In Greek mythology, Euryganeia (Ancient Greek: Εὐρυγάνεια, Eurygáneia) was a Theban queen.
Family[edit]
Euryganeia was either a daughter of Hyperphas,[1][2] and thus, sister to Euryanassa.[3] In some sources, she was described as Jocasta's sister, which would make her Oedipus' aunt.[4] Euryganeia was occasionally named as Oedipus' second wife and the mother of his children, Polynices, Eteocles, Ismene and Antigone.[5] According to Pausanias, the statement at Odyssey 11.274—that the gods soon made the incestuous marriage between Oedipus and his mother Jocasta known—is incompatible with her bearing four children to him.[6] The geographer cites the Oedipodeia as evidence for the fact that Euryganeia was actually the mother of Oedipus' brood.[7] Pherecydes, on the other hand, attributed two sons (named Phrastor and Laonytus) to the marriage of Jocasta and Oedipus, but agreed that the more famous foursome were the children of Euryganeia.[8]
Mythology[edit]
There was a painting of Euryganeia at Plataea in which she was depicted as mournful because of the strife between her children.[9] Following Euryganeia's death, Oedipus married Astymedusa, who plotted against her stepsons.[10][11]
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.5.8
- ^ Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 9.5.11
- ^ Scholia on Homer, Odyssey 11.326 = Hesiod, fr. 62 (Loeb edition, 1914)
- ^ Anonymous authors cited by the scholia to Euripides, Phoenissae 53
- ^ Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.5.8; cf. Watson (1994, p. 237).
- ^ Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 9.5.10
- ^ Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 9.5.11; this is Oedipodeia fr. 2 in West (2003).
- ^ Pherecydes, FGrHist 3 F 48, quoted by the scholia to Euripides, Phoenissae 53.
- ^ Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 9.5.11
- ^ The Scholia to Iliad 4.376 places the union following Oedipus' discovery that Jocasta was his mother; the marriage took place following Euryganeia's death according to the scholia to Euripides, Phoenissae 53 (citing Pherecydes, FGrHist 3 F 48).
- ^ Eustathius on Homer, Iliad 4.376–81 (vol. i, p. 767) .
References[edit]
- Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
- Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Pseudo-Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
Bibliography[edit]
- Watson, P.A. (1994), Ancient Stepmothers: Myth, Misogyny and Reality, Leiden, ISBN 9004101764
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - West, M.L. (2003), Greek Epic Fragments, Loeb Classical Library, vol. no. 497, Cambridge, MA, ISBN 0-674-99605-4
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