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In
Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...
, Ino ( ; grc, Ἰνώ ) was a Theban princess who later became a queen of
Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its ...
. After her death and transfiguration, she was worshiped as a goddess under her epithet Leucothea, the "white goddess." Alcman called her "Queen of the Sea" ( ''thalassomédousa''), which, if not hyperbole, would make her a doublet of Amphitrite.


Family

Ino was the second daughter of the King Cadmus and Queen Harmonia of Thebes and one of the three sisters of
Semele Semele (; Ancient Greek: Σεμέλη ), in Greek mythology, was the youngest daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, and the mother of Dionysus by Zeus in one of his many origin myths. Certain elements of the cult of Dionysus and Semele came from ...
, the mortal woman of the house of Cadmus who gave birth to
Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Roma ...
. Her only brother was
Polydorus In Greek mythology, Polydorus (; grc, Πολύδωρος, i.e. "many-gift d) or Polydoros referred to several different people. *Polydorus, son of Phineus and Cleopatra, and brother of Polydector (Polydectus). These two sons by his first wife were ...
, another ruler of Thebes. Together with her two sisters,
Agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas and the Caribbean, although some ''Agave'' species are also native to tropical areas of North America, such as Mexico. The genus is primarily known for ...
and Autonoë, they were the surrogates and divine nurses of Dionysus:
Ino was a primordial Dionysian woman, nurse to the god and a divine maenad. (Kerenyi 1976:246)
Ino was the second wife of the Minyan king
Athamas In Greek mythology, Athamas (; grc, Ἀθάμας, Athámas) was a Boeotian king.Apollodorus1.9.1/ref> Family Athamas was formerly a Thessalian prince and the son of King Aeolus of Aeolia and Enarete, daughter of Deimachus. He was the bro ...
, mother of Learchus and Melicertes and stepmother of
Phrixus In Greek mythology Phrixus (; also spelt Phryxus; el, Φρίξος, ''Phrixos'' means "standing on end, bristling") was the son of Athamas, king of Boeotia, and Nephele (a goddess of clouds). He was the twin brother of Helle and the father of ...
and Helle.


Mythology

Maenads were reputed to tear their own children limb from limb in their madness. In the
back-story A backstory, background story, back-story, or background is a set of events invented for a plot, presented as preceding and leading up to that plot. It is a literary device of a narrative history all chronologically earlier than the narrative of ...
to the heroic tale of Jason and the Golden Fleece, Phrixus and Helle, twin children of Athamas and Nephele, were hated by their stepmother, Ino. Ino hatched a devious plot to get rid of the twins, roasting all the crop seeds of
Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its ...
so they would not grow. The local farmers, frightened of famine, asked a nearby oracle for assistance. Ino bribed the men sent to the oracle to lie and tell the others that the oracle required the sacrifice of Phrixus. Athamas reluctantly agreed. Before he was killed though, Phrixus and Helle were rescued by a flying golden ram sent by Nephele, their natural mother. Helle fell off the ram into the Hellespont (which was named after her, meaning ''Sea of Helle'') and drowned, but Phrixus survived all the way to
Colchis In Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia. Its population, the Colchians are generally though ...
, where King Aeetes took him in and treated him kindly, giving Phrixus his daughter,
Chalciope Chalciope (; grc, Χαλκιόπη, Khalkiópē means "bronze-face"), in Greek mythology, is a name that may refer to several characters. * Chalciope, daughter of King Aeetes of Colchis, sister of Medea and wife of Phrixus, by whom she had fou ...
, in marriage. In gratitude, Phrixus gave the king the
golden fleece In Greek mythology, the Golden Fleece ( el, Χρυσόμαλλον δέρας, ''Chrysómallon déras'') is the fleece of the golden-woolled,, ''Khrusómallos''. winged ram, Chrysomallos, that rescued Phrixus and brought him to Colchis, where ...
of the ram, which Aeetes hung in a tree in his kingdom. Later, Ino raised
Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Roma ...
, her nephew, son of her sister
Semele Semele (; Ancient Greek: Σεμέλη ), in Greek mythology, was the youngest daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, and the mother of Dionysus by Zeus in one of his many origin myths. Certain elements of the cult of Dionysus and Semele came from ...
, causing Hera's intense jealousy. In vengeance, Hera struck
Athamas In Greek mythology, Athamas (; grc, Ἀθάμας, Athámas) was a Boeotian king.Apollodorus1.9.1/ref> Family Athamas was formerly a Thessalian prince and the son of King Aeolus of Aeolia and Enarete, daughter of Deimachus. He was the bro ...
with insanity. Athamas went mad, slew one of his sons, Learchus, hunting him down like a stag, and set out in frenzied pursuit of Ino. To escape him Ino threw herself into the sea with her son Melicertes. Both were afterwards worshipped as marine divinities, Ino as Leucothea ("the white goddess"), Melicertes as Palaemon. Alternatively, Ino was also stricken with insanity and killed Melicertes by boiling him in a cauldron, then jumped into the sea with her dead son. A sympathetic
Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...
did not want Ino to die, and transfigured her and Melicertes as Leucothea and Palaemon. The story of Ino,
Athamas In Greek mythology, Athamas (; grc, Ἀθάμας, Athámas) was a Boeotian king.Apollodorus1.9.1/ref> Family Athamas was formerly a Thessalian prince and the son of King Aeolus of Aeolia and Enarete, daughter of Deimachus. He was the bro ...
and Melicertes is relevant also in the context of two larger themes. Ino, daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, had an end just as tragic as her siblings:
Semele Semele (; Ancient Greek: Σεμέλη ), in Greek mythology, was the youngest daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, and the mother of Dionysus by Zeus in one of his many origin myths. Certain elements of the cult of Dionysus and Semele came from ...
died while pregnant with
Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...
' child, killed by her own pride and lack of trust in her lover;
Agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas and the Caribbean, although some ''Agave'' species are also native to tropical areas of North America, such as Mexico. The genus is primarily known for ...
killed her own son, King Pentheus, while struck with Dionysian madness, and Actaeon, son of Autonoe, the third sibling, was torn apart by his own hunting dogs. Also, the insanity of Ino and Athamas, who hunted his own son Learchus as a stag and slew him, can be explained as a result of their contact with Dionysus, whose presence can cause insanity. None can escape the powers of Dionysus, the god of wine.
Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars a ...
took up the tale in '' The Bacchae'', explaining their madness in Dionysiac terms, as a result of their having initially resisted belief in the god's divinity. When Athamas returned to his second wife, Ino, Themisto (his third wife) sought revenge by dressing her children in white clothing and Ino's in black and directing the murder of the children in black. Ino switched their clothes without Themisto knowing and she killed her own children. Transformed into the goddess Leucothea, Ino also represents one of the many sources of divine aid to Odysseus in the ''
Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...
'' (5:333ff), her earliest appearance in literature. Homer calls her "Ino-Leocothea of the beautiful ankles �αλλίσφυρος daughter of Cadmus, who was once a mortal speaking with the tongue of men, but now in the salt sea-waters has received honor at the hands of the gods". Providing Odysseus with a veil and telling him to discard his cloak and raft, she instructs him how he can entrust himself to the waves and succeed in reaching land and eventually the island of Scheria (
Corcyra Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
), home of Phaeaceans. In historical times, a sisterhood of maenads of Thebes in the service of Dionysus traced their descent in the female line from Ino; we know this because an inscription at
Magnesia on the Maeander Magnesia or Magnesia on the Maeander ( grc, Μαγνησία ἡ πρὸς Μαιάνδρῳ or ; la, Magnesia ad Maeandrum) was an ancient Greek city in Ionia, considerable in size, at an important location commercially and strategically in th ...
summoned three maenads from Thebes, from the house of Ino, to direct the new mysteries of Dionysus at Magnesia (Burkert 1992:44).


Festivals

Inoa (Ἰνῶα), there were festivals which were celebrated in many different places in honour of Ino.A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), Inoa
/ref>


Genealogy


Gallery

File:Atamante preso dalle Furie 0014.jpg, Atamante preso dalle Furie by Arcangelo Migliarini (1801) at Roma, Accademia di San Luca File:Athamas und Ino ubs G 0732 II.jpg, Athamas und Ino by Radierung (17th century) File:The Insane Athamas Killing Learchus, While Ino and Melicertor Jump into the Sea LACMA 65.37.123.jpg, The Insane Athamas Killing Learchus, While Ino and Melicertor Jump into the Sea by Wilhelm Janson (Holland, Amsterdam), Antonio Tempesta (Italy, Florence, 1555–1630) at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles File:Athamas i ino.jpg, Tisiphone maddens Athamas & Ino (17th century) File:Godfried Maes - Illustrations to the Metamorphoses of Ovid, Athamas tearing apart his Children.jpg, Athamas tearing apart his children by Godfried Maes


Notes


References

* Apollodorus, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
* (US ) pp. 36–42, 151 * Burkert, Walter, 1992. ''The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Age '' (Cambridge:Harvard University Press). *
Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet ...
, ''
Theogony The ''Theogony'' (, , , i.e. "the genealogy or birth of the gods") is a poem by Hesiod (8th–7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods, composed . It is written in the Epic dialect of Ancient Greek and contain ...
'' from ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica'' with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
* Kerenyi, Karl, 1976. ''Dionysus: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life'' (Princeton: Bollingen). *Kerenyi, Karl, 1951. ''The Gods of the Greeks'' (Thames and Hudson). {{Authority control Greek goddesses Family of Athamas Princesses in Greek mythology Queens in Greek mythology Metamorphoses characters Metamorphoses in Greek mythology Deeds of Hera Theban characters in Greek mythology Boeotian mythology Theban mythology Dionysus in mythology Suicides in Greek mythology