According to
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...
, Ion (; ) was eponymous ancestor of the
Ionians
The Ionians (; , ''Íōnes'', singular , ''Íōn'') were one of the traditional four major tribes of Ancient Greece, alongside the Dorians, Aeolians, and Achaeans. The Ionian dialect was one of the three major linguistic divisions of the ...
.
Family
Ion was the illegitimate child of
Creüsa, the daughter of King
Erechtheus of
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
and wife of
Xuthus. His real father was the god
Apollo
Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...
.
Mythology
Euripides
Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, 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 attributed ninety-five plays to ...
’ ''
Ion''
One story of Ion is told in the tragedy play ''
Ion'' by
Euripides
Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, 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 attributed ninety-five plays to ...
. Apollo had visited Creusa in a cave below
Propylaea where she conceived Ion. When the princess gave birth to the child, she abandoned him in the same cave but Apollo father asked
Hermes to take Ion from his cradle. Ion was saved, raised and educated by a priestess of the
Delphic Oracle. When the boy had grown, and Xuthus and Creusa came to consult the oracle about the means of obtaining an heir, the answer was, that the first human being which Xuthus met on leaving the temple should be his son. Xuthus met Ion, and recognized him as his son but, in fact, Apollo was giving him Ion as an adoptive son. Creusa, imagining the boy to be a son of her husband by a former beloved while she was childless, she caused a cup to be presented to the youth, which was filled with the poisonous blood of a dragon.
However, her plot was discovered, for as Ion, before drinking, poured out a libation to the gods, a pigeon which drank of it died on the spot. Creusa thereupon fled to the altar of the god. Ion dragged her away, and was on the point of killing her, when a priestess interfered, explained the mystery, and showed that Ion was the son of Creusa. Mother and son thus became reconciled, but Xuthus was not let into the secret. The latter, however, was satisfied, for he too received a promise that he should become a father, namely of
Dorus
In Greek mythology, Dorus (, probably derived from ''dōron'' "gift") was the Eponym, eponymous founder of the Dorians.
Family
Each of Hellen, Hellen's sons founded a primary tribe of Greece: Aeolus (son of Hellen), Aeolus the Aeolians, Dorus t ...
and
Achaeus.
Ionian tradition
The inhabitants of
Aegialus, on the northern coast of the
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...
, were likewise Ionians, and among them another tradition was current. Ion was the son of Xuthus (rather than Apollo in this account) who after being expelled from
Thessaly
Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...
or
Attica
Attica (, ''Attikḗ'' (Ancient Greek) or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, which consists of the city of Athens, the capital city, capital of Greece and the core cit ...
was brought to the area during the reign of king
Selinus. After his father’s death, Ion was on the point of marching against the Aegialeans, when Selinus offered him his only child
Helice in marriage, as well as to adopt him as his son and successor. It so happened that the proposal found favour with Ion, and on the death of King Selinus he succeeded to the throne. He called the city he founded in Aegialus Helice (the modern
Eliki) in honour of his wife and made it the capital of the kingdom, and called the inhabitants Ionians after himself. This, however, was not a change of name, but an addition to it, for the folk were named Aegialian Ionians. By his wife, Helike, Ion became the father of
Bura, eponym of the city of Bura. Later he took an expedition against
Eleusis
Elefsina () or Eleusis ( ; ) is a suburban city and Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Athens metropolitan area. It belongs to West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is located in the Thriasio Plain, at the northernmost ...
(now Elefsina) with the help of the
Athenians
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
and in the battle he was killed near Eleusis.
Attic tradition
Other traditions represent Ion as king of
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
between the reigns of
Erechtheus and
Cecrops; for it is said that his assistance was called in by the Athenians in their war with the Eleusinians, that he conquered
Eumolpus, and then became king of Athens. He there became the father of four sons,
Geleon (
Teleon),
Aegicores,
Argades, and Hoples, according to whom he divided the Athenians into four classes or tribes, which derived their names from his sons:
Hopletes (
Hoplite
Hoplites ( ) ( ) were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with fewer soldiers. The formation discouraged the sold ...
s),
Teleonites (
Geleontes),
Aegicoreis,
Argadeis (
Ergadeis).
Herodotus
Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...
, 5.66.2; Euripides
Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, 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 attributed ninety-five plays to ...
, '' Ion'' 1575-1581; Pollux
8.109
/ref> After his death he was buried at Potamus.
Other stories
According to some accounts, Ion was the father of Ellops, founder of Ellopia, and possibly of Aïclus (Aiklos) and Cothus (Kothos). These last two founded the Euboean towns of Eretria and Cerinthus, respectively.
Ion was also believed to have founded a primary tribe of Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
, the Ionians
The Ionians (; , ''Íōnes'', singular , ''Íōn'') were one of the traditional four major tribes of Ancient Greece, alongside the Dorians, Aeolians, and Achaeans. The Ionian dialect was one of the three major linguistic divisions of the ...
. He has often been identified with Javan, who is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
. '' Bible
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
, Javan is a son of Noah
Noah (; , also Noach) appears as the last of the Antediluvian Patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5–9), the Quran and Baháʼí literature, ...
's son Japheth. The earlier Greek form of the name was *Ἰάϝων "''Iáwōn''", which, with the loss of the digamma, later became Ἰάων ''Iáōn'', or plural ''Iáones'', as seen in epic poetry. In addition, Dionysius Periegetes, Dionysius the Voyager, of Alexandria, in his ''Description of the Known World'' ver. 416 mentions a river in Arcadia called ''Iaon''. This river ''Iaon'' is further alluded to in Hesiod's ''Hymns of Callimachus'', Hymn to Jupiter 22. This river has also been connected to the earlier forms of the name.[''The Early Ionians'' by George Huxley (1966), p. 166.]
Genealogy of Hellenes
See also
* Yona
The word Yona in Pali and the Prakrits, and the analogue Yavana in Sanskrit, were used in Ancient India to designate Greek speakers. "Yona" and "Yavana" are transliterations of the Greek word for "Ionians" (), who were probably the first Gr ...
– covers other names for the Greeks derived from Ion and the Ionians, found from the Near East to India
Notes
References
*Euripides
Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, 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 attributed ninety-five plays to ...
, ''The Complete Greek Drama'', edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill Jr. in two volumes. 1. Ion, translated by Robert Potter. New York. Random House. 1938
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
*Euripides
Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, 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 attributed ninety-five plays to ...
, ''Euripidis Fabulae.'' ''vol. 2''. Gilbert Murray. Oxford. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1913
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*Hesiod
Hesiod ( or ; ''Hēsíodos''; ) was an ancient Greece, Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.M. L. West, ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press (1966), p. 40.Jasper Gr ...
, ''Catalogue of Women'' from ''Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica'' translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914
Online version at theio.com
*Homer
Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
, ''The Iliad'' with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
*Homer
Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
. ''Homeri Opera'' in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*Pseudo-Apollodorus
The ''Bibliotheca'' (Ancient Greek: ), is a compendium of Greek myths and heroic legends, genealogical tables and histories arranged in three books, generally dated to the first or second century AD. The work is commonly described as having been ...
, ''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
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
{{Authority control
Children of Apollo
Mythological people from Attica
Ionian mythology
Mythology of Achaea
Progenitors in Greek mythology