Oeax (mythology) explained

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

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

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]

References

• Apollodorus, The Library with an English translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Dictys Cretensis, from The Trojan War. The Chronicles of Dictys of Crete and Dares the Phrygian translated by Richard McIlwaine Frazer, Jr. (1931-). Indiana University Press. 1966. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Euripides, The Complete Greek Drama, edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill, Jr. in two volumes. 2. Orestes, translated by Robert Potter. New York. Random House. 1938. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Euripides, Euripidis Fabulae. vol. 3. Gilbert Murray. Oxford. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1913. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004, . Google Books
• Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
• Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 volumes. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
• Tripp, Edward, Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology, Thomas Y. Crowell Co; first edition (June 1970).

Notes and References

1. [Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]
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. Web site: 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. Book: Jennifer R. March. Dictionary of Classical Mythology. 31 May 2014. Oxbow Books. 978-1-78297-636-3. 519–. Google Books.
   - Hyginus, Fabulae 117
6. [Euripides]
7. Nausimedon and Oeax were referred to only as Nauplius's sons in Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 1.22.6