Ion- Greek HeroHero"Ancestor of the Ionians"
Also known as: Ἴων and Iōn
Titles & Epithets
Symbols
Description
Apollo fathered Ion on the Athenian princess Creusa, and she abandoned the infant in the cave where he was conceived. Hermes carried the child to Delphi, where he grew up as a servant of the god who was, unknown to him, his own father.
Mythology & Lore
The Foundling of Delphi
In Euripides's Ion, Apollo took Creusa, daughter of King Erechtheus of Athens, in a cave beneath the Acropolis. She bore a son in secret and left the infant in the same cave with a woven basket and golden serpent brooches as tokens. Hermes, at Apollo's command, carried the child to Delphi. The Pythia found him on the temple steps and raised him as a servant of the god.
Ion swept the sacred precincts and drove the birds from the offerings. He knew nothing of his parentage.
Recognition and Destiny
The crisis came years later. Creusa, now married to Xuthus, visited Delphi to ask the oracle about their childlessness. Apollo told Xuthus that the first person he met leaving the temple would be his son. Xuthus met Ion and claimed him. Creusa did not recognize the boy as her own lost child. She believed her husband had fathered a bastard and tried to poison Ion. When the plot was discovered, Ion seized a sword and nearly killed her.
The Pythia stopped them. She brought out the basket and tokens Creusa had left in the cave years before. Mother and son recognized each other. Athena appeared to confirm that Apollo was Ion's father and to prophesy his future as ancestor of the Ionians.