Oedipodea

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Oedipodea (Greek: Οἰδιπόδεια) is a lost poem of the Theban cycle, a part of the Epic Cycle (Greek: Επικὸς Κύκλος). The poem was about 6.600 verses long and the authorship was credited by ancient authorities to Cinaethon (Greek: Κιναίθων), a barely known poet who lived probably in Sparta (IG 14.1292 2.11; Euseb. Chron. Ol. 4.1). Only three short fragments and one testimonium survived.

It told the story of the Sphinx and Oedipus and presented an alternative view of the Oedipus myth. According to Pausanias (9.5.10-1 = Fr. 1 West), Cinaethon states that the marriage between Oedipus and his own mother, Jocasta (= Epicasta) was childless; his children had been born from another engagement with Euryganea (Greek: Εὐρυγανεία), daughter of Hyperphas (Greek: Ὑπέρφας). That is all we know about these two characters.

A small glimpse of Cinaethon's style survives in Plutarch's On the Pythia's Oracles 407b: "he added unnecessary pomp and drama to the oracles".

[edit] Bibliography

• Martin L. West, Greek epic fragments, Cambridge and London, Harvard University Press, 2003, pp. 4-6, 38-42 and 250-1.