Editing Ixion

{{Short description|King of the Lapiths in Greek mythology}}
{{About||the planetoid|28978 Ixion|other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
[[File:Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem - The Fall of Ixion - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''The Fall of Ixion'' by [[Cornelis van Haarlem]]]]

In [[Greek mythology]], '''Ixion''' ({{IPAc-en|ɪ|k|ˈ|s|aɪ|ə|n}} {{respell|ik|SY|ən}}; {{langx|el|Ἰξίων}}) was king of the [[Lapiths]], the most ancient tribe of [[Thessaly]].<ref>[[Virgil]], ''[[Aeneid]]'' 6.601</ref>

==Family==
Ixion was the son of [[Ares]], or [[Leonteus (mythology)|Leonteus]],<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' 62</ref> or [[Antion]] and [[Perimele]],<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], 4.69.3</ref> or the notorious evildoer [[Phlegyas]], whose name connotes "fiery".<ref>[[Strabo]], 9, p. 442</ref> [[Pirithous]]<ref>Peirithoös, too slew a kinsman, which occasioned his own wandering in search of ''[[catharsis]]''.</ref> was his son<ref>Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca historica'' 4.63.1; [[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' 12.210; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], 1.8.2; Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' 14.2, 79 & 257</ref> (or stepson, if [[Zeus]] were his father, as Zeus claims to Hera in ''Iliad'' 14).<ref>"come, let us turn to lovemaking. For never did such desire for goddess or woman ever flood over me, taming the heart in my breast, not even when I loved Ixion's wife, who bore Peirithoös, the gods' equal in counsel..." Tactless, Zeus lists several more of his conquests to Hera.</ref>

==Background==
Ixion married [[Dia (mythology)|Dia]],<ref>Dia "is only another name for [[Hebe (mythology)|Hebe]], the daughter of Hera, and indeed was probably the name for Hera herself, as 'she who belongs to Zeus' or 'the Heavenly one'" (Kerenyi 1951:159).</ref> a daughter of Eioneus,<ref>Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca historica'' [https://topostext.org/work/133#4.69.3 4.69.3 (English)] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0540%3Abook%3D4%3Achapter%3D69%3Asection%3D3 Greek]</ref><ref>The name is frequently misspelled as 'Deinoneus'. Bloch, R. (2006). [https://doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e312960 Deion(eus)(2)]. In ''Brill's New Pauly Online''. Brill.</ref> and promised his father-in-law a valuable present. However, he did not pay the [[bride price]], so Deioneus stole some of Ixion's horses in retaliation. Ixion concealed his resentment and invited his father-in-law to a feast at [[Larissa]]. When Deioneus arrived, Ixion pushed him into a bed of burning coals and wood. These circumstances are secondary to the fact of Ixion's primordial act of murder; it could be accounted for quite differently: in the ''[[Greek Anthology]]'',<ref>''The Greek Anthology'' [https://topostext.org/work/532#3.12 3.12] [[iarchive:greekanthology01pato/page/100/mode/1up|(Greek text)]]</ref> among a collection of inscriptions from a temple in [[Cyzicus]], is an epigrammatic description of Ixion slaying [[Phorbas]] and [[Polymelus (mythology)|Polymelos]], who had slain his mother, [[Megara (Greek myth)|Megara]], the "great one".<ref>The more familiar [[Megara (mythology)|Megara]] of myth is not the same figure.</ref>

Ixion went mad, defiled by his act; the neighboring princes were so offended by this act of treachery and violation of ''[[Xenia (Greek)|xenia]]'' that they refused to perform the rituals that would cleanse Ixion of his guilt (see ''[[catharsis]]''). Thereafter, Ixion lived as an outlaw and was shunned. By killing his father-in-law, Ixion was reckoned the first man guilty of kin-slaying in Greek mythology.

This act alone would warrant Ixion a terrible punishment, but [[Zeus]] took pity on Ixion and brought him to [[Mount Olympus|Olympus]] and introduced him at the table of the gods. Instead of being grateful, Ixion grew lustful for [[Hera]],<ref>He was already wedded to her double, Dia.</ref><ref>[[Lucian]], ''Dialogi Deorum'' 9</ref> Zeus's wife, a further violation of [[Xenia (Greek)|guest–host relations]]. Zeus found out about his intentions and made a cloud in the shape of Hera, which became known as [[Nephele]] (from ''nephos'' "cloud") and tricked Ixion into coupling with it. From the union of Ixion and the false-Hera cloud came [[Imbrus|Imbros]]<ref>[[John Tzetzes|Tzetzes]], [http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades9.html#20 ''Chiliades'' 9.20 line 464, 469 & 477]</ref> or [[Centaurus (Greek mythology)|Centauros]],<ref>Apollodorus, Epitome 1.20</ref> who mated with the [[Ancient Magnesia|Magnesian]] mares on [[Pelion|Mount Pelion]], Pindar told,<ref>Pindar, ''Pythian Ode'' 2</ref> engendering the race of [[Centaur]]s, who are called the Ixionidae from their descent.

Ixion was expelled from Olympus and blasted with a [[thunderbolt]]. Zeus ordered [[Hermes]] to bind Ixion to a [[Wheel of fire|winged fiery wheel]] that was always spinning. Therefore, Ixion was bound to a burning solar wheel for all eternity, at first spinning across the heavens,<ref>The meticulous Pindar mentions the feathers.</ref> but in later myth transferred to [[Tartarus]].<ref>Virgil, ''[[Georgics]]'' 3.39 & 4.486; Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'' 4.461–465 & 10.42</ref><ref>Kerenyi 1951:160</ref>

Some versions of the myth portray Ixion as being trapped in [[Greek underworld|Hades]] after his death.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Longman Anthology of British Literature: Volume 2A: The Romantics and Their Contemporaries |publisher=Pearson Education |year=2006 |isbn=0-321-33394-2 |location=United States |pages=731}}</ref>

Only when [[Orpheus]] played his lyre during his trip to the Underworld to rescue [[Eurydice]] did it stop for a while.

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Pompeii - Casa dei Vettii - Ixion.jpg|Punishment of Ixion: in the center is [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]] holding the [[caduceus]] and on the right [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]] sits on her throne. Behind her [[Iris (mythology)|Iris]] stands and gestures. On the left is [[Vulcan (mythology)|Vulcan]] (blond figure) standing behind the wheel, manning it, with Ixion already tied to it. [[Nephele]] sits at Mercury's feet; a Roman fresco from the eastern wall of the [[triclinium]] in the [[House of the Vettii]], [[Pompeii]], [[Pompeian Styles|Fourth Style]] (60–79 AD).
File:JulesElieDelaunayIxionPrecipiteDansLesEnfers.jpg|''Ixion'' by [[Jules-Elie Delaunay]], 1876
Image:Ixion by Jusepe de Ribera (1632), 220 x 301 cm., Museo del Prado.jpg|[[José Ribera]]'s ''[[Ixion (Ribera)|Ixion]]'', 1632 ([[Museo del Prado]]).
File:Le roi Ixion trompé par Junon, qu'il voulait séduire (Louvre RF 2121) 01.jpg|''King Ixion fooled by Juno, whom he wanted to seduce'', by [[Peter Paul Rubens]], 1615 ([[Louvre|Louvre Museum]])
</gallery>

==Analysis==
Robert L. Fowler observes that "The details are very odd, the narrative motivation creaks at every juncture&nbsp;... the myth smacks of [[Etiology|aetiology]]."<ref>Fowler, "The myth of Kephalos as aition of rain-magic (Pherekydes FrGHist 3F34)", ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'' '''97''' (1993:29–42).</ref> He notes that [[Martin P. Nilsson|Martin Nilsson]] suggested<ref>Nilsson, ''The Mycenaean Origin of Greek Mythology'' (1931) p. 135 note 19.</ref> an origin in rain-making magic, with which he concurs: "In Ixion's case the necessary warning about the conduct of magic has taken the form of blasphemous and dangerous conduct on the part of the first officiant."

In the fifth century, [[Pindar]]'s Second Pythian Ode ({{Circa|476–468 BC}}) expands on the example of Ixion, applicable to [[Hiero I of Syracuse]], the tyrant of whom the poet sings. [[Aeschylus]], [[Euripides]] and [[Timasitheos]] each wrote a tragedy of Ixion though none of these accounts have survived.

Ixion was a figure also known to the [[Etruscans]]; he is depicted in an engraving on the back of the mirror, bound to an eight-spoked, winged wheel {{Circa|460–450 BC}}, now in the collection of the [[British Museum]].<ref>[https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1900-0611-3 BM GR 1900.6–11.3]; C. Lochin  (1990) [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20V-1%20Herakles-Kenchrias/page/n463/mode/2up Ixion] in ''Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae''.</ref> Whether the Etruscans shared the Ixion figure with Hellenes from early times or whether Ixion figured among those Greek myths that were adapted at later dates to fit the Etruscan world-view is unknown.

==See also==
* [[Sisyphus]]
* [[Wanyūdō]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].
* [[Diodorus Siculus]], ''The Library of History'' translated by [[Charles Henry Oldfather]]. Twelve volumes. [[Loeb Classical Library]]. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site]
* Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1–2''. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888–1890. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0540 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Gaius Julius Hyginus]], ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at the Topos Text Project].
* [[John Tzetzes]], ''Book of Histories'', Books IX–X translated by Jonathan Alexander from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826.  [http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html Online version at theio.com]
* [[Pindar]], ''Odes'' translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DP. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Lucian|Lucian of Samosata]], ''Dialogues of the Gods'' translated by Fowler, H W and F G. Oxford: The Clarendon Press. 1905. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/LucianDialoguesGods1.html Online version at theoi.com]
* Luciani Samosatensis, ''Opera. Vol I, Karl Jacobitz''. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1896. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0526 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* Pindar, ''The Odes of Pindar including the Principal Fragments with an Introduction and an English Translation by Sir John Sandys, Litt.D., FBA''. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1937. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0161%3Abook%3DP. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Virgil|Publius Vergilius Maro]], ''Bucolics'', ''Aeneid, and Georgics of Vergil''. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0058 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* Publius Vergilius Maro, ''Aeneid''. Theodore C. Williams. trans. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1910. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0054%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* Publius Vergilius Maro, ''Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics''. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0055 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Strabo]], ''The Geography of Strabo''. Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198%3Abook%3D6%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* Strabo, ''Geographica'' edited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0197 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].

==Further reading==
* [[Karl Kerenyi|Kerenyi, Karl]]. ''The Gods of the Greeks''. London: Thames & Hudson, 1951 (pp.&nbsp;158–160).

==External links==
{{Commons category|Ixion}}
* [https://iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk/category/vpc-taxonomy-000307 The Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (images of Ixion)]
* [http://www.shakmyth.org/myth/131/ixion Gaelle Ginestet, "Ixion" in ''A Dictionary of Shakespeare's Classical Mythology'' (2009–), ed. Yves Peyré]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201145114/http://www.shakmyth.org/myth/131/ixion |date=1 December 2020 }}.

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[[Category:Characters in Book VI of the Aeneid]]
[[Category:Children of Ares]]
[[Category:Condemned souls in Tartarus]]
[[Category:Deeds of Hera]]
[[Category:Deeds of Zeus]]
[[Category:Kings in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Kings of the Lapiths]]
[[Category:Lapiths]]
[[Category:Metamorphoses characters]]