Menoeceus
Two Theban figures; the younger sacrificed himself to save Thebes.
In Greek mythology, Menoeceus is the name of two Theban figures, grandfather and grandson. The elder Menoeceus fathered Creon, Jocasta, and Hipponome, and was both grandfather and father-in-law of Oedipus. The younger Menoeceus, son of Creon, sacrificed himself by leaping from Thebes' walls during the siege of the Seven against Thebes, fulfilling a prophecy that a descendant of the Spartoi must die freely to appease Ares. His tomb, marked by a pomegranate tree with blood-like fruit, was recorded by Pausanias.
Quick Facts
- Namesake
- Menoeceus (grandfather and grandson)
- Genealogy (elder)
- Son of Oclasus
- grandson of Pentheus
- descendant of Echion (Spartoi); father of Creon
- Jocasta
- Hipponome
- Genealogy (younger)
- Son of Creon and possibly Eurydice
- Manner of death
- Suicide by throwing himself from the walls of Thebes
- Outcome
- Thebans victorious
- Genealogy
- Grandson of the first Menoeceus; son of Creon and possibly Eurydice
- Associated work
- Seven Against Thebes by Aeschylus
- Notable source
- Pausanias, Description of Greece (2nd century AD)
Facts from the source article.
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