Euryganeia

In Greek mythology, Euryganeia (Ancient Greek: Εὐρυγάνεια, Eurygáneia) was a Theban queen.

Family

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

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

• List of Greek mythological figures

Notes

1. Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.5.8
2. Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 9.5.11
3. Scholia on Homer, Odyssey 11.326 = Hesiod, fr. 62 (Loeb edition, 1914)
4. Anonymous authors cited by the scholia to Euripides, Phoenissae 53
5. Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.5.8; cf. Watson (1994, p. 237).
6. Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 9.5.10
7. Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 9.5.11; this is Oedipodeia fr. 2 in West (2003).
8. Pherecydes, FGrHist 3 F 48, quoted by the scholia to Euripides, Phoenissae 53.
9. Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 9.5.11
10. 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).
11. Eustathius on Homer, Iliad 4.376–81 (vol. i, p. 767) .

References

• 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

• Watson, P.A. (1994), Ancient Stepmothers: Myth, Misogyny and Reality, Leiden: Ε. J. Brill, ISBN 90-04-10176-4.
• West, M.L. (2003), Greek Epic Fragments, Loeb Classical Library no. 497, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-99605-4.