Unchanged by any teller — how the centuries since have seen Menoeceus.
The gallery
The Devotion of Menoeceus, the Son of Creon
Alexander J. Leslie, c. 1908
Leslie’s Edwardian sculpture stages Creon’s son offering himself to Ares so Thebes may stand against the Seven — the willing death Euripides and Statius make the city’s price. Rare modern art that names Menoeceus apart from his grandfather.
In play
WORK · c. 410 BCREAD MORE ↗
Phoenician Women
Euripides
Euripides’ Theban play sends Menoeceus to voluntary death for the city’s salvation — the tragic hinge of Creon’s house before the brothers’ duel.
WORK · c. 90–92 ADREAD MORE ↗
Thebaid
Statius
Statius expands Menoeceus’ self-sacrifice into a Latin epic set-piece — the son of Creon as Thebes’ chosen victim before the Argive assault.