Euryganeia

In Greek mythology, Euryganeia (Ancient Greek: Εὐρυγάνεια, Eurygáneia) is occasionally named as Oedipus' second wife and the mother of his children, Polynices, Eteocles, Ismene and Antigone.^[1] She was either a daughter of Hyperphas or Jocasta's sister.^[2] 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.^[3] The geographer cites the Oedipodeia as evidence for the fact that Euryganeia was actually the mother of Oedipus' brood.^[4] 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.^[5] There was a painting of her at Plataea in which she was depicted as mournful because of the strife between her children.^[6] Following Euryganeia's death, Oedipus married Astymedusa, who plotted against her stepsons.

See also

• List of Greek mythological figures

References

1. Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca, 3.5.8; cf. Watson (1994, p. 237).
2. Daughter of Hyperphas: Bibliotheca 3.5.8 and Pausanias 9.5.11; sister of Jocasta: anonymous authors cited by the scholia to Euripides, Phoenissae 53.
3. Pausanias 9.5.10
4. Pausanias 9.5.11; this is Oedipodeia fr. 2 in West (2003).
5. Pherecydes, FGrHist 3 F 48, quoted by the scholia to Euripides, Phoenissae 53.
6. Pausanias 9.5.11

Bibliography

• Watson, P.A. (1994), Ancient Stepmothers: Myth, Misogyny and Reality, Leiden, ISBN 9004101764.
• West, M.L. (2003), Greek Epic Fragments, Loeb Classical Library, no. 497, Cambridge, MA, ISBN 0-674-99605-4.