(), the fabulous ancestor of the Ionians, is described
as a son of Apollo by Creusa, the daughter of Erechtheus and wife of Xuthus. (Apollod. 1.7.3; CREUSA.) The most
celebrated story about him is that which forms the subject of the
Ion of
Euripides. Apollo had visited Creusa in a cave below the Propylaea, and when she gave birth to
a son, she exposed him in the same cave. The god, however, had the child conveyed to Delphi,
and there had him educated by a priestess. When the boy had grown, and Xuthus and Creusa came
to consult the oracle about the means of obtaining an heir, the answer was, that the first
human being which Xuthus met on leaving the temple should be his son. Xuthus met Ion, and
recognised him as his son; but Creusa, imagining him to be a son of her husband by a former beloved, caused a cup to be presented to the youth, which was filled with
the poisonous blood of a dragon. However, her object was discovered, for as Ion, before
drinking, poured out a libation to the gods, a pigeon which drank of it died on the spot.
Creusa thereupon fled to the altar of the god. Ion dragged her away, and was on the point of
killing her, when a priestess interfered, explained the mystery, and showed that Ion was the
son of Creusa. Mother and son thus became reconciled, but Xuthus was not let into the secret.
The latter, however, was satisfied, for he too received a promise that he should become a
father, viz. of Dorus and Achaeus.
The inhabitants of Aegialus, on the northern coast of Peloponnesus, were likewise Ionians,
and among them another tradition was current. Xuthus, when expelled from Thessaly, went to
Aegialus. After his death Ion was on the point of marching against the Aegialeans, when their
king Selinus gave him his daughter Helice in marriage. After the death of Selins, Ion
succeeded to the throne, and thus the Aegialeans received the name of Ionians, and the town of
Helice was built in honour of Ion's wife. (Paus. 7.1.2; Apollod. 1.7.2 ) Other traditions represent Ion as king of Athens
between the reigns of Erechtheus and Cecrops; for it is said that his assistance was called in
by the Athenians in their war with the Eleusinians, that he conquered Eumolpus, and then
became king of Athens. He there became the father of four sons, Geleon, Aegicores, Argades,
and lloples, according to whom he divided the Athenians into four classes, which derived their
names from his sons. After his death he was buried at Potamus. (Eur.
Ion 578 ; Strab. viii. p.383; Conon, Narrat. 27; comp. Hdt. 5.66.)