View source for Ixion

{{Short description|King of the Lapiths in Greek mythology}}
{{About||the trans-Neptunian object|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|grc|Ἰξίων|Ixíōn}}) was king of the [[Lapiths]], the most ancient tribe of [[Thessaly]].<ref>[[Virgil]], ''[[Aeneid]]'' 6.601</ref> Ixion desired [[Hera]], the queen of the gods and wife of [[Zeus]], and his arrogant attempt to sleep with her led to his eternal punishment in [[Tartarus]].

==Family==
Ixion was the son of [[Perimele]],<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], 4.69.3</ref> and either [[Ares]], or [[Leonteus (mythology)|Leonteus]],<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' 62</ref> or [[Antion]], or the notorious evildoer [[Phlegyas]] (whose name connotes "fiery").<ref>[[Strabo]], 9, p. 442</ref> Ixion had a son named [[Pirithous]]<ref>Peirithoös also slew a kinsman, which occasioned his own wandering in search of ''[[catharsis]]''.</ref><ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]'' 4.63.1; [[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' 12.210; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], 1.8.2; [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' 14.2, 79 & 257</ref> Pirithous may have possibly instead been his stepson, if [[Zeus]] were Pirithous's father, as Zeus claims to his wife [[Hera]] in ''Iliad''&nbsp;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&nbsp;..." Even more tactless, Zeus goes on to tell Hera of several more of his conquests. ''[[Iliad]]''&nbsp;14.</ref>

==Background==
Ixion married [[Dia (wife of Ixion)|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'". {{harvp|Kerenyi|1951|p=159}}</ref> a daughter of Deioneus,<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'. {{cite report |last=Bloch |first=R. |year=2006 |section=Deion(eus)(2) |title=Brill's New Pauly Online |publisher=Brill |doi=10.1163/1574-9347 |type=reference |section-url=https://doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e312960 }}</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, concealed underneath wood and ash. These circumstances are secondary to the fact of Ixion's primordial act of murder of a kinsman and a guest. The crime could be accounted for quite differently: in the ''[[Greek Anthology]]'', among a collection of inscriptions from a temple in [[Cyzicus]], is an epigrammatic description of Ixion slaying [[Phorbas]] and [[Polymelus (mythology)|Polymelus]], who had slain his mother, [[Megara (mother of Ixion)|Megara]]  because she had refused to marry one of them.<ref>''The Greek Anthology'' [https://topostext.org/work/532#3.12 3.12] [[iarchive:greekanthology01pato/page/100/mode/1up|(Greek text)]]</ref>

Defiled by his act, Ixion went mad; the neighboring princes were so offended by his 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 (wife of Ixion)|Dia]].</ref><ref>[[Lucian]], ''Dialogi Deorum'' 9</ref> Zeus's wife, a further violation of [[Xenia (Greek)|guest–host relations]] and an act of hubris against the king of the gods. 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]], ''Chiliades'' [http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades9.html#20 9.20] lines 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>{{sfnp|Kerenyi|1951|p=160}}

Some versions of the myth portray Ixion as being trapped in [[Greek underworld|Hades]] after his death.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Romantics and Their Contemporaries |series=The Longman Anthology of British Literature |volume=2A |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', a Roman fresco from the eastern wall of the [[triclinium]] in the [[House of the Vettii]], [[Pompeii]], [[Pompeian Styles|Fourth Style]] {{nobr|(60–79 CE)}} [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]] is in the center, holding the [[caduceus]]. [[Nephele]] sits at Mercury's feet. On the right [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]] sits on her throne. [[Iris (mythology)|Iris]] stands behind Juno, gesturing. [[Vulcan (mythology)|Vulcan]] is the blond figure at the upper left, holding and standing behind the wheel. Ixion is at the lower left, already bound on the wheel.
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'' (1615 ) [[Peter Paul Rubens]], [[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>{{cite journal |last1=Fowler |first1=Robert L. |title=The Myth of Kephalos as an Aition of Rain-Magic (Pherekydes FGrHist 3 F 34) |journal=Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik |date=1993 |volume=97 |page=38 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20171904 |access-date=26 November 2025 |issn=0084-5388}}</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]], [[Sophocles]], [[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]]

==Citations and footnotes==
{{reflist|25em}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin|25em|small=yes}}
* [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]] (1921) ''The Library''. translation by [[James George Frazer|J.G.&nbsp;Frazer]]. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press / London, UK: William Heinemann. {{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]] (1989) ''The Library of History''. translated by [[Charles Henry Oldfather|C.H. Oldfather]]. [[Loeb Classical Library]], Vol.&nbsp;3. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press / London, UK: William Heinemann. 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]] (1888–1890) ''Bibliotheca Historica''. Vol&nbsp;1–2. Immanel Bekker; Ludwig Dindorf; Friedrich Vogel (eds.) Leipzig, DE: B.G. Teubneri. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0540 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Gaius Julius Hyginus]] (n.d.) ''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].
* {{cite book |author-link=Karl Kerenyi |last=Kerenyi |first=Karl |year=1951 |title=The Gods of the Greeks |place=London, UK |publisher=Thames & Hudson |pages=158–160 }}
* [[Lucian|Lucian of Samosata]] (1905) ''Dialogues of the Gods''. translated by H.W. Fowler & F.G. Fowler. Oxford, UK: The Clarendon Press. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/LucianDialoguesGods1.html Online version at theoi.com]
* [[Lucian|Luciani Samosatensis (Lucian)]] (1896) ''Opera''. Karl Jacobitz (ed). Leipzig, DE: B.G. Teubneri. Vol.&nbsp;I. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0526 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Pindar]] (1990) ''Odes'' translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DP. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Pindar]] (1937) ''The Odes of Pindar including the Principal Fragments''. translation by John Sandys. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press / London, UK: William Heinemann. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0161%3Abook%3DP. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Strabo]] (1924) ''The Geography of Strabo''. H.L. Jones (ed). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press / London, UK: William Heinemann, Ltd. [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]] (1877)  ''Geographica''. A. Meineke (ed). Leipzig, DE: Teubner. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0197 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* {{cite book |author-link=John Tzetzes |first=J. |last=Tzetzes |date=n.d. |orig-year=1826 |title=Book of Histories |section=Books&nbsp;IX–X |translator-first=Jonathan |translator-last=Alexander |quote=from the original Greek of T.&nbsp;Kiessling's edition of 1826 |section-url=https://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html |edition=online |via=theio.com }}
* [[Virgil|Publius Vergilius Maro (Virgil)]] (1910) ''[[Aeneid]]''. translated by Theodore C. Williams. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0054%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Virgil|Publius Vergilius Maro (Virgil)]] (1900) ''Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics''. J.B. Greenough (ed). Boston. Ginn & Co.
** [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0058 Online translated version at the Perseus Digital Library]
** [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0055 Online Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
{{refend}}

==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 }}.

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Centaurs]]
[[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 of the Lapiths]]
[[Category:Metamorphoses characters]]
[[Category:Hubris myths]]