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Ismene (Greek: ?sµ??? Ismęnę) is the name of two women of Greek mythology
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
. The more famous is a daughter and sister of Oedipus
Oedipus

Oedipus was a Greek mythology monarch of Thebes, Greece. He fulfilled a prophecy that said he would kill his father and marry his mother, and thus brought disaster on his city and family....
, daughter and granddaughter of Jocasta
Jocasta

In Greek mythology, Jocasta, also known as Jocaste , Epikast?, or Iokast? was a daughter of Menoeceus and Queen consort of Thebes, Greece....
, and sister of Antigone
Antigone

Antigone is the name of two different women in Greek mythology. The name may be taken to mean "unbending", coming from "anti-" and "-gon / -gony" , but has also been suggested to mean "opposed to motherhood" or "in place of a mother" based from the root gone, "that which generates" ....
, Eteocles
Eteocles

In Greek mythology, Eteocles was a king of Thebes , the son of Oedipus and either Jocasta or Euryganeia. The name is from earlier *Etewoklewes , meaning "truly glorious"....
, and Polynices
Polynices

In Greek mythology, Polynices or Polyneices was the son of Oedipus and Jocasta. His wife was Argea. His father, Oedipus, was discovered to have killed his father and married his mother, and was expelled from Thebes , leaving his sons Eteocles and Polynices to rule....
. She appears in several plays of Sophocles
Sophocles

Sophocles was the second of the three classical Greece tragedy whose work has survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus and earlier than those of Euripides....
: at the end of Oedipus the King
Oedipus the King

Oedipus the King is an Classical Athens tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed c. 429 B.C.E. It was the second of Sophocles' three Theban plays to be produced, but it comes first in the internal chronology, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone ....
 and to a limited extent in Oedipus at Colonus
Oedipus at Colonus

Oedipus at Colonus is one of the three Theban plays of the Athenian tragedian Sophocles. It was written shortly before Sophocles' death in 406 BC and produced by his grandson at the Festival of Dionysus in 401 BC....
 and Antigone
Antigone (Sophocles)

Antigone is a tragedy by Sophocles written before or in 442 BC. Chronologically, it is the third of the three Theban plays but was written first....
. She also appears at the end of Aeschylus
Aeschylus

Aeschylus was an Ancient Greece playwright. He is often recognized as the father or the founder of tragedy, and is the earliest of the three Greek tragedy whose Play survive extant, the others being Sophocles and Euripides....
' Seven Against Thebes
Seven Against Thebes

The Seven against Thebes is a mythic narrative whose classic statement is found in the play by Aeschylus concerning the battle between the Seven led by Polynices, traditional Theban enemies, and the army of Thebes, Greece headed by Eteocles and his supporters....
.

When Oedipus
Oedipus

Oedipus was a Greek mythology monarch of Thebes, Greece. He fulfilled a prophecy that said he would kill his father and marry his mother, and thus brought disaster on his city and family....
 stepped down as King of Thebes, he gave the kingdom to Eteocles
Eteocles

In Greek mythology, Eteocles was a king of Thebes , the son of Oedipus and either Jocasta or Euryganeia. The name is from earlier *Etewoklewes , meaning "truly glorious"....
 and Polynices
Polynices

In Greek mythology, Polynices or Polyneices was the son of Oedipus and Jocasta. His wife was Argea. His father, Oedipus, was discovered to have killed his father and married his mother, and was expelled from Thebes , leaving his sons Eteocles and Polynices to rule....
, who both agreed to alternate the throne every year.






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Ismene (Greek: ?sµ??? Ismęnę) is the name of two women of Greek mythology
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
. The more famous is a daughter and sister of Oedipus
Oedipus

Oedipus was a Greek mythology monarch of Thebes, Greece. He fulfilled a prophecy that said he would kill his father and marry his mother, and thus brought disaster on his city and family....
, daughter and granddaughter of Jocasta
Jocasta

In Greek mythology, Jocasta, also known as Jocaste , Epikast?, or Iokast? was a daughter of Menoeceus and Queen consort of Thebes, Greece....
, and sister of Antigone
Antigone

Antigone is the name of two different women in Greek mythology. The name may be taken to mean "unbending", coming from "anti-" and "-gon / -gony" , but has also been suggested to mean "opposed to motherhood" or "in place of a mother" based from the root gone, "that which generates" ....
, Eteocles
Eteocles

In Greek mythology, Eteocles was a king of Thebes , the son of Oedipus and either Jocasta or Euryganeia. The name is from earlier *Etewoklewes , meaning "truly glorious"....
, and Polynices
Polynices

In Greek mythology, Polynices or Polyneices was the son of Oedipus and Jocasta. His wife was Argea. His father, Oedipus, was discovered to have killed his father and married his mother, and was expelled from Thebes , leaving his sons Eteocles and Polynices to rule....
. She appears in several plays of Sophocles
Sophocles

Sophocles was the second of the three classical Greece tragedy whose work has survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus and earlier than those of Euripides....
: at the end of Oedipus the King
Oedipus the King

Oedipus the King is an Classical Athens tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed c. 429 B.C.E. It was the second of Sophocles' three Theban plays to be produced, but it comes first in the internal chronology, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone ....
 and to a limited extent in Oedipus at Colonus
Oedipus at Colonus

Oedipus at Colonus is one of the three Theban plays of the Athenian tragedian Sophocles. It was written shortly before Sophocles' death in 406 BC and produced by his grandson at the Festival of Dionysus in 401 BC....
 and Antigone
Antigone (Sophocles)

Antigone is a tragedy by Sophocles written before or in 442 BC. Chronologically, it is the third of the three Theban plays but was written first....
. She also appears at the end of Aeschylus
Aeschylus

Aeschylus was an Ancient Greece playwright. He is often recognized as the father or the founder of tragedy, and is the earliest of the three Greek tragedy whose Play survive extant, the others being Sophocles and Euripides....
' Seven Against Thebes
Seven Against Thebes

The Seven against Thebes is a mythic narrative whose classic statement is found in the play by Aeschylus concerning the battle between the Seven led by Polynices, traditional Theban enemies, and the army of Thebes, Greece headed by Eteocles and his supporters....
.

When Oedipus
Oedipus

Oedipus was a Greek mythology monarch of Thebes, Greece. He fulfilled a prophecy that said he would kill his father and marry his mother, and thus brought disaster on his city and family....
 stepped down as King of Thebes, he gave the kingdom to Eteocles
Eteocles

In Greek mythology, Eteocles was a king of Thebes , the son of Oedipus and either Jocasta or Euryganeia. The name is from earlier *Etewoklewes , meaning "truly glorious"....
 and Polynices
Polynices

In Greek mythology, Polynices or Polyneices was the son of Oedipus and Jocasta. His wife was Argea. His father, Oedipus, was discovered to have killed his father and married his mother, and was expelled from Thebes , leaving his sons Eteocles and Polynices to rule....
, who both agreed to alternate the throne every year. However, after the first year, Eteocles refused to step down and Polynices attacked Thebes with his supporters (the Seven Against Thebes). Both brothers died in the battle. King Creon
Creon

Creon is a figure in Greek mythology best known as the ruler of Thebes,_Greece in the legend of Oedipus. He was the father of Menoeceus and Megara by his wife, Eurydice of Thebes....
, who ascended to the throne of Thebes, decreed that Polynices was not to be buried.

However, Antigone defied the order and was caught. In the opening scene of the play when Antigone is about to perform the burial rituals on Polynices, Ismene serves as the compassionate but rational and prudent counterpart to Antigone's headstrong style of decision-making with no regard for consequence. While Antigone resolves to honor her brother at all costs, Ismene laments that while she too loves her brother, her disposition does not allow her to defy the state and become an outlaw. Once Antigone was caught, in spite of her betrothal to his son Haemon
Haemon

In Greek mythology, Haemon was the son of Creon and Eurydice of Thebes.When Oedipus stepped down as King of Thebes , he gave the kingdom to his two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, who both agreed to alternate the throne every year....
, Creon decreed that she was to be buried alive. Ismene then declared she had aided Antigone and wanted the same fate, though she did not participate in the crime. Antigone refused to let her be martyred for a cause she did not stand up for.

Thus, it is apparent that Ismene serves as a foil for Antigone; she is the “compliant citizen” to her sister’s “conscientious objector.” While she is loyal and willing to die at her sister’s side, she does not make the same bold, defiant stand that Antigone does. Like Haemon, she is a reasonable, sympathetic person whose fate is tied to the far more fanatical Antigone and Creon.

However, in Aeschylus' play, Seven Against Thebes, Ismene and Antigone sing a funeral dirge together for both of their brothers.

Daughter of Asopus

Ismene was also a daughter of the river-god Asopus
Asopus

Asopus or As?pos is the name of five different rivers in Greece and Turkey and also in Greek mythology the name of the God of those rivers....
 by Metope
Metope (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Metope was a river nymph, the daughter of the river Ladon river. Her waters were near the town of Stymphalia in the Peloponnesus....
. The river Ismenus, near Thebes, was named for her, or for her brother. Ismene was very courageous for her actions.