In Greek mythology, Iasion () or Iasus (), also called Eetion[Hesiod, Catalogue of Women fr. 121 Most, pp. 206, 207 =)].][Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.916 with Hellanicus as the authority; Scholia on Euripides, Phoenissae 1129; John Tzetzes on Lycophron, 219] (), was the founder of the mystic rites on the island of Samothrace.
Family
According to the mythographer Apollodorus, Iasion is the son of the
Pleiad Electra and
Zeus, and the brother of Dardanus
[Apollodorus, 3.12.1.] and possibly
Emathion.
[Nonnus, Dionysiaca 3.124] Both Hellanicus and
Diodorus Siculus repeat this parentage, adding
Harmonia as his sister.
[Fowler 2013, p. 552; Gantz, p. 215; Hard, p. 297; Hellanicus, fr. 23 Fowler, p. 163 =)]; Diodorus Siculus, 5.48.2] 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.
[Grimal, s.v. Electra (2), p. 144; Smith, s.v. Electra (2); Gantz, p. 872 n. 4 to p. 561; Servius, Commentary on Virgil's Aeneid 3.167, 7.207, 10.719; Lactantius, Divine Institutes 1.23.] In the
Fabulae (attributed to Gaius Julius Hyginus), Iasion is called the son of
Ilithyius.
[Smith, s.v. Iasion; Hyginus, Fabulae 270]
With Demeter, Iasion was the father of Plutus, the god of wealth.[Hansen, p. 147; Hesiod, Theogony 969–71; Diodorus Siculus, 5.77.1] According to Hyginus' De astronomia, Iasion was also the father of Philomelus,[Hyginus, De astronomia 2.4.7] while, according to Diodorus Siculus, he was the father of a son named Corybas with Cybele.[Diodorus Siculus, 5.49.2]
Mythology
At the marriage of
Cadmus and 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.
[Hesiod, Catalogue of Women fr. 121 Most, pp. 206, 207 =)]; Apollodorus, 3.12.1; Hesiod, Theogony 969; Homer, Odyssey 5.125.] In one account, his death was caused by his impiety to the statue of Demeter instead.
[Pseudo-Scymnus, Circuit de la terre 535 ff.] Servius, in his commentary upon
Virgil's
Aeneid, states that Iasion was killed by his brother Dardanus,
[Smith s.v. Iasion; Servius, Commentary on Virgil Aeneid 3.167.] whereas Hyginus attributes his death to horses.
[Smith, s.v. Iasion; Hyginus, Fabulae 250] Ovid, in contrast, says that Iasion lived to an old age as the husband of
Demeter.
[Smith, s.v. Iasion; Ovid, Metamorphoses 9.421.]
Some versions of this myth conclude with Iasion and the agricultural hero Triptolemus then becoming the Gemini constellation.
Notes
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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. . Online version at Harvard University Press. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Fowler, R. L. (2000), Early Greek Mythography: Volume 1: Text and Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2000. . Google Books.
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Fowler, R. L. (2013), Early Greek Mythography: Volume 2: Commentary, Oxford University Press, 2013. . Google Books.
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Timothy Gantz, Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: (Vol. 1), (Vol. 2).
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Grenfell, Bernard P., and Arthur S. Hunt, The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Part XI, London, Egypt Exploration Fund, 1915. Internet Archive.
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Pierre Grimal, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. . Internet Archive.
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Hansen, William, Handbook of Classical Mythology, ABC-Clio, 2004. . Internet Archive.
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Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004. . Google Books.
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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. . Online version at Harvard University Press.
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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. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
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Homer, Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
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Hyginus, Gaius Julius, Fabulae, in The Myths of Hyginus, edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960. Online version at ToposText.
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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.) Online version at the Topos Text Project.
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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. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Merkelbach, R., and M. L. West, Fragmenta Hesiodea, Clarendon Press Oxford, 1967. .
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Ovid, Metamorphoses, edited and translated by Brookes More, Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co., 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Online version at ToposText.
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Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Wendel, Carl, Scholia in Apollonium Rhodium vetera, Hildesheim, Weidmann, 1999. .
