Menoeceus
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| - | In [[Greek mythology]], '''Jocasta''' was a daughter of [[Menoeceus]] and Queen consort of [[Thebes, Greece]]. She was the wife of [[Laius]], mother of [[Oedipus]], and both mother and grandmother of [[Antigone]], [[Eteocles]], [[Polynices]] and [[Ismene]]. She was also sister of [[Creon]] and mother-in-law of [[Haimon]]. | + | In [[Greek mythology]], '''Menoeceus''' was the father of [[Creon]], [[Jocasta]] and Hipponome and both grandfather and father-in-law of [[Oedipus]]. Another Menoeceus was the son of Creon, named after his grandfather. According to [[Hyginus]] and [[Statius]], during the reign of [[Oedipus]] when the Seven Against Thebes laid siege to the city, [[Creon]]'s son committed suicide by throwing himself from the walls after [[Tiresias]] foretold that if anyone of the [[Sparti]] should perish, [[Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)|Thebes]] would be freed from disaster. The [[Thebans]] were ultimately victorious. The battle is memorialized in ''[[Seven Against Thebes]]'', the play by [[Aeschylus]]. Some records say that that Menoeceus was the grandfather of Creon and Jocasta and his son (Creon and Jocasta's father) was named Oscalus. |
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| - | After his abduction and rape of [[Chrysippus (mythology)|Chrysippus]], Laius married Jocasta (or Epikaste), the daughter of [[Menoeceus]], a descendant of the [[Spartoi]]. Laius received an [[oracle]] from [[Delphi]] which told him that he must not have a child with his wife, or the child would kill him and marry her; in another version, recorded by Aeschylus, Laius is warned that he can only save the city if he dies childless. One night, however, Laius became drunk and fathered [[Oedipus]] with Jocasta. | + | |
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| - | After the baby's birth, Jocasta handed him over to Laius. Jocasta or Laius pierced and pinned the infant's ankles together. Laius then instructed his chief shepherd, a slave who had been born in the palace, to expose the infant on [[Mount Cithaeron]]. There, Lauis's shepherd taking pity on the infant gave him to another shepherd, who was the shepherd of the childless King [[Polybus of Corinth|Polybus]], married to Queen [[Merope (Oedipus)|Merope]] (or [[Periboea]]) of [[Corinth, Greece|Corinth]] who raised the infant to adulthood. | + | |
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| - | Oedipus thus grew up in Corinth under the assumption that he was the biological son of Polybus and his wife (whose name is Merope according to Sophocles, Periboa according to Appollodorus). However, he began to hear rumors about his actual parentage, so he consulted the Delphic Oracle. Oedipus was informed by the oracle that he was fated to kill his father and to marry his mother. Still thinking that Polybus and the queen were his true parents, Oedipus subsequently fled from Corinth so as to render it impossible for him to commit these sins. During his wandering, Oedipus encountered Laius on the road. After a heated argument regarding right-of-way, Oedipus killed King Laius, unknowingly fulfilling the first half of the Delphic Oracle's prophecy. Oedipus continued his journey until he reached Thebes and discovered that the city was being terrorized by the [[sphinx]]. Oedipus solved the sphinx's famous riddle, and the grateful city elected Oedipus as their new king; Oedipus accepted the throne and married Laius' widowed queen (also Oedipus' mother), Jocasta, thereby fulfilling the second half of the Delphic Oracle's prophecy. Jocasta bore him four children: two girls, [[Antigone]] and [[Ismene]], and two boys, [[Eteocles]] and [[Polynices]]. When his city was struck by a plague (a punishment for Oedipus' unwitting crimes), Oedipus eventually learned of his patricide and incest. Upon discovering the truth on her own, Jocasta hanged herself. Alternatively, Jocasta endured the burden of her situation and continued to live in Thebes. According to this version of the myth, it was only later—after her sons Polynices and Eteocles killed one another in a fight for the crown (see [[Seven Against Thebes]])—that she committed suicide by hanging herself. In both traditions Oedipus is said to have gouged his eyes, but while Sophocles has Oedipus go into exile with his daughter Antigone, Statius has him residing within Thebes' walls during the war between Eteocles and Polynices. | + | |
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| - | ==See also== | + | |
| - | *''[[Oedipus the King]]'' by [[Sophocles]] is an ancient Greek retelling of this legend as a play. | + | |
| - | *[[Jocasta complex]] describing the usually latent sexual desire that a mother has for a son or alternatively the domineering and intense, but non-incestuous love that a mother has for an intelligent son, and an often absent or weak father figure. | + | |
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| - | ==See also== | + | |
| - | *[[Oedipus the King]] by [[Sophocles]] is an ancient Greek retelling of this legend as a play. | + | |
| + | A later '''Menoeceus''' was a contemporary of [[Epicurus]], to whom the philosopher wrote a letter summarizing his ethical doctrines. | ||
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In Greek mythology, Menoeceus was the father of Creon, Jocasta and Hipponome and both grandfather and father-in-law of Oedipus. Another Menoeceus was the son of Creon, named after his grandfather. According to Hyginus and Statius, during the reign of Oedipus when the Seven Against Thebes laid siege to the city, Creon's son committed suicide by throwing himself from the walls after Tiresias foretold that if anyone of the Sparti should perish, Thebes would be freed from disaster. The Thebans were ultimately victorious. The battle is memorialized in Seven Against Thebes, the play by Aeschylus. Some records say that that Menoeceus was the grandfather of Creon and Jocasta and his son (Creon and Jocasta's father) was named Oscalus.
A later Menoeceus was a contemporary of Epicurus, to whom the philosopher wrote a letter summarizing his ethical doctrines.
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