Ion

Ion (; , Iōn) is an ancient Greek play by Euripides, thought to have been written between 414 and 412 BC. It follows the orphan Ion, a young and willing servant in Apollo's temple, as he inadvertently discovers his biological origins. As it unfolds the play is also the powerful story of his mother, Creusa, as she strives to guide her own life after having experienced terrible abuse at the hands of a god who is beyond her power (or that of any mortal). Euripides' retelling of this myth is a radical step forward among the Greek tragedies: while in other plays of classical Athens individuals often rail against the disasters that the Fates or the gods have caused to befall them, in this powerful play both Creusa and Ion actually challenge whether the gods have any right to govern the destinies of human beings. In the end, however, Euripides takes a step back from this precipitous development in human thought. Background Creusa, daughter of Erechtheus, was a noble native of Athens and daughter of the king. The god Apollo raped her in a cave; there she secretly gave birth to his son whom she intended to kill by exposure to the elements for fear of the terrible punishment she would receive at the hands of her parents for having a child apparently out of wedlock. Throughout her life only she knows of this secret. Many years later, near the end of childbearing age and so far unable to have a child with her husband Xuthus, a Thessalian and son of Aeolus, they traveled to Delphi to seek a sign from the oracles regarding whether there was any hope of their having any children in the future. Story Outside the temple of Apollo at Delphi, Hermes recalls the time when Creusa, the daughter of Erectheus, was raped by Apollo in a cave at Long Rocks under the Acropolis. Apollo concealed her pregnancy from her father and Creusa secretly gave birth to a child, whom she left in a basket, along with some sacred trinkets to protect him, expecting that he might be devoured by beasts. However, when she returns to find him he has disappeared because, unknown to her, Apollo has sent Hermes to bring the boy to Delphi where he has grown up as an attendant at the temple. Creusa, meanwhile, was married to the foreign-born Xuthus, son of Aeolus, the son of Zeus. Xuthus won Creusa by assisting the Athenians in a war against the Chalcidians. Xuthus and Creusa have come to Delphi to ask if they can have children.