Ismene (daughter of Oidipus)

Tydeus and Ismene, Corinthian black-figure amphora , around 560 BC Chr. , Louvre (E 640)

Ismene ( Greek  Ἰσμήνη ) is a person from Greek mythology . She was the daughter of Oedipus and sister of Antigone . Iokaste or Euryganeia are named as their mother .

When Oedipus resigned as king of Thebes , he gave the kingdom to his two sons, Eteocles and Polynices , who agreed to rule annually in turn. After the first year, however, Eteocles refused to resign, which is why Polynices attacked Thebes with his allies (the seven against Thebes ).
Ismene was in love with the Theban hero Periklymenus . One night Tydeus - a general of the attackers - sneaked after her at the instigation of Athens and surprised them both. Periklymenus fled, but Ismene was killed by Tydeus. A source at the place of this meeting has been named after her ever since.

According to another story, Antigone and Ismene were dishonored in the temple of Hera by their nephew Laodamas , the son of their brother Eteocles .

literature

• Heinrich Wilhelm Stoll : Ismene 3) . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 2.1, Leipzig 1894, column 550 ( digitized version ).