In Greek and Roman mythology, Oeax or Oiax (Ancient Greek: Οἴακα or Οἴαξ means "handle of rudder, tiller") was a Euboean prince as the son of King Nauplius.[1]

Family

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Oeax's mother has been variously named as Clymene,[2] Hesione[3] or Philyra.[4] He was also the brother of Nausimedon and Palamedes, a Greek warrior at the Trojan War.

Mythology

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Because Oeax was angry at the Greeks for killing Palamedes at Troy, he falsely told Clytemnestra about Agamemnon bringing back Cassandra, a Trojan concubine, which led to Clytemnestra plotting to kill Agamemnon.[5] Later, Oeax tried to banish Orestes after the latter murdered his mother Clytemnestra.[6] Ultimately, Oeax and his brother Nausimedon were killed by Pylades after helping Aegisthus in his fight with Orestes.[7]

Notes

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  1. ^ Apollodorus, 2.1.5 & 3.2.2; Dictys Cretensis, Trojan War Chronicle 1.1 & 6.2; Hyginus, Fabulae 117
    - Schmitz, Leonhard (1870). "Nauplius 3". In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 2. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. p. 1144.
  2. ^ Apollodorus, 2.1.5, 3.2.2 and Epitome 6.8; Dictys Cretensis, Trojan War Chronicle 1.1 & 6.2; Hyginus, Fabulae 117
  3. ^ "Hesione". Oxford Reference. Oxford University Press.
  4. ^ Hard, p. 236; Gantz, p. 604; Apollodorus, 3.2.2 with Cercops as the authority for Hesione while Nostoi as the source for Philyra
  5. ^ Jennifer R. March (31 May 2014). Dictionary of Classical Mythology. Oxbow Books. pp. 519–. ISBN 978-1-78297-636-3 – via Google Books.
    - Hyginus, Fabulae 117
  6. ^ Euripides, Orestes 432–433
    - Tripp, Edward. The Meridian Handbook of Classical Mythology. p. 420.
  7. ^ Nausimedon and Oeax were referred to only as Nauplius's sons in Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 1.22.6

References

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