Jocasta

*Jocasta is wife of King Laius as well as the tragic mother and wife of King Oedipus. For having lay with her own son and bearing him four children, she was cursed by the Moirae with a great unending shame. After several lives burdened by this shame, often ended by her own doing, Jocasta has devoted herself to service in the Theocracy, hoping to atone for her sin and finally have her curse lifted.*

## History

### 379 - 389 OC

Jocasta and her twin brother Creon were born in Thebes and inherit their first boon by way of a promise made to her great-grandfather by the god Ares.

Jocasta and Creon grow up close in their noble family, they themselves were distant cousins of the Theban royal family, and their family are trusted with much of Thebes' most important positions. Even at a young age, Jocasta and Creon were brought into Theban politics with Creon being made regent of the kingdom at the age of ten.

At that time, Thebes was plagued by two monsters. The Sphinx and her sister, the elusive monstrous vixen known as Teumesso. Each year, the Theban people would expose a child as a sacrifice to each monster to keep them from taking more children from their city. The child to be sacrificed was determined by drawing the names of that year's children at random one full moon prior to the sacrifice.

Creon and Jocasta always found this practice appalling and sought to put an end to it. Having heard that Crete had a legendary hunting dog named Laelaps who was said to able to capture anything, Creon and Jocasta wrote to Crete, seeking their aid. The fabled dog was sent to Thebes, but the dog continued to pursue the monstrous fox without success for several years.

### 389 OC

Alcides, one of the twin sons of Theban general Amphitryon and his wife Alcmene was chosen to be sacrificed to Teumesso that year. Not wanting to see his son sacrificed on the next full moon, Amphitryon sought the counsel of Creon and Jocasta, who despite their young age were considered to be two of Thebes' most cunning noblepersons. They told Amphitryon to ride quickly to Mycenae, the land Amphitryon and his wife had fled years before after Amphitryon accidentally murdered his father-in-law, Electryon, son of the demigod hero Perseus.
Creon rode with Amphitryon and the young Creon manage to convince Perseus to forgive Amphitryon in order to spare the life of Perseus' great-grandson Alcides. Perseus was swayed by Creon's words and granted Amphitryon the head of Medusa to use against Teumesso. However, bad weather delayed Amphitryon and Creon's return and forced them to rush straight into the wilderness, hoping they were not too late.

In the wilderness, they found the Teumesso fleeing from Laelaps. Believing the vixen had already devoured his child, Amphitryon used the head of Medusa to petrify both fox and hound, but after doing so, Creon and Amphitryon were unable to find young Alcides.

However, fear not for Alcides. Believing Creon and Amphitryon would be successful if they just had more time, Jocasta had ran into the wilderness and swept up Alcides shortly after the priests left him and before the fox came for him. She then traveled to a Temple of Athena in Athens where she left the child to be cared for, deciding it would be better the child be cared for elsewhere rather than needlessly devoured by the fox.

### 389 - 392 OC

Following the petrification of the fox, the Sphinx fled for fear of the same fate befalling her. Jocasta informed Alcmene and Amphitryon of their child's safety. While Amphitryon and Creon rode to Mycenae to return Medusa's head to Perseus, Jocasta and Alcmene traveled to Athens to reclaim Alcides. There Jocasta and Alcmene were told that the child had been taken by Athena for a time before being given to another family by Hermes.

Alcmene was chastised by the Athenian priests for attempting to sacrifice a demigod child, resulting in her admitting her affair with Zeus to the priests with Jocasta present. Still, Alcmene was otherwise allowed to bring Alcides home, though upon their return, Jocasta recommended they honor the gods by keeping their child's new name. Thankful to Jocasta, Alcmene agreed to raise Heracles under the presumption he was adopted, thereby not revealing his true identity and thus implicating Jocasta in the violation of a Theban decree.

### 393 OC

Jocasta's first son was born. Shortly after the birth of her son, Jocasta discovered the cruelty of her husband when King Laius returned from visiting Pythia in Delphi and ripped the child from her arms. Despite the cries of Jocasta, Laius rode away with the child - with Jocasta believing that would be the last time she would ever see her son.

As the gods condemned both filicide and infanticide, Laius chose to sacrifice the child to the Sphinx, reinstating the practice of sacrifice to the monster, leaving the child between Corinth and Thebes, at the feet of the Sphinx's petrified sister. As extra certainty that the child should perish, Laius drove a spike through his son's ankles and tethered his legs together.

*Clio's Clarifications:* Unknown to Laius or Jocasta, the god Ares was en route to Thebes to bestow a boon upon the child. He happened upon Laius and saw him abandon the child he had crippled. When the king rode off, Ares saved the child's life by imparting the promised boon upon the child. He then took the child with him as he returned to Corinth where he and his lover Aphrodite were visiting when they had heard of Jocasta's birthing of a child. Ares gave the child to the King and Queen of Corinth to raise, not telling them of the child's true lineage.

### 393 - 403 OC

Having seen the brutality of her husband and mourning the supposed death of her child, Jocasta refused to lay with Laius again, which Laius did not seem to mind. Laius' lack of interest in Jocasta was eventually revealed during a drunken stupor in which Laius explained Pythia revealed he had been cursed by the gods for previous violations of the Laws of Hospitality. If he had allowed the child to live, the child would have been cursed as well, though Laius did not share the nature of this curse with Jocasta.

For the good of the people of Thebes, Jocasta remained married to Laius. A devout woman, Jocasta could not bring herself to kill Laius (as matiricide is also forbidden) though she prayed regularly to the gods to end his reign early so that she might marry another more worthy ruler and bear him an heir.

Meanwhile, the Sphinx continued to terrorize the way between Delphi and Thebes, preying upon travelers. Jocasta believed the Sphinx to have been another curse sent by the gods as punishment for Laius' cruelty.

### 403 OC

After ten years of terror, the Sphinx again fled when the young hero Hercules attempts to hunt it down. Hercules pursued the Sphinx until he lost it in Thessaly, where he became sidetracked by the Giant Uprising. Hercules gained great acclaim for his interventions helping the gods defeat the giants.

### 403 - 410 OC

 Thebes prospered as a result of Hercules' heroism.

### 410 OC

Hercules married Creon's daughter Megara. Shortly after Hercules declared his intent to retire from heroics for a while to travel with his wife. The Sphinx returned to plague Thebes once again. Without Hercules there to intervene, Laius decided to personally hunt the Sphinx himself and set out to do so. However, the Sphinx slaughtered his hunting party and Laius and his charioteer fled rather than perish to the beast as well.

On the road back to Thebes, Laius encountered a Corinthian prince en route to Delphi. The chariot nearly ran him over in its haste. Swerving at the last minute, the chariot crashed, killing its horses and wounding Laius and his charioteer. When the charioteer awoke, he found Laius dead, having his throat slit - not by the claws of the Sphinx but by a blade.

When the wounded charioteer returned as the only survivor of the hunting party, bringing with him the news of Laius' murder, Jocasta rejoiced, believing the gods to have answered her prayers. In her joy, Jocasta promised her hand in marriage to any hero able to slay the Sphinx and free Thebes of its predation. Against her better judgment, she also bows to the pressure of the Theban court to offer a substantial award for the murderer of King Laius. Shortly after her announcement, Jocasta learned from the arrival of merchants from Delphi that the Sphinx had already been slain and that the man who did so is the Corinthian prince Oedipus, having brought the monster's corpse with him into Delphi as an offering to Pythia.

Jocasta sent emissaries to find Oedipus as word from Corinth was he has not returned home since traveling to Delphi to speak with the Oracle.

*Clio's Clarifications:* One of these emissaries was the chariot driver of King Laius. He went to Corinth and waited there should Oedipus return to Corinth. Months later, he was married to a Corinthian woman and wrote back to Jocasta saying he would continue to wait for Oedipus' return but would otherwise resign from service to Thebes and instead work for the Corinthian royal family. Jocasta thanked him for his service and wished him well in his new life.

### 411 OC

Oedipus was eventually brought to the court of Thebes. Oedipus had been found living north of Delphi. When asked why he had not been in Corinth, Oedipus told Jocasta that Pythia warned him that while his soul bore a hero's boon, it also held a curse given by the Fates that would have compelled him to kill his father. Fearing what he would do to his father should he return to Corinth, Oedipus chose to remain away from Corinth.

Jocasta was impressed with Oedipus' willingness to sacrifice his claim to the Corinthian throne and offered him the Theban throne in its place, promising him he would never have to travel to Corinth and thus never risk murdering his own father. Oedipus agreed to Jocasta's deal and the two were married. Oedipus also agreed that when the King of Corinth should die of natural causes, Oedipus would abdicate the Theban throne to one of his and Jocasta's children.

Shortly after his marriage to Jocasta, Oedipus decided a quick way to gain the favor of the court was to find Laius' killer. Oedipus visited the Oracle of Thebes to seek her wisdom in finding Laius' killer. The Oracle of Thebes was Tirese, the female form of the immortal but often cursed prophet Tiresias. When Oedipus sought her aid, Tirese told him that Laius' killer was a man that Oedipus did not wish to find. After sharing this cryptic message with Jocasta, Oedipus came to the same conclusion as his wife, that Laius' murderer was sent by the gods and was not meant to be found.

### 411 - 450 OC

After thirty-nine years of marriage, during which Jocasta gave birth to two beautiful daughters and two strong sons, Jocasta and Oedipus learned of the passing of the King of Corinth. Believing Oedipus' curse had been lifted, the two began to make plans to have one son rule Thebes and the other rule Corinth so Oedipus and Jocasta could simply enjoy each other without the burden of managing a kingdom.

### 450 OC

However, their idyllic plans would not come to pass. Arriving in Corinth for the first time in forty years for King Polybus' funeral games, Oedipus finally was able to introduce Jocasta to Periboea. However, what should have been a bittersweet reunion turned to quite the scandal when Periboea's advisor turned out to be Laius' former charioteer.

The former charioteer came to Jocasta in secret to reveal that Oedipus was the man who they nearly ran off the road and was likely the one who murdered Laius. Jocasta quietly pays him the reward money for this information but tells him not to tell any others as Oedipus' slaying of Laius was a blessing from the gods. The former charioteer agreed to keep the matter quiet.
However, while speaking to Periboea over drinks during the funeral games, Jocasta learned that she never had any children of her own due to infertility and Oedipus had been a literal gift from the gods. In confidence, a tipsy Periboea told Jocasta that Ares had delivered the child to them and Oedipus nearly hadn't survived his first year, having been crippled at the ankles as a baby and left to eaten by a monster.

Upon realizing that Oedipus was actually her own son, having been rescued from Laius' cruelty by the gods so that he could fulfill Laius' fate to be slain by his own child, Jocasta was devastated. However, she kept this secret to herself until on the last day of the funeral games where Periboea told Oedipus the truth as well. Upon learning of this, Oedipus called upon Tiresias to read his aura and determine the truth.

Tiresias had regained his male form by this point, but had now been struck blind. Met with Oedipus, Tiresias told Oedpius the same thing he told him nearly forty years before: Laius' murderer was not a man Oedipus did not wish to find... because Laius had been cursed for his transgressions against the Laws of Hospitality to bear seed that would be compelled to kill their father. Confronted with this, Oedipus realized that the man he had killed on the road to Delphi so long ago was Laius. Though Oedipus had long suspected that he had been the king's murderer, having seen Laius' crude likeness in art and sculpture, he never understood, until that very moment, what had came over him causing him to kill the injured man on the roadside.

Jocasta begged Oedipus not to confess this revelation. Tiresias was not one opposed to keeping secrets from the gods and also counseled Oedipus to not reveal this, but Oedipus chose to abdicate his throne to his two sons and confessed to the entire court the purpose for doing so. Once word reached Olympus that Oedipus and Jocasta had committed the forbidden practice of a mother laying with her son, the Fates cursed both Jocasta and Oedipus. Though Oedipus' curse took the form of a blinding, much like Tiresias' own, Jocasta became overwhelmed with such shame.

### 450 - 451 OC

Jocasta joined Oedipus in exile, but after her sons kill themselves over feuding for the throne of Thebes and Creon kills one of Jocasta's daughters simply for burying her brother, Jocasta's cursed shame grows too powerful and she hung herself in exile.

### 3395 OC

An Elysian girl was born in a small village near the New Mt. Olympus on the world of Elysium. She is named Tarsa.

### 3408 OC

As Tarsa underwent the changes following childhood and her veil of innocence departed her mind, she realized she was not Tarsa but Jocasta reborn.

### 3410 OC

As her memories fully return, Jocasta II realized her curse was still in effect and she is overcome with tremendous shame. She kills herself again shortly afterward.

### 32 NOC

Jocasta III was born in Knossos a hundred years after her last death.

### 45 NOC

Jocasta learns from her heroic identity from the oracle and is also told she had been punished in the Underworld for a hundred years as opposed to other heroes being given a thirty year long reprieve between life and death due to the doctrinal shift now condemning suicide as a sin. Hearing this, Jocasta takes the sacrificial dagger from the oracle's altar and says she'll see her in a century, before plunging the dagger into her own heart.

### 145 NOC

Jocasta IV was born on the outskirts of Arcadia.

### 158 NOC

Jocasta met with the oracle, learned her identity, and promised not to take her own life again after having been told there was a chance to remove the curse. Jocasta decides to seek out Kheiron to train her to be a traditional monster-slaying hero.

### 162 NOC

In the newly formed Republic of Athens, Jocasta attended the Kheiron Academy.

### 167 NOC

Jocasta graduated from the Kheiron Academy.

### 170 NOC

Jocasta hunted the reborn Teumesso and slays the creature using an enchanted bow.

### 172 NOC

Jocasta IV died from a bite from the Hydra.

### 202 NOC

Jocasta V was born in Athens, the daughter of an acclaimed architect.

### 215 NOC

Jocasta is told of her heroic identity by the oracle of the newly finished Great Temple of Athens, the creation of her then-current's reincarnation's father. Jocasta would take this as a sign that she should join the Theocracy.

### 300 NOC

At the age of ninety-eight, the second Athenian Pontifex, Jocasta V, dies of old age having written the Jocastian Scriptures, a widely-cited source of doctrine and philosophy.

### 343 NOC

Jocasta traveled to Mt. Olympus to seek the Olympian oracle. She relearns of her identity and again pledges herself to the Theocracy, this time becoming a humble travelling orator.

### 350 NOC

 Jocasta arrived in Thrace to begin her mission there. She believed that bringing the message of the Faith to the savages of this land would give her a chance at redemption.

### 371 NOC

In Thrace, Orator Jocasta met a Thracian medicine woman with a painted face who explained to her that curses cannot be lifted, only changed. Jocasta realized she had heard this before. She washed the face of the medicine woman to reveal Tirese, who had become a female once again. Jocasta asked Tirese what would change her curse so she did not have to live with this shame. Tirese says Jocasta must anger the gods enough for the Fates to seek to punish Jocasta again. Jocasta, however, refuses to do this, having devoted herself to the gods for too much of her life.

### 375 NOC

Jocasta VI was murdered by Thracian raiders.

### 405 NOC

Jocasta VII was suspected of being born in Ithaca.

### 411 NOC

Jocasta VII was believed to have died unaware of her heroic nature after a plague ravaged the island.

### 711 NOC

Jocasta VIII was reborn in Corinth after three hundred years of reward in the Underworld for dying as an innocent.

### 724 NOC

Jocasta did not initially seek out the oracle upon turning thirteen, defying doctrine. However as more of her memories come to be revealed and Jocasta's devout nature forces her to turn herself in. She was sentenced to prison until she is eighteen years of age and thus a suitable sacrifice to the gods.

### 729 NOC

Jocasta VIII was executed and her remains cremated as a burnt offering to the gods.

### 829 NOC

Jocasta IX was born in Thebes, the daughter of the royal family. She is aware she is a heroine due to the nature of her birth and the ritual which created this reincarnation's body.

### 841 NOC

Oedipus V was named the new Pontifex of Thebes.

### 842 NOC

Jocasta learned of her exact identity from the oracle, but had already suspected she was Jocasta due to the veil of innocence beginning to have faded shortly before her thirteenth birthday due to her pre-existing knowledge that she was a heroine and her strange attraction to the new pontifex.

### 842 - 850 NOC

Princess Jocasta and Pontifex Oedipus endures the slander of the people of Thebes who enjoyed to start rumors that the Pontifex and Princess were illicit lovers despite the two rarely having any interaction at all and Oedipus' reincarnation being nearly fifty years older than Jocasta.

### 850 NOC

Oedipus V died of mysterious circumstances, believed by some to have been poisoned by Jocasta at the time (but we now know it was more likely the work of heretics or the same illness that fell the King of Thebes the following year). Either way, there were no charges brought against Jocasta.

### 851 NOC

Jocasta once again became Queen of Thebes, though this time it is a very different Thebes than before. She is set upon by many suitors.

### 855 NOC

Jocasta marries Atreus VII. At the wedding, Jocasta and Atreus indulge in the Theban Rite of Royal Inheritance, with Ares having been the god chosen to bless their union.

### 856 NOC

Jocasta gave birth for the first time since she and Oedipus had children. She gives birth to a son which she chooses not to name, other than to call him Hero.

### 869 NOC

Hero returned from the Oracle of Thebes to inform Atreus and Jocasta that he has a new name - Laius. In disgust, a hysterical Jocasta grabs him and throws herself and her child from the balcony of the Theban palace.

### 1082 NOC

Jocasta met with Pythia, learned her true identity, and realized she has been gone for two hundred years this time due to having taken her own life and that of her son. Jocasta decided to rejoin the Theocracy and work with Pythia directly to stand the best chance at ridding herself of her curse. Pythia suggested that Jocasta not try to incur the god's wrath to invoke a change to her curse, but rather learn to live with the curse.

### 1099 NOC

Jocasta became the first Head of the Delphian Inquisition, investigating heretics.

### 1160 NOC

Grand Inquisitor Jocasta died, murdered by heretics that had infiltrated her Inquisition. Hailed a martyr, the Theocracy cremate her remains as a sacrifice to the gods and ask that she be given a martyr's peace: one hundred years of solace.

### 1260 NOC

Jocasta XI was born in the new nation of Troy.

### 1273 NOC

As the Great Temple of Troy was still being completed, Jocasta traveled to Delphi to meet with Pythia. Jocasta decided to pick up where she left off and rejoins the clergy.

### 1300 NOC

Grand Inquisitor Jocasta declares it her singular focus to investigate rumors of a book known as the so-called Delian Philosophies. She is murdered months later. Again, she is hailed a martyr.

### 1413 NOC

Jocasta met an oracle and reclaims her name and identity.

### 1418 NOC

Jocasta entered into the military to learn modern weaponry.

### 1420 NOC

Jocasta deserts the military while in Thebes to go undercover to investigate the rumored headquarters of a heretical movement.

### 1427 NOC

Jocasta found the evidence needed to condemn the Orchard House. The Elysian Theocracy condemns the members of the Orchard House as heretics and their Delian Philosophies publication as heresy. Jocasta returns to Rhodes to serve a prison sentence for desertion.

### 1437 NOC

Jocasta is released ten years early from her twenty year prison sentence on good behavior. She is scheduled to attend several press conferences as many scribes are eager to hear how she discovered the dark secrets of the Orchard House.

### 1471 NOC

Jocasta XII apparently dies. To date, only Jocasta herself is certain where she died or was buried.

### 1501 NOC

Jocasta XIII is born in Sparta, as the daughter of a powerful and wealthy.

### 1514 NOC

Jocasta met with the Oracle of Sparta and quickly joined the clergy as a lamplighter.

### 1519 NOC

Jocasta was inducted into the Sworn Servants of Hebe by Aphrodite and Ares.

### 1520 NOC

Jocasta used the extra prestige of bearing the chalicer's mark to transfer to the role of a sentinel.

### 1522 NOC

Jocasta joined the Spartan army as a chaplain.

### 1530 NOC

Jocasta requested a transfer to the Corinthian Inquisition upon hearing of the destruction of the Corinthian House of Reformation. She was denied her request. Instead, she is transferred to the Great Temple in Mars' Stand, where she became a templar.

### 1535 NOC

Following the heretic revolts following the assassination of several Pontifices, Jocasta is wounded during a mass riot on the streets of Mars' Stand. Upon her recovery, Jocasta requests permission to begin a Sparta Inqusition.

### 1535 - 1539 NOC

Under Pontifex Jocasta's watch, nearly five hundred Spartan heretics are condemned and burned, their remains sacrificed to the gods as burnt offerings.

### 1539 NOC

Jocasta is named the Pontifex of Sparta after her predecessor is appointed as the new Grand Pontifex. She puts an end to the Spartan Inquisition, publicly declaring that the only heretics left in Sparta are ghosts.

### 1542 NOC

Jocasta heard word of the crashing ARS Advancer. Like many Spartans, Jocasta believed that the Athenians were responsible.

## Role in NeOlympus

Appearances of Jocasta

 Abilities

* **Boon: Heroic Capability:'** In her first life, Jocasta was born the daughter of Menoeceus, who was the son of Pentheus, who was the son of Echion. Echion had been a devout follower of Ares and a legendary warrior. For Echion's service, Ares promised to grant boons to the first child born in his line for several generations. Jocasta received her first boon shortly after her first birth. By rights of being granted a heroic boon, Jocasta gained heightened capabilities beyond mortalkind.
* **Boon: Heroic Insight:** Jocasta was granted a second boon by Hera to honor her as the Queen of Thebes upon her marriage to King Laius. Though the rightful king of Thebes, Laius had been raided in another kingdom and was not particularly informed on Theban traditions or its people. His marriage to Jocasta (his second cousin once removed) was seen as a way to help consolidate his power and endear him to his court. Jocasta's second boon gave her mythical insight.
* **Curse: Shame:** In her first life, though no fault of her own, married her son Oedipus and conceived four children with him. She was cursed by the Fates for this sin, leading to her first death. Still cursed, Jocasta has devoted her subsequent lived to the Theocracy, hoping to one day atone for her sin.

## Trivia

* She is currently on her Thirteenth reincarnation.

## Gallery

Jocasta
(Thirteenth Life)
## Links and References

1. ↑ Neonomikon: Jocasta
2. ↑ New NeO: Jocasta