Figure in Greek mythology
In
Greek mythology , Iasion (
Ancient Greek : Ἰασίων ,
romanized : Iasíōn
[1] ) or
Iasus (
Ancient Greek : Ἴασος ,
romanized : Íasos
[2] ), also called
Eetion
[3]
[4] (
Ancient Greek : Ἠετίων ,
romanized : Ēetíōn ), was the founder of the mystic rites on the island of
Samothrace .
Family
According to the mythographer
Apollodorus , Iasion is the son of the
Pleiad
Electra and
Zeus , and the brother of
Dardanus
[5] and possibly
Emathion .
[6] Both
Hellanicus and
Diodorus Siculus repeat this parentage, adding
Harmonia as his sister.
[7] According to an Italian version of the genealogy, Iasion and Dardanus are both Electra's sons, and are both born in Italy, with Iasion fathered by
Corythus and Dardanus by Zeus.
[8] In
Hyginus '
Fabulae , Iasion is called the son of
Ilithyius .
[9]
With
Demeter , Iasion was the father of
Plutus , the god of wealth.
[10] According to Hyginus'
De Astronomica , Iasion was also the father of
Philomelus ,
[11] while, according to Diodorus Siculus, he was the father of a son named
Corybas with
Cybele .
[12]
Mythology
At the marriage of
Cadmus and
Harmonia , Iasion was lured by Demeter away from the other revelers. They had intercourse as Demeter lay on her back in a freshly plowed furrow. When they rejoined the celebration, Zeus guessed what had happened because of the mud on Demeter's backside, and out of envy killed Iasion with a
thunderbolt .
[13]
[14] In one account, his death was caused by his impiety to the statue of Demeter instead.
[15]
Servius , in his commentary upon
Virgil 's
Aeneid , states that Iasion was killed by his brother Dardanus,
[16] whereas
Hyginus attributes his death to horses.
[17]
Ovid , in contrast, says that Iasion lived to an old age as the husband of
Demeter .
[18]
Some versions of this myth conclude with Iasion and the agricultural hero
Triptolemus then becoming the
Gemini constellation.
[19]
Notes
^ gen.: Ἰασίωνος
^ gen.: Ἰάσου
^
Hesiod ,
Catalogue of Women
fr. 121 Most, pp. 206, 207 [= fr. 177 Merkelbach-West =
P. Oxy. 1359 fr. 2 (Grenfell and Hunt,
p. 53 )].
^
Scholia on
Apollonius Rhodius ,
Argonautica 1.916 with
Hellanicus as the authority; Scholia on
Euripides ,
Phoenissae 1129;
Tzetzes on
Lycophron , 219
^
Apollodorus ,
3.12.1 .
^
Nonnus ,
Dionysiaca 3.124
^ Fowler 2013,
p. 552 ; Gantz, p. 215; Hard,
p. 297 ;
Hellanicus ,
fr. 23 Fowler, p. 163 [= Scholia on
Apollonius Rhodius , 1.916–18a (Wendel,
p. 77 )];
Diodorus Siculus ,
5.48.2 .
^ Grimal,
s.v. Electra (2), p. 144 ; Smith,
s.v. Electra (2) ; Gantz, p. 872 n. 4 to p. 561;
Servius , Commentary on
Virgil 's
Aeneid
3.167 ,
7.207 ,
10.719 ;
Lactantius ,
Divine Institutes
1.23 .
^ Smith,
s.v. Iasion ;
Hyginus ,
Fabulae
270
^ Hansen,
p. 147 ; Hesiod,
Theogony
969–71 ; Diodorus Siculus,
5.77.1
^ Hyginus,
De Astronomica
2.4.7
^ Diodorus Siculus,
5.49.2
^ Hesiod,
Catalogue of Women
fr. 121 Most, pp. 206, 207 [= fr. 177 Merkelbach-West =
P. Oxy. 1359 fr. 2 (Grenfell and Hunt,
p. 53 )];
Apollodorus ,
3.12.1 ; Hesiod, Theogony
969 ;
Homer ,
Odyssey
5.125 .
^
Shlain, Leonard (1998).
The Alphabet Versus the Goddess . Viking Penguin.
ISBN
0-14-019601-3 .
^
Pseudo-Scymnos , Circuit de la terre 535 ff.
^ Smith
s.v. Iasion ;
Servius , Commentary on
Virgil's
Aeneid
3.167 .
^ Smith,
s.v. Iasion ; Hyginus, Fabulae
250
^ Smith,
s.v. Iasion ;
Ovid ,
Metamorphoses
9.421 .
^ Morritt, Robert D. (2010-04-16).
Stones that Speak . Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 85.
ISBN
978-1-4438-2176-6 .
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Harvard University Press , 1921.
ISBN
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Online version at Harvard University Press .
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ISBN
978-0198147404 .
Google Books .
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ISBN
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ISBN
978-0-8018-5360-9 (Vol. 1),
ISBN
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Internet Archive .
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978-0-631-20102-1 .
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Catalogue of Women , in Hesiod: The Shield, Catalogue of Women, Other Fragments , edited and translated by
Glenn W. Most ,
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ISBN
978-0-674-99721-9 .
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ISBN
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Maurus Servius Honoratus , In Vergilii carmina comentarii. Servii Grammatici qui feruntur in Vergilii carmina commentarii; recensuerunt Georgius Thilo et Hermannus Hagen. Georgius Thilo. Leipzig. B. G. Teubner. 1881.
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ISBN
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