Ino’s Family Tree

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Family

• Cadmus(parent),Harmonia(parent),Agave(sibling),Autonoe(sibling),Polydorus(sibling),Semele(sibling)— Marriage

  Cadmus married Harmonia, daughter of Ares and Aphrodite, in the first mortal wedding attended by all the Olympian gods. Their union on the Cadmeia produced five children: Ino, Semele, Agave, Autonoe, and Polydorus.

• Athamas(spouse),Learchus(child),Melicertes(child)— Marriage

  Athamas took Ino, daughter of Cadmus, as his second wife after Nephele departed. They had two sons, Learchus and Melicertes, but Hera later drove Athamas mad, destroying the family.

Guards

• Dionysus

  At Hermes's behest, Athamas and Ino sheltered the infant Dionysus, disguising him as a girl to hide him from Hera's wrath. Their protection of Zeus's son brought Hera's terrible vengeance upon the household.

Enemy of

• Helle

  Ino, Athamas's second wife, plotted to have her stepchildren Phrixus and Helle sacrificed by secretly parching the seed grain and bribing the Delphic oracle. Nephele sent the golden ram to rescue them before Ino's scheme could succeed.

• Nephele

  After Athamas took Ino as his second wife, Ino plotted to destroy Nephele's children Phrixus and Helle by parching the seed grain and bribing the Delphic oracle to demand their sacrifice.

Member of

• Maenads

  In Euripides' Bacchae, Ino joined her sisters Agave and Autonoe among the Theban Maenads on Mount Cithaeron, driven to Bacchic frenzy by Dionysus for denying his divine birth.

Associated with

• Agave,Autonoe

  Agave, Autonoe, and Ino, the three surviving daughters of Cadmus, were all driven to Bacchic frenzy on Mount Cithaeron. Together they led the Maenads who tore Pentheus apart.

• Athamas

  Ino schemed to destroy Athamas's children by Nephele, secretly parching the seed grain and corrupting the Delphic oracle to demand their sacrifice. Her plot was foiled when Nephele sent the golden ram to rescue Phrixus and Helle.

• Cadmus

  Ino, daughter of Cadmus, helped nurse the infant Dionysus after Semele's death. Hera drove Ino mad in retaliation, causing her to leap into the sea where she became the sea goddess Leucothea.

• Chrysomallus

  Ino's plot to have Phrixus and Helle sacrificed prompted the divine intervention that sent Chrysomallus to rescue them from the altar.

• Golden Fleece

  Ino's plot against her stepchildren Phrixus and Helle — parching the seed grain and bribing the oracle to demand Phrixus's sacrifice — triggered the golden ram's rescue and placed the Golden Fleece in Colchis.

• Phrixus

  Phrixus's stepmother Ino plotted to have him sacrificed by parching the city's seed grain and bribing messengers to deliver a false oracle demanding Phrixus's death. Her scheme was thwarted when Nephele sent the golden ram to rescue her children.