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{{Short description|First wife of Heracles in Greek mythology}}
{{Distinguish|text = [[Megaera]], one of the [[Erinyes]] (or Furies)}}
[[File:HeraclesLocoObraTeatral.jpg|thumb|263x263px|An insane Heracles is depicted killing his son while Megara stands horrified on the right side of the scene ([[National Archaeological Museum, Madrid]], c. 350-320 B.C.E.)]]
In [[Greek mythology]], '''Megara''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɛ|g|ə|r|ə}}; [[Ancient Greek]]: Μεγάρα) was a [[Thebes, Greece|Theban]] princess and the first wife of the hero [[Heracles]].<ref>Homer, Odyssey, 11,269-270</ref>
==
Megara was the eldest daughter of [[Creon (king of Thebes)|Creon]], King of [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]], who was the brother of [[Jocasta]] and uncle of [[Oedipus]].<ref name=":0">[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''Library,'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.4.11 2.4.11], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.7.8 2.7.8]</ref> If Creon is the same figure, Megara's mother is likely Creon's wife [[Eurydice of Thebes|Eurydice]], and she would be the sister of [[Menoeceus]] ([[Megareus of Thebes|Megareus]]), [[Lycomedes (son of Creon)|Lycomedes]], [[Haemon]], and [[Pyrrha (mythology)|Pyrrha]].
Accounts of the names and number of Megara and Heracles' children vary based on the author.<ref>The number of Megara's sons varies according to the source; the Theban tradition made them eight (Kerényi, pp. 185–186, notes [[Pindar]]'s Fourth Isthmian Ode) but [[Euripides]]' ''[[Heracles (Euripides)|Heracles]]'' reduced them to three, possibly, according to Kerényi, p. 186, for the exigencies of his stage tradition.</ref> According to the mythographer [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], Megara was the mother of three sons by Heracles named Therimachus, Creontiades, and Deicoon.<ref name=":0" /> Dinias the Argive included the three children named by [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], however, he also added a fourth named Deion.<ref>Frazer, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.7.8 note 3 to 2.7.8], which notes that "other writers gave different lists".</ref> Theban poet [[Pindar]] states that Megara bore Heracles eight sons.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Stafford|first=Emma|title=Herakles|publisher=Routledge|year=2012|isbn=978-0415300681|___location=New York, NY|pages=182–183}}</ref> Alternatively, the Roman mythographer [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]] named their sons as Therimachus and Ophites.<ref>[[Hyginus (Fabulae)|Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' 31, 32, 72.</ref>
==
[[File:Mosaic panel depicting the madness of Heracles (Hercules furens), from the Villa Torre de Palma near Monforte, 3rd-4th century AD, National Archaeology Museum of Lisbon, Portugal (12973806145).jpg|thumb|left|Heracles kills his son while Megara stands by]]
Megara was married to [[Heracles]] by her father as a reward for the hero after he led the defense of Thebes against the [[Minyans]] at [[Orchomenus (Boeotia)|Orchomenus]], and the couple had several sons together.<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''Library,'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D4%3Asection%3D11 2.4.11]</ref> [[Hera]] sent Heracles into a fit of temporary madness due to her hatred for him. In his madness, Heracles killed their children either by shooting them with arrows or by throwing them into a fire.<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''Library of History,'' [https://www.theoi.com/Text/DiodorusSiculus4A.html#8 4.11.1]</ref><ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''Library,'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D4%3Asection%3D12 2.4.12]</ref> Whether Megara also died as a result of this attack depended on the author.<ref>[[Euripides]], ''[[Heracles (Euripides)|Heracles]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0006.tlg009.perseus-eng1:977-1015 1001]; [[Hyginus (Fabulae)|Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' 31.8, 241.</ref> In some sources, after Heracles completed his [[Labours of Hercules|Twelve Labours]], Megara married Heracles' nephew [[Iolaus]] and became the mother of [[Leipephilene]] by him.<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.6.1 2.6.1].</ref><ref>Plutarch, ''Moralia'' "The Dialogue on Love / ''Erotikos'' / ''Amatoria''", Loeb, V. XII, p.339</ref>
Heracles' desire to atone for the murders of his wife and children is typically cited as the catalyst for becoming a slave to his cousin [[Eurystheus]] and performing [[the Twelve Labours]]. [[Euripides]] presents an alternative order of events in his tragedy, [[Herakles (Euripides)|''Heracles'']], as it was the completion of the twelfth labour (retrieving [[Cerberus]] from Hades) that begun the ''[[agon]].'' The play begins with Megara, her children, and [[Amphitryon]] as suppliants at an altar seeking refuge from the tyrant Lykos who threatens them as Heracles is in the underworld.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Silk|first=Michael Stephen|date=1985|title=Heracles and Greek tragedy|journal=Greece & Rome|volume=32|issue=1|pages=1–22|doi=10.1017/S0017383500030096|jstor=642295}}</ref> Heracles returns to save his family, but [[Iris (mythology)|Iris]] and the spirit of madness, Lyssa, cause him to go mad and kill Megara and their children since he believes he is attacking Lykos.<ref name=":2" /> Roman playwright [[Seneca the Younger]] retells a similar story in his play ''[[Hercules (Seneca)|Hercules Furens]]''.
==External links==▼
While in the underworld, [[Odysseus]] sees Megara, but does not elaborate on her mythology beyond stating she was the daughter of [[Creon of Thebes|Creon]] and the former wife of Heracles.<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D11%3Acard%3D225 11.265]</ref> The [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] poem ''Megara'' by an unknown author, presented a dialogue at [[Tiryns]] between a mournful Megara and Heracles's mother [[Alcmene]], as the former grieves her children and Heracles's absence during his labours.<ref>Anonymous, ''[https://www.theoi.com/Text/Megara.html Megara]''</ref>
*[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Herakles/megara.html Megara, Hercules' first wife]▼
== Cult dedicated to Megara's children ==
The sons of [[Heracles]] appear to have been incorporated into Heracles [[Greek hero cult|hero cult]] at [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] who were celebrated at a festival known as the ''Herakleia'' where a feast was prepared in honour of Heracles above the "Elektran Gates" and sacrifices were made.<ref name=":1" /> The [[Heroon|hero-tombs]] of the children of Heracles and Megara in Thebes they were venerated as the ''Chalkoarai''.<ref>"Those on whom fell a curse of bronze" (Kerényi, p. 186).</ref>
==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}
==References==
* [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]]; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Euripides]], ''[[Herakles (Euripides)|Heracles]]'', translated by E. P. Coleridge in ''The Complete Greek Drama'', edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill Jr. Volume 1. New York. Random House. 1938. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0102%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Homer]], [[Odyssey|''The Odyssey'']] with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0136 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0135 Greek text available from the same website].
* [[Károly Kerényi|Kerényi, Carl]], ''The Heroes of the Greeks'', Thames and Hudson, London, 1959.
* [[Pindar]], ''Odes'' translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DI. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* Pindar, ''The Odes of Pindar'' including the Principal Fragments with an Introduction and an English Translation by Sir John Sandys, Litt.D., FBA. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1937. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0161%3Abook%3DI. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
▲==External links==
{{sequence|prev=---|list= Wives of [[Heracles]] |next=[[Omphale]]}}
{{Hercules media}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Fictional Greeks]]▼
[[Category:Fictional princesses]]▼
[[Category:Princesses in Greek mythology]]
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