Ion
Half-divine son of Apollo by the Athenian princess Creusa; eponymous ancestor of the Ionian Greeks. Conceived by rape in the cave on the north slope of the Acropolis; exposed at birth and fostered as a temple-servant at Delphi; reunited with his mother in the recognition-drama that gives Euripides's Ion (~412 BCE) its title and structural shape. The play preserves both the divine-paternity truth (Apollo) and the social-paternity attribution (Xuthus son of Hellen) — Athena's closing intervention enjoins the social-paternity for political reasons, leaving Xuthus deceived. The Ionian tribal foundation is the political-mythological payoff: Ion organized the four traditional Ionian tribes (Geleontes, Hopletes, Argadeis, Aigicoreis), and the historical Ionian Greek world traced its tribal organization to him.
Parentage
- paternal: Apollo
- maternal: Creusa of Athens
Domains
- eponymous ancestor of the ionians
- founder of the four ionian tribes
Powers
- Organizes the four Ionian tribes
- Leads Athens as war-commander against Eleusis
Relations
- foster parent: Pythia of Delphi · GreekEur. Ion 41-56 (primary)
- foundational precursor to: Ionian Greeks (tribal group) · GreekEponymous ancestor of the Ionian tribal group: Athenians, Euboeans, and the Greek poleis of the Asian Ionian coast (Miletus, Ephesus, etc.).Eur. Ion 1571-1594; Hdt. 7.94, 8.44 (primary)
Sources
- existence: Euripides Ion (entire play, ~412 BCE); Apollodorus 1.7.3; Pausanias 1.31.3, 7.1.2-4; Strabo 8.7.1; Herodotus 7.94, 8.44; Conon Narrationes 27 (primary)
- parentage: Eur. Ion; Apollod. 1.7.3 (primary)