Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, Eurydice (;

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 ...

: Εὐρυδίκη, ''Eὐrudíkē'' "wide justice", derived from ''ευρυς eurys'' "wide" and ''δικη dike'' "justice) sometimes called

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 auth ...

, was the wife 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' ...

, a king of Thebes.

Family

Eurydice was probably the mother of Creon's five children:

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 Th ...

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 inc ...

, Haemon,

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 ...

and

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. Accordi ...

Mythology

Sophocles' account

She appears briefly in Sophocles' ''

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., & R ...

'' (as an "archetypal grieving, saddened mother" and an older counterpart to

), to kill herself after learning, from a messenger, that her son Haemon and his betrothed, Antigone, have both died by suicide. She thrusts a sword into her liver and curses Creon for the death of her two sons: Haemon and

. Haemon killed himself because his father Creon had unjustly locked Antigone in a tomb to eventually perish, to whom he was engaged.

Statius' account

When the seer Tiresias predicts that if a son of Creon voluntarily throws himself off the wall, the city will be saved. Then Menoeceus decided to sacrifice himself and jumped off the wall. When his dead body was carried on the shoulders by a few people, Eurydice bursts through town in a wail of: : ''Was it then to make atonement and devote thy life for cruel Thebes that I nourished thee, illustrious boy, as though I were some worthless mother? What crime then had I wrought, what god so hated me? No incestuous offspring have I borne in unnatural intercourse, nor given unhallowed progeny to my own son. What matters that?

Jocasta In Greek mythology, Jocasta (), also rendered Iocaste ( grc, Ἰοκάστη ) and also known as Epicaste (; ), was a daughter of Menoeceus, a descendant of the Spartoi Echion, and queen consort of Thebes. She was the wife of first Laius, t ...

hath her sons, and sees them leaders and kings: but we must make cruel expiation for the war, that the brothers, sons of

Oedipus Oedipus (, ; grc-gre, Οἰδίπους "swollen foot") was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus accidentally fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby ...

, may exchange their diadems—doth this please thee, O author of the blow? But why complain I of men and gods? Thou, cruel Menoeceus, thou before all didst haste to slay thy unhappy mother! Whence came this love of death? What cursed madness seized thy mind? What did I conceive, what misbegotten child did I bear, so different from myself? Verily 'tis the snake of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

Ares Ares (; grc, Ἄρης, ''Árēs'' ) is the Greek god of war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war b ...

, and the ground that burgeoned fresh with our armed sires—thence comes that desperate valour, that overmastering love of war: nought comes of his mother. Lo! of thine own will and pleasure slain, ay, even against the will of

Fate Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...

, thou forcest an entrance to the gloomy shades. I was fearing the

Danaan The Achaeans (; grc, Ἀχαιοί ''Akhaioí,'' "the Achaeans" or "of Achaea") is one of the names in Homer which is used to refer to the Greeks collectively. The term "Achaean" is believed to be related to the Hittite term Ahhiyawa and th ...

and the shafts of Capaneus: 'twas this hand, this hand of thine I should have feared, and the sword I myself once gave thee in my folly. See how the glade is wholly buried in his throat! None of the Danaan could have made a deeper thurst.' That is how Eurydice keeps complaining and complaining.

Statius Publius Papinius Statius (Greek: Πόπλιος Παπίνιος Στάτιος; ; ) was a Greco-Roman poet of the 1st century CE. His surviving Latin poetry includes an epic in twelve books, the ''Thebaid''; a collection of occasional poetry, ...

, ''

Thebaid The Thebaid or Thebais ( grc-gre, Θηβαΐς, ''Thēbaïs'') was a region in ancient Egypt, comprising the 13 southernmost nomes of Upper Egypt, from Abydos to Aswan. Pharaonic history The Thebaid acquired its name from its proximity to ...

'' 10.783-814 Eventually, she was led away by friendly hands to the palace. The lamentation, however, was getting worse, so her companions and servants were forced to lock Eurydice into her room. There, she ploughed her face with her nails, pulled her hair out of her head and continued to mourn for months. In the end, she lost her voice, no longer looked towards the light, did not listen to supplications and lost her mind.

Notes

References

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...

, ''Shield of Heracles'' from ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica'' with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
*

Publius Papinius Statius Publius Papinius Statius (Greek: Πόπλιος Παπίνιος Στάτιος; ; ) was a Greco-Roman poet of the 1st century CE. His surviving Latin poetry includes an epic in twelve books, the ''Thebaid''; a collection of occasional poetry, ...

'', The Thebaid'' translated by John Henry Mozley. Loeb Classical Library Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
* Publius Papinius Statius, ''The Thebaid. Vol I-II''. John Henry Mozley. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1928
Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
*

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 ...

, ''The Antigone of Sophocles e''dited with introduction and notes by Sir Richard Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1893
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Sophocles, ''Sophocles. Vol 1: Oedipus the king. Oedipus at Colonus. Antigone''. With an English translation by F. Storr. The Loeb classical library, 20. Francis Storr. London; New York. William Heinemann Ltd.; The Macmillan Company. 1912
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
Queens in Greek mythology Theban characters in Greek mythology Characters in Greek mythology Suicides in Greek mythology {{Greek-myth-stub