Ismene

Ismene was a daughter of Oedipus and sister of Antigone, Eteocles and Polynices. She is best known from Sophocles, where she is the cautious sister who at first refuses to help Antigone bury Polynices against Creon’s order, and the sister who brings her blind father news at Colonus.

Family

Apollodorus says that Oedipus unwittingly married his mother after solving the riddle of the Sphinx and had by her two sons, Polynices and Eteocles, and two daughters, Ismene and Antigone (Apollodorus, Library 3.5.8). Euripides makes Jocasta herself say that she bore two sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, and two daughters: their father named one Ismene, and Jocasta named the elder Antigone (Euripides, Phoenician Women 55–58). Apollodorus adds that some said the children were born to Oedipus by Eurygania, daughter of Hyperphas, and Pausanias also rejects Jocasta as their mother, saying Oedipus’s children were borne by Euryganeia (Library 3.5.8; Pausanias 9.5.10–11). According to the writer Pherecydes, Oedipus had by Euryganeia Antigone, Ismene, Eteocles and Polynices, and Tydeus killed Ismene at the spring that took her name (Pherecydes, fragment 48).

Ismene in Sophocles’ Antigone

After Oedipus blinded himself and Jocasta hanged herself, the two brothers killed each other. The play opens with Antigone telling Ismene that Creon has forbidden burial to Polynices, and asking for her help (Sophocles, Antigone 1–49). Ismene reminds Antigone of what has already befallen their family: their father’s ruin, their mother’s hanging, and the brothers’ mutual death. She says that they are women, who cannot fight men, and that she will obey those in power: “to do too much makes no sense” (Antigone 49–68). She does not betray Antigone, however, and later, when Creon brings Antigone before him, she comes out in tears and tries to share the blame. Antigone refuses to let her share a deed she did not do (Antigone 526–560). Ismene asks Creon whether he will kill his own son’s bride, since Antigone was betrothed to Haemon, but Creon holds to his sentence (Antigone 568–581). Later, asked by the chorus whether he means to kill both sisters, he says he will spare the one who did not touch the body (Antigone 769–771). Ismene does not appear again in the play.

Ismene in Oedipus at Colonus

In Sophocles’ later play, set at Colonus near Athens, Ismene is the sister who has stayed in Thebes. She arrives on horseback in a broad Thessalian hat, accompanied by a single loyal servant, and Oedipus is overjoyed to recognize her (Oedipus at Colonus 310–334). He contrasts his daughters, who care for him, with his sons, who sit at home (Oedipus at Colonus 337–352). Ismene tells him that Eteocles, the younger, has taken the throne from Polynices and driven him out; Polynices has gone to Argos and found new allies and a marriage connection there (Oedipus at Colonus 367–381). She also brings an oracle that the Thebans will need Oedipus, alive or dead, and wish to keep him near their borders (Oedipus at Colonus 387–419). Oedipus tells her to make the offerings required at the grove of the Eumenides, and Ismene goes to perform the rite while Antigone stays by their father (Oedipus at Colonus 466–509). At the end of the play both sisters mourn his death (Oedipus at Colonus 1670–1750).

Other Accounts

Statius, in the Thebaid, makes Ismene the betrothed of Atys, a young man from Cirrha who had been promised to her from childhood (Statius, Thebaid 8.554–556). While the sisters are talking, Ismene tells Antigone of a troubling dream about her wedding. Then the mortally wounded Atys is carried into the house. Jocasta, who is still alive in this version, calls Ismene, because her name is the only word the dying youth asks for. Ismene comes, Atys looks only at her as he dies, and she closes his eyes and weeps (Thebaid 8.622–654).

In Apollodorus, Eteocles and Polynices agreed to rule Thebes in alternate years. Some said Polynices ruled first and handed the kingdom to Eteocles after a year; others said Eteocles ruled first and refused to give it up. In either version Polynices went into exile at Argos (Apollodorus, Library 3.6.1). This is the war in which both brothers died. In Sophocles it is the younger Eteocles who drives out the elder Polynices (Oedipus at Colonus 374–376).

Ismene Sources

Sophocles, Antigone 1–68, 526–581, 769–771; Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 310–509, 1670–1750; Euripides, Phoenician Women 55–58; Apollodorus, Library 3.5.8, 3.6.1; Pausanias 9.5.10–11; Pherecydes, fragment 48; Statius, Thebaid 8.554–556, 8.622–654.

See Also: Oedipus, Jocasta, Antigone, Eteocles, Polynices, Creon, Haemon, Tydeus