The Oedipodea ( Ancient Greek: Οἰδιπόδεια) is a lost poem of the Theban cycle, a part of the Epic Cycle (Επικὸς Κύκλος). The poem was about 6,600 verses long and the authorship was credited by ancient authorities to Cinaethon (Κιναίθων), a barely-known poet who probably lived in Sparta. ^[1] Eusebius says that he flourished in 764/3 BC. ^{[2] [3]} Only three short fragments and one testimonium survived.

The Oedipodea told the story of the Sphinx and Oedipus and presented an alternative view of the Oedipus myth. According to Pausanias, ^[4] Cinaethon states that the marriage between Oedipus and his own mother, Jocasta, was childless; his children had been born from another engagement with Euryganeia (Εὐρυγανεία), daughter of Hyperphas (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".

References

Select editions and translations

Critical editions

• Kinkel, G. (1877), Epicorum Graecorum fragmenta, vol. 1, Leipzig{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link).
• Allen, T.W. (1912), Homeri opera. Tomus V: Hymni, Cyclus, Fragmenta, Margites, Batrachomyomachia, Vitae, Oxford, ISBN  0-19-814534-9{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link).
• Bernabé, A. (1988), Poetae epici Graecae, vol. pars i, Leipzig, ISBN  978-3-598-71706-2{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link).
• Davies, M. (1988), Epicorum Graecorum fragmenta, Göttingen, ISBN  978-3-525-25747-0{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link).

Translations

• Evelyn-White, H.G. (1936), Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica, Loeb Classical Library, vol. 57 (3rd rev. ed.), Cambridge, Massachusetts, ISBN  978-0-674-99063-0{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link). (The link is to the 1st edition of 1914.) English translation with facing Greek text; now obsolete except for its translations of the ancient quotations.
• West, M.L. (2003), Greek Epic Fragments, Loeb Classical Library, vol. no. 497, Cambridge, Massachusetts, ISBN  978-0-674-99605-2 {{ citation}}: |volume= has extra text ( help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link). Greek text with facing English translation

Bibliography

• Davies, M. (1989), Greek Epic Cycle, London, ISBN  978-1853990397{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link).