Editing Iasion

{{Short description|Founder of Samothracian rites}}
In [[Greek mythology]], '''Iasion''' {{IPAc-en|aɪ|ˈ|eɪ|ʒ|ə|n}} ({{langx|grc|Ἰασίων|Iasíōn}}) or '''[[Iasus]]''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|aɪ|ə|s|ə|s}} ({{langx|grc|Ἴασος|Íasos}}), also called '''[[Eetion (mythology)|Eetion]]'''<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Catalogue of Women]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-catalogue_women/2018/pb_LCL503.207.xml fr. 121 Most, pp. 206, 207] [= fr. 177 Merkelbach-West = ''[[P. Oxy.]]'' 1359 fr. 2 (Grenfell and Hunt, [https://archive.org/details/oxyrhynchuspapyr11gren/page/52/mode/2up?view=theater p. 53])].</ref><ref>[[Scholia]] on [[Apollonius of Rhodes|Apollonius Rhodius]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' 1.916 with [[Hellanicus of Lesbos|Hellanicus]] as the authority; Scholia on [[Euripides]], ''[[The Phoenician Women|Phoenissae]]'' 1129; [[John Tzetzes|Tzetzes]] on [[Lycophron (sophist)|Lycophron]], 219</ref> {{IPAc-en|iː|ˈ|ɛ|ʃ|ə|n}} ({{langx|grc|Ἠετίων|Ēetíōn}}), was the founder of the mystic rites on the island of [[Samothrace]].

== Family ==
According to the mythographer [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], Iasion is the son of the [[Pleiad]] [[Electra (Pleiad)|Electra]] and [[Zeus]], and the brother of [[Dardanus (son of Zeus)|Dardanus]]<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.12.1 3.12.1].</ref> and possibly [[Emathion]].<ref>[[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' 3.124</ref> Both [[Hellanicus of Lesbos|Hellanicus]] and [[Diodorus Siculus]] repeat this parentage, adding [[Harmonia]] as his sister.<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA522 p. 552]; Gantz, p. 215; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA297 p. 297]; [[Hellanicus of Lesbos|Hellanicus]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=j0nRE4C2WBgC&pg=PA163 fr. 23 Fowler, p. 163] [= Scholia on [[Apollonius Rhodius]], 1.916–18a (Wendel, [https://books.google.com/books?id=0lkhbarJcukC&pg=PA77 p. 77])]; [[Diodorus Siculus]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5D*.html#48.2 5.48.2]</ref> 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.<ref>Grimal, [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofclas0000grim/page/144/mode/2up?view=theater s.v. Electra (2), p. 144]; Smith, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0104:entry=electra-bio-2 s.v. Electra (2)]; Gantz, p. 872 n. 4 to p. 561; [[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], ''Commentary on [[Virgil]]'s [[Aeneid]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Serv.+A.+3.167&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0053 3.167], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Serv.+A.+7.207&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0053 7.207], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Serv.+A.+10.719&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0053 10.719]; [[Lactantius]], ''[[The Divine Institutes|Divine Institutes]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/543#1.23 1.23].</ref> In the ''[[Fabulae]]'' (attributed to [[Gaius Julius Hyginus]]), Iasion is called the son of [[Ilithyius]].<ref>Smith, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0104:entry=iasion-bio-1 s.v. Iasion]; [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#270 270]</ref>

With [[Demeter]], Iasion was the father of [[Plutus]], the god of wealth.<ref>Hansen, [https://archive.org/details/handbookofclassi0000hans/page/146/mode/2up?view=theater p. 147]; Hesiod, ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:963-1002 969–71]; Diodorus Siculus, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5D*.html#77.1 5.77.1]</ref> According to Hyginus' ''[[De astronomia]]'', Iasion was also the father of [[Philomelus]],<ref>Hyginus, ''[[De astronomia]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/207#2.4.7 2.4.7]</ref> while, according to Diodorus Siculus, he was the father of a son named [[Corybas (mythology)|Corybas]] with [[Cybele]].<ref>Diodorus Siculus, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5D*.html#49.2 5.49.2]</ref>

== Mythology ==
At the marriage of [[Cadmus]] and [[Harmonia (mythology)|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]].<ref>Hesiod, ''[[Catalogue of Women]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-catalogue_women/2018/pb_LCL503.207.xml fr. 121 Most, pp. 206, 207] [= fr. 177 Merkelbach-West = ''[[P. Oxy.]]'' 1359 fr. 2 (Grenfell and Hunt, [https://archive.org/details/oxyrhynchuspapyr11gren/page/52/mode/2up?view=theater p. 53])]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.12.1 3.12.1]; Hesiod, ''Theogony'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D963 969]; [[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D5%3Acard%3D92 5.125].</ref><ref>{{cite book|last = Shlain|first = Leonard|authorlink=Leonard Shlain|title = [[The Alphabet Versus the Goddess]]|year = 1998|publisher = Viking Penguin|isbn = 0-14-019601-3}}</ref> In one account, his death was caused by his impiety to the statue of Demeter instead.<ref name=":0">[[Pseudo-Scymnus|Pseudo-Scymnos]], ''Circuit de la terre'' 535 ff.</ref> [[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], in his commentary upon [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'', states that Iasion was killed by his brother Dardanus,<ref>Smith [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0104:entry=iasion-bio-1 s.v. Iasion]; [[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], ''Commentary on [[Virgil|Virgil's]] [[Aeneid]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Serv.+A.+3.167&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0053 3.167].</ref> whereas [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]] attributes his death to horses.<ref>Smith, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0104:entry=iasion-bio-1 s.v. Iasion]; Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#250 250]</ref> [[Ovid]], in contrast, says that Iasion lived to an old age as the husband of [[Demeter]].<ref>Smith, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DI%3Aentry+group%3D1%3Aentry%3Diasion-bio-1 s.v. Iasion]; [[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/141#9.418 9.421].</ref>

Some versions of this myth conclude with Iasion and the agricultural hero [[Triptolemus]] then becoming the [[Gemini (constellation)|Gemini]] constellation.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Morritt|first=Robert D.|title=Stones that Speak|date=2010-04-16|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=978-1-4438-2176-6|language=en|page=85|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M1EaBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA85}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

== References ==

* [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''Apollodorus. The Library, Volume I: Books 1-3.9'', translated by James G. Frazer, [[Loeb Classical Library]] No. 121, Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]], 1921. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99135-4}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL121/1921/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press]. [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.1.1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Robert Fowler (academic)|Fowler, R. L.]] (2000), ''Early Greek Mythography: Volume 1: Text and Introduction'', Oxford University Press, 2000. {{ISBN|978-0198147404}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=j0nRE4C2WBgC Google Books].
* [[Robert Fowler (academic)|Fowler, R. L.]] (2013), ''Early Greek Mythography: Volume 2: Commentary'', Oxford University Press, 2013. {{ISBN|978-0-198-14741-1}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ Google Books].
* [[Timothy Gantz|Gantz, Timothy]], ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5360-9}} (Vol. 1), {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5362-3}} (Vol. 2).
* Grenfell, Bernard P., and Arthur S. Hunt, ''The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Part XI'', London, Egypt Exploration Fund, 1915. [https://archive.org/details/oxyrhynchuspapyr11gren/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater Internet Archive].
* [[Pierre Grimal|Grimal, Pierre]], ''The Dictionary of Classical Mythology'', Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. {{ISBN|978-0-631-20102-1}}. [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofclas0000grim/page/n1/mode/2up?view=theater Internet Archive].
* [[William Hansen (classicist)|Hansen, William]], ''Handbook of Classical Mythology'', [[ABC-Clio]], 2004. {{ISBN|978-1-576-07226-4}}. [https://archive.org/details/handbookofclassi0000hans/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater Internet Archive].
* Hard, Robin, ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', Psychology Press, 2004. {{ISBN|978-0-415-18636-0}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC Google Books].
* [[Hesiod]], ''[[Catalogue of Women]]'', in ''Hesiod: The Shield, Catalogue of Women, Other Fragments'', edited and translated by [[Glenn W. Most]], [[Loeb Classical Library]] No. 503, Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]], 2007, 2018. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99721-9}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL503/2018/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].
* [[Hesiod]], ''Theogony'' from ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica'' with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0129 Greek text available from the same website].
* [[Homer]], [[Odyssey|''The Odyssey'']] with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. {{ISBN|978-0674995611|}}. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0136 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0135 Greek text available from the same website].
* [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus, Gaius Julius]], ''[[Fabulae]]'', in ''The Myths of Hyginus'', edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at ToposText].
* Lactantius, Divine Institutes, Translated by William Fletcher (1810-1900). From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 7. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886.) [https://topostext.org/work/543 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
* [[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. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0053 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* Merkelbach, R., and [[Martin Litchfield West|M. L. West]], ''Fragmenta Hesiodea'', [[Clarendon Press]] Oxford, 1967. {{ISBN|978-0-19-814171-6}}.
* [[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', edited and translated by Brookes More, Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co., 1922. [http://data.perseus.org/texts/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi006.perseus-eng1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]. [https://topostext.org/work/141 Online version at ToposText].
* [[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith, William]], ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'', London (1873). [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.04.0104 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* Wendel, Carl, ''Scholia in Apollonium Rhodium vetera'', Hildesheim, Weidmann, 1999. {{ISBN|978-3-615-15400-9}}.

[[Category:Kings in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Consorts of Demeter]]
[[Category:Children of Zeus]]
[[Category:Deeds of Zeus]]