king of Corinth, was son of Sisyphus. He promised his daughter Glauce to Jafon, who had repudiated Medea. To revenge the success of her rival, Medea sent her for a present a gown covered with poison. Glauce put it on, and was seized with sudden pains. Her body took fire, and she expired in the greatest torments. The house also was consumed by the fire, and Creon and his family shared Glauce's fate.

son of Menoeceus, was father to Jocasta, the wife and mother of Oedipus. At the death of Laius, who had married Jocasta, Creon ascended the vacant throne of Thebes. As the ravages of the Sphinx were intolerable, Creon offered his crown and daughter in marriage to him who could explain the enigmas which the monster proposed. Oedipus was happy in his explanations, and he ascended the throne of Thebes, and married Jocasta without knowing that she was his mother, and by her he had two sons, Polyneices and Eteocles. These two sons mutually agreed after their father's death to reign in the kingdom each a year alternately. Eteocles first ascended the throne by right of seniority; but when he was once in power he refused to resign at the appointed time, and his brother led against him an army of Argives to support his right. The war was decided by a single combat between the two brothers. They both killed one another, and Creon ascended the throne till Leodamus the son of Eteocles should be of sufficient age to assume the reins of government. In his regal capacity he commanded that the Argives, and more particularly Polyneices, who was the cause of all the bloodshed should remain unburied. If this was in any manner disobeyed, the offenders were to be buried alive. Antigone the sister of Polyneices transgressed, and was accordingly punished. Haemon the son of Creon, who was passionately fond of Antigone, killed himself on her grave, when his father refused to grant her pardon. Creon was afterwards killed by Theseus, who had made war with him because he refused burial to the Argives.

CRÉPANCE, in the manege, a chop or cratch in a horse's leg, given by the spunges of the toes of one of the hinder feet crossing and striking against the other hinder foot. This cratch degenerates into an ulcer.

CRÉPIDAE, among the Romans, a kind of slippers or shoes, which were always worn with the pallium, as the calcei were with the toga.

CRÉPIS, HAWK-WEED, a genus of plants belonging to the syngenesia class; and in the natural method ranking under the 49th order, Compositae. See Botany Index.

CRÉPITATION, that noise which some salts make over the fire in calcination, called also detonation.

CRÉPITATION is also used in surgery, for the noise made by the ends or pieces of bones, when the surgeon moves a limb to assure himself by his ear of the existence of a fracture.

CRÉPUNDIA, in antiquity, a term used to express such things as were exposed along with children, as rings, jewels, &c., serving as tokens whereby they afterwards might be known.

CRÉPUSCULUM in Astronomy, twilight; the time from the first dawn or appearance of the morning to the rising of the sun; and again, between the setting of the sun and the last remains of day.

Papias derives the word from creperus; which, he says, anciently signified uncertain, doubtful, q. d. a dubious light. The crepusculum is usually computed to begin and end when the sun is about 18 degrees below the horizon; for then the stars of the sixth magnitude disappear in the morning and appear in the evening. It is of longer duration in the solstices than in the equinoxes, and longer in an oblique than in a right sphere.

The crepuscular arc occasioned by the sun's rays refracted in our atmosphere, and reflected from the particles thereof to the eye. See Twilight.