View source for Xuthus

{{Short description|Noble in Ancient Greek Mythology}}
{{Other uses|Xuthus (mythology)}}
In [[Greek mythology]], '''Xuthus'''  ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|z|(|j|)|uː|θ|ə|s}}; {{langx|grc|Ξοῦθος|translit=Xoûthos}}) was a [[Phthia]]n prince who later became a king of [[Peloponnese|Peloponnesus]]. He was the founder (through his sons) of the [[Achaeans (tribe)|Achaean]] and [[Ionians|Ionian]] nations.

== Etymology ==
According to the author [[Robert Graves]], Xuthus' name came from the ancient Greek word {{lang|grc|strouthos}}, meaning "sparrow".<ref>{{Cite book|last=[[Robert Graves|Graves, Robert]]|title=The Greek Myths - The Complete and Definitive Edition|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|year=2017|isbn=9780241983386|pages=168, 252}}</ref>

== Family ==
Xuthus was a son of King [[Hellen]] of [[Ancient Thessaly|Thessaly]] and the [[nymph]] [[Orseis]]; and brother of [[Dorus]], [[Aeolus (son of Hellen)|Aeolus]], [[Xenopatra]]<ref>[[Hellanicus of Lesbos|Hellanicus]] in [[scholia]] on [[Plato]], ''[[Symposium (Plato)|Symposium]]'' 208 (p. 376)</ref> and probably [[Neonus]]. He had two sons, [[Ion (mythology)|Ion]] and [[Achaeus (son of Xuthus)|Achaeus]],<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.7.3&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:book=1:chapter=7&highlight=Xuthus 1.7.3]</ref> and a daughter named [[Diomede]] by [[Creusa of Athens|Creusa]], the [[Athens|Athenian]] daughter of King [[Erechtheus]]. [[Euripides]]'s play, ''[[Ion (play)|Ion]]'', provided an unusual alternate version, according to which Xuthus was the son of [[Aeolus (son of Hellen)|Aeolus]]<ref>Scholiast on [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' 1.2</ref> and Ion was in fact been begotten on Xuthus's wife Creusa by [[Apollo]]. Xuthus and Creusa visited the [[Pythia|Oracle]] at [[Delphi]] to ask the god if they could hope for a child, at which point they are told they already have a child, Ion, who was father by Apollo and mothered by Creusa, though Creusa had forgotten her son due to the trauma of being raped by Apollo.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |id={{ProQuest|201688748}} |last1=Segal |first1=Charles |title=Eurípides' Ion: Generational Passage and Civic Myth |journal=Bucknell Review |date=1999 |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=67–108 }}</ref> The Oracle at Delphi tells the couple that Ion is Xuthus' son and that Creusa's family should adopt him as Athenian. This makes Creusa so angry she tries to murder her stepson, but she fails. It is at this point the Creusa finds the crib that young Ion slept in and realizes she is his mother.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199566228.001.0001 |title=Freudian Mythologies |date=2009 |last1=Bowlby |first1=Rachel |isbn=978-0-19-956622-8 }}{{page needed|date=May 2024}}</ref> Despite Ion being adopted, Xuthus is proud to be a father and introduces Ion as his legitimate son to Athens.<ref name=":0" /> Variations of Xuthus' paternity regarding Ion are that he is the true father, that he has been tricked by Apollo and Creusa, or that he has deluded himself into believing he is the father, but the most common version is that told above with the Oracle of Delphi.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cole |first1=Spencer |title=Annotated Innovation in Euripides' 'Ion' |journal=The Classical Quarterly |date=2008 |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=313–315 |doi=10.1017/S0009838808000268 |jstor=27564144 }}</ref>  Xuthus will later father Dorus and Achaeus with Creusa, though Dorus is normally presented as Xuthus's brother.<ref>[[Euripides]], ''[[Ion (play)|Ion]]'' 63</ref>

== Mythology ==
According to the [[Hesiod]]ic ''[[Catalogue of Women]]'' on the origin of the [[Greeks]], Hellen's three sons [[Dorus]], Xuthus (with his sons [[Ion (mythology)|Ion]] and [[Achaeus, son of Xuthus|Achaeus]]) and [[Aeolus]], comprised the set of progenitors of the major ancient tribes that formed the Greek nation.<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Catalogue of Women|Ehoiai]]'' 9, 10(a)</ref>

== Genealogy of Hellenes ==
{{chart top|'''Genealogy'''<ref>Grimal, [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofclas0000grim/page/530/mode/2up?view=theater p. 531]; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA702 p. 702].</ref>|collapsed=no}}
{{tree chart/start}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | IAP |y| CLY | IAP = [[Iapetus]] | CLY=[[Clymene (mythology)|Clymene]] }}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | |,|-|^|-|.|}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | PRO | | EPI |y| PAN | PRO=[[Prometheus]] | CLY=[[Clymene (mythology)|Clymene]] | EPI=[[Epimetheus (mythology)|Epimetheus]] | PAN=[[Pandora]]}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | |!| | | |,|-|'|}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | DEU |y| PYR | DEU=[[Deucalion]] | PYR=[[Pyrrha]]}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | |,|-|'| | | }}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | HEL |y| ORS | HEL=[[Hellen]] |ORS=[[Orseis]]}}
{{tree chart| | | |,|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| }}
{{tree chart| | | DOR | | | | | | XUT | | | | | AEO | DOR=[[Dorus]] | XUT='''XUTHUS''' | AEO=[[Aeolus (son of Hellen)|Aeolus]]}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | |,|-|^|-|.| | | | |!|}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | ACH | | ION | | | |!| AEG=[[Aegimius]] | ACH=[[Achaeus (son of Xuthus)|Achaeus]] | ION = [[Ion (mythology)|Ion]]}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!|}}
{{tree chart| |,|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|^|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|.}}
{{tree chart| CRE | | SIS | | ATH | | SAL | | DEI | | MAG | | PER | |!| CRE=[[Cretheus]] | SIS=[[Sisyphus]] | ATH=[[Athamas]] | SAL=[[Salmoneus]] | DEI=Deion | MAG=[[Magnes (son of Aeolus)|Magnes]] | PER=[[Perieres (king of Messenia)|Perieres]] |}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!|}}
{{tree chart| | | | | |,|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|'|}}
{{tree chart| | | | | CAN | | ALC | | PIS | | CAL | | PER | CAN=[[Canace]] | ALC=[[Alcyone]] | PIS=[[Pisidice]] | CAL=[[Calyce (mythology)|Calyce]] | PER=[[Perimede (mythology)|Perimede]]}}
{{tree chart/end}}
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==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].
*[[Euripides]], ''The Complete Greek Drama'', edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill, Jr. in two volumes. 1. Ion, translated by Robert Potter. New York. Random House. 1938. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0110 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
*[[Euripides]], ''Euripidis Fabulae.'' ''vol. 2''. Gilbert Murray. Oxford. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1913. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0109 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
*[[Robert Graves|Graves, Robert]], ''The Greek Myths: The Complete and Definitive Edition.'' Penguin Books Limited. 2017. {{ISBN|978-0-241-98338-6|024198338X}}.
* [[Pierre Grimal|Grimal, Pierre]], ''The Dictionary of Classical Mythology'', Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. {{ISBN|978-0-631-20102-1}}. [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofclas0000grim/page/n3/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'' from ''Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica'' translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodCatalogues.html Online version at theio.com].

[[Category:Princes in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Deucalionids]]
[[Category:Mythological Thessalians]]
[[Category:Attic mythology]]
[[Category:Thessalian mythology]]
[[Category:Progenitors in Greek mythology]]