeotia and was the leader of the Boeotian confederacy. It was a major rival of ancient Athens, and sided with the Persians during the 480 BC invasion under Xerxes I. Theban forces under the command of Epaminondas ended Spartan hegemony a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Labdacus
In Greek mythology, Labdacus (, ''Lábdakos'') was the only son of Polydorus and a king of Thebes. Labdacus was a grandson of Thebes' founder, Cadmus. His mother was Nycteïs, daughter of Nycteus. Mythology Polydorus died while Labdacus was a child, leaving Nycteus as his regent, although Lycus soon replaced him in that office. When Labdacus had grown, he briefly ruled Thebes. He died while he was still young, after he lost a war with the king of Athens, Pandion, over their borders. Apollodorus writes that he, like his cousin Pentheus, was ripped apart by women in a bacchic frenzy for disrespect to the god Dionysus.'' Bibliotheca'' 3.5.5. Lycus became regent once more after his death, this time for Labdacus' son, Laius. His descendants were called the ''Labdacids'', and included his son Laius, who fathered Oedipus; Oedipus' children were Polynices, Eteocles In Greek mythology, Eteocles (; ) was a king of Ancient Thebes (Boeotia), Thebes, the son of Oedipus and ei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphion And Zethus
Amphion ( ()) and Zethus (; Ζῆθος ''Zēthos'') were, in ancient Greek mythology, the twin sons of Zeus (or Theobus) by Antiope. They are important characters in one of the two founding myths of the city of Thebes, because they constructed the city's walls. Zethus or Amphion had a daughter who was called Neis (Νηίς), the Neitian gate at Thebes was believed to have derived its name from her. Mythology Childhood Amphion and Zethus were the sons of Antiope, who fled in shame to Sicyon after Zeus raped her, and married King Epopeus there. However, either Nycteus or Lycus attacked Sicyon in order to carry her back to Thebes and punish her. On the way back, she gave birth to the twins and was forced to expose them on Mount Cithaeron. Lycus gave her to his wife, Dirce, who treated her very cruelly for many years.Apollodorus, 3.5.5 Antiope eventually escaped and found her sons living near Mount Cithaeron. After they were convinced that she was their mother, they killed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greek Mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories concern the ancient Greek religion's view of the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, nature of the world; the lives and activities of List of Greek deities, deities, Greek hero cult, heroes, and List of Greek mythological creatures, mythological creatures; and the origins and significance of the ancient Greeks' cult (religious practice), cult and ritual practices. Modern scholars study the myths to shed light on the religious and political institutions of ancient Greece, and to better understand the nature of mythmaking itself. The Greek myths were initially propagated in an oral tradition, oral-poetic tradition most likely by Minoan civilization, Minoan and Mycenaean Greece, Mycenaean singers starting in the 18th century&n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pederasty In Ancient Greece
Pederasty in ancient Greece was a socially acknowledged relationship between an older male (the ''erastes'') and a younger male (the '' eromenos'') usually in his teens. It was characteristic of the Archaic and Classical periods. Some scholars locate its origin in initiation ritual, particularly rites of passage on Crete, where it was associated with entrance into military life and the religion of Zeus. It has no formal existence in the Homeric epics, and may have developed in the late 7th century BC as an aspect of Greek homosocial culture, which was characterized also by athletic and artistic nudity, delayed marriage for aristocrats, symposia, and the social seclusion of women. Pederasty was both idealized and criticized in ancient literature and philosophy. The argument has recently been made that idealization was universal in the Archaic period; criticism began in Athens as part of the general Classical Athenian reassessment of Archaic culture. Scholars have de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cadmus
In Greek mythology, Cadmus (; ) was the legendary Phoenician founder of Boeotian Thebes, Greece, Thebes. He was, alongside Perseus and Bellerophon, the greatest hero and slayer of monsters before the days of Heracles. Commonly stated to be a prince of Phoenicia, the son of king Agenor and queen Telephassa of Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre, the brother of Phoenix (son of Agenor), Phoenix, Cilix and Europa (consort of Zeus), Europa, Cadmus traced his origins back to Poseidon and Libya of Egypt, Libya. Originally, he was sent by his royal parents to seek out and escort his sister Europa back to Tyre after she was abducted from the shores of Phoenicia by Zeus. In early accounts, Cadmus and Europa were instead the children of Phoenix (son of Agenor), Phoenix.Scholia on Homer, ''Iliad'' B, 494, p. 80, 43 ed. Bekk. as cited in Hellanicus of Lesbos, Hellanicus' ''Boeotica'' Cadmus founded or refounded the Greek city of Ancient Thebes (Boeotia), Thebes, the acropolis of which was originally named ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
