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Iacchus
The name by which Dionysus was hailed in the Eleusian
Mysteries, sometimes equated with Bacchus, although
at Eleusis Dionysus was regarded as the son of Zeus
and Demeter.
Iambe
The daughter of Pan and Echo. She was full of life
and had a friendly nature. When Demeter was lamenting
over the loss of her daughter, Iambe managed to cheer
her up. She became the first priestess of the goddess.
Iapetus
Iapetus is the son Uranus and Gaia. Iapetus' wife
is Clymene, with whom he has four children - Atlas,
Menoetius, Prometheus and Epimetheus. He is occasionally
called the husband of Asia or Asopis.
Iasius
The son of Zeus and Electra (1). By Demeter he became
the father of Plutus. Zeus, angered by Iasius' pride,
killed him with a bolt of lightning.
Iaso
A Greek goddess of healing, daughter of Asclepius.
Icarius
A legendary Athenian who welcomed Dionysus to Attica
and in return received the gift of the vine from the
god. Icarius gave wine to the shepherds, but when
they became intoxicated they thought Icarius had poisoned
them, and so they slew him. His daughter Erigone,
led by her dog Marea, found his body and hanged herself
in grief. Dionysus punished the land by a plague,
and inflicted all the maidens with madness so that
they hanged themselves as did Erigone. The gods placed
Icarius among the stars as Boötes.
Icelus
A son of Hypnos and one of the Oneiroi, the personifications
of the various types of dreams. He made the shapes
of humans appear in dreams.
Ichor
In Greek mythology, Ichor was a mineral in the blood
which made people immortals. Without this mineral,
all gods and goddesses would perish and die. When
gods had their blood shed, ichor spread out and any
unspecting peasants who came in contact with ichor
immediately died. Some Greeks even said that this
mysterious substance was found in foods that the gods
feasted on.
Idaea
1. An epithet of Cybele, referring to her connection
with Mount Ida in Asia Minor, which was an ancient
seat of her worship. 2. A Greek nymph, with Scamander
the mother of Troy's first king: Teucer.
Ilithyia
An ancient Greek goddess, protectress of midwives,
and who assisted during birth. Later identified with
Hera or Artemis. The Romans called her Juno Lucina.
Inachus
The personified deity of the river of that name in
Greece. He is the son of Oceanus and Tethys, and the
father of Io. He made the land of Argolis inhabitable
after the great flood of Deucalion and founded the
city of Argos.
Ino
Ino is the daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. She was
the sister of Agave, Semele, and Autonoe. This is
important because all of Cadmus and Haromonia's children
have some kind of tragedy to happen to them. Semele,
Dionysus' mother, was killed when a thunderbolt from
Zeus burned her to ashes; Agave killed her son Pentheus
when she was afflicted with Dionysic madness; and
Acteon, Autonoe's son, was killed by his own hunting
dogs when he accidentally saw Artemis naked. Therefor,
it would be a safe bet that Ino will also have a tragic
ending. Ino married King Athamas of Orchomenus on
the western shore of Lake Copais, capital of Boetia.
Athamas married Ino after tiring of his first wife
Nephele. Upon hearing that Athamas was taking another
wife, Nephele complained bitterly to Hera about Athamas'
infidelity. One year the crops went bad and the famine
hit Orchomenus hard, so Athamas sent messengers to
the Delphi Oracle to see what could be done to stop
the famine. Ino secretly bribed the messenger to come
back with the message that Athamas must sacrifice
his son by Nephele, Phrixes. Ino did this out of her
selfish desire to see one of her two sons with Athamas,
Learchus or Melicertes, receive the kingdom at Athamas'
death. Athamas had Phrixes on the altar and was about
to sacrifice him when a golden ram appeared by the
altar. Phrixes and his sister Helle climbed on the
ram's back and they flew towards the east. As the
ram was going over the straits between the northern
Aegean and the Propontis, Helle fell off of the rams
back into the straits below and that is why that spot
is still called Hellespont. The ram kept flying until
it reached Colchis in the land of Aea at the eastern
end of the Black Sea. Here, Phrixes sacrificed the
ram to Zeus to show his appreciation for being delivered
from Ino's vengeance. Phrixes gave the skin to Aeetes,
the king of Aea. This is one story of the origins
of the Golden Fleece that Jason is sent to retrieve
for Pelias. As revenge for Nephele and for Ino raising
Dionysus, Hera struck Athamas. Athamas, thinking that
Learchus was a ram, shot an arrow through Learchus
then tore his body to pieces. Ino, like any frightened
mother, took her other son, Melicertes and fled the
castle. With Athamas in hot pursuit, Ino ran to the
Molurian Rock where she desperately jumped into the
river below, drowning herself as well as Melicertes.
Zeus, not wanting Ino's ghost to go to Tartus for
she did raise his son Dionysus, turned Ino into the
sea deity, Leucotha (white goddess) and Melicertes
into Palaemon. Another version of the story has Hera
afflicting both Ino and Athamas with madness. Ino
boils Melicertes in a cauldron, than picks up the
cauldron and flees. Then she jumps over the cliff
with the cauldron still in her arms. The madness caused
within Ino's house can be attributed to her association
with Dionysus. It seems that no one can escape the
effects of being around Dionysus. People who resist
him are turned mad in fits of Bacchae madness, and
people who follow him are also afflicted with the
madness.
Io
Io was an Argive princess and the daughter of Inachus,
an ancient hero or river god of Argos. She also had
the misfortune to be subjected to the lust of Zeus.
Zeus, in an attempt to avoid the rage and jealousy
of Hera, his wife, transformed Io into a handsome
white heifer. Hera, who knew Zeus was up to no good,
asked for the heifer as a present. Zeus could not
refuse. Hera deposited Io in the safe keeping of Argus,
the watchman with a hundred eyes. She was eventually
rescued by Hermes, though Hera still dogged her by
sending a gadfly to sting her wherever she went. This
tale she eventually ended up telling to Prometheus,
while he was bound to his rock. Prometheus, though
he couldn't provide direct comfort, told her that,
though her future would be fraught with hardship and
toil, she would, upon reaching Egypt and the Nile,
be restored by Zeus and bare him a son, Epaphus. Furthermore,
and perhaps more importantly, she is the progenitor,
thought removed by many generations, of Hercules,
greatest of heroes, to whom Prometheus himself would
owe his freedom. Io, and the myth surrounding her,
is important in several respects. First of all, her
descendant Hercules plays such a major role in Greek
mythology. Second, a number of real place names and
objects are directly named for her or connected with
her story. First of all Ionia, or the western coast
of Asia Minor, is named after her because she reputedly
ran down this coastline while she was being pursued
by Hera's gadfly. Also, the Bosphorus, or Ford of
the Cow, is named in memory of her passing. When Hermes
rescued Io, he killed Argus, whose eyes became the
tail of the peacock, a bird associated with Hera.
Finally, there are a number of common literary and
mythological motifs that surround Io. First of all,
Zeus' infidelity is seen here, as well as Hera's jealousy.
We also find one of Zeus' most common techniques for
hiding his exploits from Hera, the Long Night. While
he was seducing Io, Zeus threw a cloud over the earth
to hide them from Hera. This motif is also seen in
connection with Alcmene and Amphitryon as found in
Amphitryon by Plautus, the Roman Comedian. The story
of Io is also found in Prometheus Bound, a play by
Aeschylus, and Ovid.
Ion
The mythical ancestor of the Ionians, son of Xuthus
and Creusa (3). The Athenians later chose him as their
king.
Irene
The Greek personified goddess of peace. She was sometimes
regarded as one of the Horae, who presided over the
seasons and the order of nature and who were the daughters
of Zeus and Themis. Irene was portrayed as a young
woman with a cornucopia, scepter, and torch or rhyton.
Famous is the marble statue of Cephisodotus (ca. 380
BC), which shows Irene with Plutus on her arm. vIris
In Greek mythology, Iris is the personified goddess
of the rainbow. She is regarded as the messenger of
the gods to mankind, and particularly of the goddess
Hera whose orders she brought to humans. Iris is the
daughter of Titan Thaumas and the nymph Electra. She
is portrayed as a young woman with wings and her attributes
are a herald's staff and a water pitcher. She appears
mainly on Greek vases.
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