Ismenus
place · 4 works · 4 mentions · 7 anchored passages
in the texts
Bacchae
A river near Thebes where Dionysus stands upon his arrival.
I am here at the fountains of Dirke and the water of Ismenus.
Heracles
River at Thebes, named first as the site of Heracles' threatened vengeance and later invoked in celebratory garlanding.
the rest will I tear apart with my feathered shafts and fill Ismenus full of bloody corpses, and Dirce’s clear stream shall run red with gore.
O Ismenus, deck yourself with garlands!
Phoenissae
River near Thebes, recurring landmark and symbol of Theban custom.
beside Ismenus’ streams and the fountain of Dirce see the great army of the enemy.
Ismenus had no part at your wedding in supplying the luxurious bath, and there was silence through the streets of Thebes, at the entrance of your bride.
Nor do you rush with wild waving of the thyrsus, clad in fawnskin, but with chariots and horses you go to the waters of Ismenus, inspiring the Argives with hatred for the Spartans, arraying in bronze armor against these stone-built walls a band of warriors and their shields.
Suppliants
River beside which Thebes stands, named in Athena's prophecy of its future sack.
when ye are grown to men’s estate, the town beside Ismenus shall ye sack, avenging the slaughter of your dead sires;