Iasion’s Family Tree

About Iasion →

Family

• Demeter(spouse),Philomelos(child),Plutus(child)— Consort

  Demeter lay with Iasion in a thrice-plowed field, and from their union were born Plutus, god of wealth, and Philomelos, inventor of the plough. Zeus struck Iasion dead with a thunderbolt for his presumption in lying with a goddess.

• Electra (Pleiad)(parent),Zeus(parent),Dardanus(sibling)— Consort

  Zeus lay with the Pleiad Electra on Samothrace and fathered Iasion and Dardanus. After Iasion's death, Dardanus sailed to the Troad and founded the dynasty that ruled Troy.

Slain by

• Zeus

  Zeus struck Iasion dead with a thunderbolt after learning he had lain with Demeter. In Odyssey 5, Calypso cites Iasion's death as an example of the gods' jealousy toward mortals who love goddesses.

Associated with

• Cadmus

  In Diodorus Siculus, Iasion attended the wedding of Cadmus and Harmonia on Samothrace. It was during these celebrations that Demeter lay with Iasion, leading to Zeus's fatal thunderbolt.

• Calypso

  In Odyssey 5, Calypso cites Iasion's death as a parallel to her own situation with Odysseus, arguing that the gods punish goddesses who take mortal lovers. She names Iasion alongside Orion as victims of divine jealousy.

• Dardanus

  Iasion and Dardanus were brothers, both sons of Zeus and the Pleiad Electra. After Zeus killed Iasion, Dardanus left Samothrace in grief and founded Dardania in the Troad, beginning the Trojan royal line.

• Harmonia

  Iasion's fateful union with Demeter occurred at the wedding of Cadmus and Harmonia on Samothrace, according to Diodorus Siculus. The divine celebration became the setting for both sacred union and divine punishment.

• Pleiades

  Iasion's mother Electra was one of the seven Pleiades, daughters of Atlas and Pleione. Through this lineage, Iasion and his brother Dardanus are part of the broader Pleiad genealogy.