Ion (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Euripides
- First Published: 411
- Type of Work: Drama
- Type of Plot: Tragicomedy
- Time of Work: Antiquity
- Setting: The temple of Apollo at Delphi
- Principal Characters: Hermes, Ion, Creusa, Xuthus, Aged slave to Creusa, A Priestess of Apollo, Pallas Athena, Chorus of Creusa’s Handmaidens
- Genres: Fable, Drama, Comedy, Folklore, Tragedy, Tragicomedy
- Subjects: Mythology or myths, Legends, Gods or goddesses, Greek or Roman times, Greece or Greek people, Oracles, Bronze Age, Temples
- Locales: Greece, ancient, Delphi, ancient
The Story:
Years before, Phoebus Apollo had ravished Creusa, daughter of King Erechtheus, who subsequently and in secret gave birth to a son. By Apollo’s command she hid the infant in a cave, where Hermes was sent to carry him to the temple of Apollo. There he was reared as a temple ministrant. Meanwhile, Creusa had married Xuthus as a reward for his aid in the Athenian war against the Euboeans, but the marriage remained without issue. After years of frustration, Xuthus and Creusa decided to make a pilgrimage to Delphi and ask the god for aid in getting a son.
At dawn...
[The entire page is 2244 words long]
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See Also:
Euripides (Cyclopedia of World Authors)Euripides (Drama)Euripides (Encyclopedia of the Ancient World)
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