Menoeceus
heroYoung Theban prince who killed himself to save Thebes after Tiresias prophesied the city needed royal blood.
The Myth
He threw himself from the walls of Thebes — and he was barely old enough to fight. During the siege of the Seven against Thebes, Tiresias declared that Thebes would fall unless a descendant of the Spartoi sacrificed himself. Menoeceus, son of Creon and grandson of the dragon-sown warriors, volunteered despite his father's desperate attempts to send him away. He stabbed himself on the walls in full view of both armies. The earth swallowed his blood, and Thebes held. Euripides makes this scene the emotional heart of The Phoenician Women. Creon, who would later deny burial to Polynices, first lost his own son to the same war.
Parents
Creon, Eurydice
Symbols
Fun Fact
Menoeceus's sacrifice directly parallels Iphigenia's — both are royal children killed for an army's survival.
Explore Further
Menoeceus (Sacrifice)
heroA young Theban nobleman who sacrificed himself by leaping from the city walls to fulfil Tiresias's...
Iphigenia
heroIphigenia was Agamemnon's eldest daughter, sacrificed at Aulis to gain winds for Troy — or rescued...
Polynices
heroPolynices was the son of Oedipus who raised an army of seven champions to take Thebes from his...
Tiresias
heroThe most famous seer in Greek mythology, blinded by the gods but given the gift of prophecy in...
Theban Cycle
conceptThe cycle of myths surrounding the cursed royal house of Thebes, from Cadmus's founding through...
Thebes
placeThebes was the great city of Boeotia, founded by Cadmus who sowed dragon teeth, and the setting for...
Eurydice
nymphEurydice was the nymph whose death drove Orpheus to descend to the underworld — only to lose her at...
Seven Against Thebes (Detail)
conceptThe doomed military expedition of seven champions against the seven gates of Thebes, organised by...
Thebes (Boeotia)
placeThe city of Cadmus and Oedipus, setting of more Greek tragedies than any other place.
Astyanax
heroInfant son of Hector and Andromache thrown from the walls of Troy by the Greeks to prevent a Trojan...
Cadmus
heroCadmus was the Phoenician prince who founded Thebes, sowed dragon's teeth, and brought the alphabet...
Cadmus and the Spartoi
heroThe Phoenician prince who founded Thebes and introduced the Greek alphabet, whose sowing of dragon...