Megara
First wife of Heracles, given to him as a reward and later killed in his madness
The Legend of Megara
Megara was the eldest daughter of King Creon of Thebes. When Heracles defended Thebes against the neighbouring city of Orchomenus and defeated its king Erginus, Creon rewarded him with Megara's hand in marriage. They lived together and had several children — the exact number varies between two and eight depending on the source. Their family life was shattered when Hera, who despised Heracles, sent a fit of madness upon him. In his delusion, Heracles mistook his own children for enemies and killed them. In some versions, he killed Megara as well; in others, she survived but was given in marriage to Iolaus. This tragedy led directly to Heracles undertaking the Twelve Labours as penance.
Parents
Creon of Thebes
Symbols
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Jocasta
🗡 heroNone recorded
Queen of Thebes who unknowingly married her own son Oedipus after his return
Haemon
🗡 heroNone recorded
Son of Creon and fiancé of Antigone who died beside her in defiance of his father
Laius
🗡 heroNone recorded
King of Thebes whose attempt to cheat fate led directly to the Oedipus tragedy
Icarius
🗡 heroNone recorded
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Agamemnon
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Phaedra
🗡 heroQueen consumed by forbidden love
Phaedra was the wife of Theseus who was cursed by Aphrodite to fall hopelessly in love with her stepson Hippolytus — her suicide and false accusation destroyed him.
Anteia
🗡 heroDesire, false accusation
Queen of Tiryns who falsely accused Bellerophon of assault, setting in motion his legendary trials
Menelaus
🗡 heroKing of Sparta, husband of Helen
Menelaus was the king of Sparta whose stolen wife Helen was the cause of the Trojan War — yet he survived the war, the return, and old age, a rare happy ending among Greek heroes.
Aegyptus
🗡 heroNone recorded
A mythological king with fifty sons who demanded marriage to the fifty daughters of his brother Danaus, precipitating one of the most infamous mass killings in Greek mythology
Clytemnestra
🗡 heroQueen who murdered Agamemnon
Clytemnestra murdered Agamemnon on his return from Troy, driven by rage over Iphigenia's sacrifice.
Pandion
🗡 herokingship
King of Athens who married off his daughters Procne and Philomela, both of whom suffered terribly at the hands of Tereus.
Creon
🗡 heroNone recorded
King of Thebes who ruled after Oedipus and decreed death for Antigone