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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] |
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] |
Oedipus Tyrannus
''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' (, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Classical Athens, Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. While some scholars have argued that the play was first performed , this is highly uncertain. Originally, to the ancient Greeks, the title was simply ''Oedipus'' (), as it is referred to by Aristotle in the ''Poetics (Aristotle), Poetics''. It is thought to have been renamed ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' to distinguish it from ''Oedipus at Colonus'', a later play by Sophocles. In antiquity, the term "tyrant" referred to a ruler with no legitimate claim to rule, but it did not necessarily have a negative connotation. Of Sophocles's three Theban plays that have survived, and that deal with the story of Oedipus, ''Oedipus Rex'' was the second to be written, following ''Antigone (Sophocles play), Antigone'' by about a dozen years. However, in terms of the chronology of events described by the plays, it comes first, followed by ''Oedipus at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Creon (king Of Thebes)
Creon or Kreon (; ) is a figure in Greek mythology best known as the ruler of Thebes in the legend of Oedipus. Family Creon was the son of Menoeceus, and grandson of King Pentheus. Creon had four sons and three daughters with his wife, Eurydice (sometimes known as Henioche): Henioche, Pyrrha, Megareus, Lycomedes and Haemon. Creon and his sister, Jocasta, were descendants of Cadmus and of the Spartoi. He is sometimes considered to be the same person who purified Amphitryon of the murder of his uncle Electryon and father of Megara (wife of Heracles), Megara, first wife of Heracles. Mythology First Regency After the death of King Laius of Thebes at the hands of his own son Oedipus, Creon became the ruler of the kingdom. During this regency, Amphitryon Amphitryon (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιτρύων, ''gen''.: Ἀμφιτρύωνος; usually interpreted as "harassing either side", Latin: Amphitruo), in Greek mythology, was a son of Alcaeus, king of Tiryns in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ismene
In Greek mythology, Ismene (; ) is a Theban princess. She is the daughter and half-sister of Oedipus, king of Thebes, daughter and granddaughter of Jocasta, and sister of Antigone, Eteocles, and Polynices. She appears in several tragic plays of Sophocles: at the end of ''Oedipus Rex'', in '' Oedipus at Colonus'' and in '' Antigone''. She also appears at the end of Aeschylus' ''Seven Against Thebes''. Mythology Early works The seventh-century BC poet Mimnermus accounts that Ismene was murdered by Tydeus, one of the Seven against Thebes. In this account, Ismene and her lover Theoclymenus met outside of the city during the siege. Tydeus had been told their whereabouts by the goddess Athena, and apprehended Ismene while Theoclymenus escaped. While she begged for sympathy, Tydeus was unaffected by her pleas and killed her. Mimnermus fra21 Antigone (Sophocles play)">Antigone''./ref> This tradition cannot be reconciled with the events depicted in later works by Aeschylu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sophocles
Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those of Aeschylus and earlier than, or contemporary with, those of Euripides. Sophocles wrote more than 120 plays, but only seven have survived in a complete form: '' Ajax'', '' Antigone'', '' Women of Trachis'', '' Oedipus Rex'', '' Electra'', '' Philoctetes'', and '' Oedipus at Colonus''. For almost fifty years, Sophocles was the most celebrated playwright in the dramatic competitions of the city-state of Athens, which took place during the religious festivals of the Lenaea and the Dionysia. He competed in thirty competitions, won twenty-four, and was never judged lower than second place. Aeschylus won thirteen competitions and was sometimes defeated by Sophocles; Euripides won four.. The most famous tragedies of Sophocles feature Oedip ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Menoeceus
In Greek mythology, Menoeceus (; Ancient Greek: Μενοικεύς ''Menoikeús'' "strength of the house" derived from ''menos'' "strength" and ''oikos'' "house") was the name of two Theban characters. They are related by genealogy, the first being the grandfather of the second. * Menoeceus, father of Creon, Jocasta and Hipponome and both grandfather and father-in-law of Oedipus. He was the Theban son of Pentheus and a descendant of the Spartoi through his grandfather Echion. * Menoeceus, son of Creon and possibly Eurydice, named after his grandfather. According to Hyginus and Statius, during the reign of Eteocles when the Seven against Thebes laid siege to the city, Creon's son committed suicide by throwing himself from the walls. This was in concordance with Tiresias foretelling that if anyone of the Spartoi should perish freely as sacrifice to Ares, Thebes would be freed from disaster. The Thebans were ultimately victorious. The battle is memorialized in ''Seven Against ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merope (wife Of Polybus)
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 ... [...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] |
Hipponome
{{short description, Greek mythological figure In Greek mythology, Hipponome (Ancient Greek: Ἱππονόμης means "horse-keeper") was the daughter of Menoeceus from Thebes and thus sister of Creon and Jocasta. She married Alcaeus, son of Perseus and Andromeda, and had children by him, a son Amphitryon and two daughters Anaxo and Perimede. In other accounts, the wife of Alcaeus was named Astydamia, daughter of Pelops or Laonome, daughter of Guneus. Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio'' 8.14.2 Mythology In Pseudo-Apollodorus' account of ''The Library'', Hipponome was mentioned in the following passage: : ''"Alcaeus had a son Amphitryon and a daughter Anaxo by Astydamia, daughter of Pelops; but some say he had them by Laonome, daughter of Guneus, others that he had them by Hipponome, daughter of Menoeceus"'' Notes References * Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eteocles
In Greek mythology, Eteocles (; ) was a king of Ancient Thebes (Boeotia), Thebes, the son of Oedipus and either Jocasta or Euryganeia. Oedipus killed his father Laius and married his mother without knowing his relationship to either. When the relationship was revealed, he was expelled from Thebes. The rule passed to his sons Eteocles and Polynices. However, because of a curse from their father, the two brothers did not share the rule peacefully and died as a result, ultimately killing each other in battle for control of the city. Upon his death, Eteocles was succeeded by his uncle, Creon of Thebes, Creon. Etymology The name translates as "truly glorious", from ''eteós'' “true” and ''kleos'' “glory”. The name appears in earlier form ''*Etewoklewes'' (), attested in Mycenaean Greek tablets as ''E-te-wo-ke-le-we''. ''Tawagalawas'' is thought to be the Hittite language, Hittite rendition of the Greek name. Oedipus's curse In the ''Thebaid (Greek poem), Thebaid'', the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polynices
In Greek mythology, Polynices (also Polyneices) (; ) was the son of Oedipus and either Jocasta or Euryganeia and the older brother of Eteocles. When Oedipus was discovered to have killed his father and married his mother, Oedipus was expelled from Thebes, leaving Eteocles and Polynices to rule. Because of a curse put on them by their father, the two sons did not share the rule peacefully. During a battle for control over Thebes, the brothers killed each other. Mythology Oedipus's curse In the ''Thebaid'', the brothers were cursed by their father for their disrespect towards him on two occasions. The first of these occurred when they served him using the silver table of Cadmus and a golden cup, which he had forbidden. The brothers then sent him the haunch of a sacrificed animal, rather than the shoulder, which he deserved. Enraged, Oedipus prayed to Zeus that the brothers would die by each other's hand. However, in Sophocles' '' Oedipus at Colonus'', Oedipus desired to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
