In Greek mythology, Haemon or Haimon (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

: Αἵμων, ''Haimon'' "bloody"; ''gen''.: Αἵμωνος) was the son of

Creon Creon may refer to: Greek history * Creon, the first annual eponymous archon of Athens, 682–681 BC Greek mythology * Creon (king of Thebes), mythological king of Thebes * Creon (king of Corinth), father of Creusa/Glauce in Euripides' ''Medea' ...

and

Eurydice Eurydice (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυδίκη 'wide justice') was a character in Greek mythology and the Auloniad wife of Orpheus, who tried to bring her back from the dead with his enchanting music. Etymology Several meanings for the name ...

, and thus brother of

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 ...

(

Megareus In Greek mythology, Megareus (Ancient Greek: Μεγαρεύς) may refer to: *Megareus, king of Onchestus in Boeotia and father of Hippomenes. *Megareus, son of Eurydice of Thebes, and a defender of Thebes during the war of the Seven against Thebe ...

Lycomedes In Greek mythology, Lycomedes ( grc, Λυκομήδης), also known as Lycurgus, was the most prominent king of the Dolopians in the island of Scyros near Euboea during the Trojan War. Family Lycomedes was the father of seven daughters inclu ...

Megara Megara (; el, Μέγαρα, ) is a historic town and a municipality in West Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis Island, Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, befo ...

Pyrrha In Greek mythology, Pyrrha (; Ancient Greek: Πύρρα) was the daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora and wife of Deucalion of whom she had three sons, Hellen, Amphictyon, Orestheus; and three daughters Protogeneia, Pandora II and Thyia. Accordin ...

and

Henioche In Greek mythology, the name Henioche (; Ancient Greek: ''Ἡνιόχη,'' fem. of ''ἠνίοχος'' "charioteer") may refer to: *Henioche, surname of Hera in Lebadea. *Henioche or Eniocha, wife of King Creon of Thebes according to some author ...

. The various sources of his myth present differing and contradictory versions of his story. In the version of the myth recorded by

Apollodorus Apollodorus (Ancient Greek, Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: ...

and in the

Oedipodea The ''Oedipodea'' ( grc, Οἰδιπόδεια) is a lost poem of the Theban cycle, a part of the Epic Cycle (). The poem was about 6,600 verses long and the authorship was credited by ancient authorities to Cinaethon (), a barely known poet wh ...

, Haemon was killed by the

Sphinx A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...

. In

Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or co ...

' ''

Antigone In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., & Roma ...

'', Haemon was the fiancé of Antigone and killed himself after her death. In

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...

' ''

'', Haemon marries Antigone and they have a son, Maeon; in his ''

Phoenician Women ''The Phoenician Women'' ( grc, Φοίνισσαι, ''Phoinissai'') is a tragedy by Euripides, based on the same story as Aeschylus' play ''Seven Against Thebes''. It was presented along with the tragedies ''Hypsipyle'' and '' Antiope.'' With this ...

'' Antigone declares that she will kill Haemon and the engagement is broken. In a version of the myth recorded by

Hyginus Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Grammatic ...

, Haemon and Antigone have a son but he is murdered by Creon, following which Haemon kills both Antigone and himself.

References

{{Reflist Suicides in Greek mythology Princes in Greek mythology

See also

References