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Figures in the ancient sources

Ino in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Ino

23 passages from 7 ancient authors that tell of Ino, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Ino was a queen of Thebes in Greek mythology, the daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. She was the second wife of King Athamas, with whom she had two chil... For the story in one place, read our article on Ino.

Homer (1)

  1. Homer, Odyssey 5.282–381Poseidon's storm; Ino's veilPoseidon, returning from the Ethiopians, sees Odysseus sailing and in anger sends a storm from every quarter. Odysseus is thrown from the raft, and the goddess Ino, called Leucothea, takes pity and gives him a veil to bind round his chest, telling him to swim for the land and throw the veil back into the sea when he reaches it. He fears a trick, but a great wave breaks the raft to pieces, and he binds on the veil and plunges in, while Poseidon drives off.

Apollodorus (2)

  1. Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.9.1–15Athamas, Sisyphus, Salmoneus, Melampus and AdmetusThe sons of Aeolus: Athamas, whose children Phrixus and Helle flee on the golden ram and who later loses Ino and Learchus to madness, then Sisyphus, Deion, Perieres, Magnes and Salmoneus, who is struck down for impersonating Zeus. Salmoneus's daughter Tyro bears Pelias and Neleus to Poseidon, and the section follows Neleus and Nestor at Pylus, Pelias in Thessaly, and Cretheus's line with the seer Melampus winning Pero for his brother Bias. It ends with Pheres, Admetus and Alcestis.
  2. Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.4.1–4Cadmus and the founding of ThebesAfter the death of Telephassa, Cadmus is told at Delphi to follow a cow and found a city where it lies down. He kills the dragon of Ares, sows its teeth to raise the Spartoi, serves Ares for a year, and marries Harmonia. Their daughters Autonoe, Ino, Semele and Agave are named; Semele is destroyed when she asks to see Zeus in his glory, Dionysus is born from Zeus's thigh, and Ino and Athamas rear him and are driven mad. The section ends with Actaeon, torn apart by his own dogs after seeing Artemis bathing.

Euripides (2)

  1. Euripides, Medea 1231–1292Medea kills her sons while the Chorus lamentsMedea tells the Chorus that she is resolved to kill her sons, and urges on her own heart. The Chorus calls on the earth and the sun to look down on her, and prays that she may be stopped. The children's cries are heard from inside, and the Chorus compares Medea to Ino, who also killed her children, the one other woman it knows who did so.
  2. Euripides, Bacchae 1095–1152Messenger speech: the death of PentheusThe Maenads stone Pentheus in the pine, then tear the tree up by the roots. Pentheus falls and pulls off his headband so that his mother will know him, but Agave, possessed, begins the killing, and Ino, Autonoe and the others tear him apart. Agave carries his head on a thyrsos toward the palace, and the messenger leaves, urging reverence for the gods.

Theocritus (1)

  1. Theocritus, Idylls 26.1–38Idyll 26: The Bacchae and PentheusIno, Autonoe and Agave lead their bands of Maenads to the mountain and build altars to Semele and Dionysus. Pentheus, watching them from a hidden place, is discovered, and the women tear him to pieces. The poem ends with a plea that no one blame what the gods demand.

Ovid (1)

  1. Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.396–562The Minyades become bats; Athamas and InoThe daughters of Minyas, who have scorned Dionysus (Bacchus), find their looms turning to vines and ivy, and they are changed into bats. Hera (Juno), angry at the honour done to Semele's sister Ino, goes down to the Underworld and sends the Fury Tisiphone to the house of Athamas, who goes mad and kills his son Learchus. Ino leaps from a cliff with her other son Melicertes, and Aphrodite (Venus) asks Poseidon (Neptune) to make them sea-gods, and Ino's Theban companions are changed into rocks and birds.

Pausanias (5)

  1. Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.44.1–10Megara to the Isthmus: Nisaea, Pagae and the Sciron roadPausanias notes the grave of Orsippus, the sanctuary of Tutelary Apollo, the old gymnasium and the port of Nisaea with the tomb of Lelex. He describes Pagae, with its Saviour Artemis and the shrine of Aegialeus, and Aegosthena, with the sanctuary of Melampus and the tomb of Autonoe. The Sciron road leads past the Molurian rock, with the story of Ino and Melicertes, the rocks of Sciron, the temple of Zeus the Hurler and the tomb of Eurystheus, to the border with Corinth.
  2. Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.23.1–11Cythera, Epidelium, Epidaurus Limera and the coast to MinoaPausanias describes Cythera, with its ancient sanctuary of the Heavenly Aphrodite, and the harbour of Nymphaeum. At Epidelium he tells how the image of Apollo came from Delos after Menophanes sacked that island, and how the god punished him and Mithridates. He then describes Epidaurus Limera, whose people say a sacred serpent led them to settle, the water of Ino and the sights of the city.
  3. Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.26.1–11Thalamae, Pephnus, Leuctra, Cardamyle and Gerenia: the Machaon shrinePausanias describes the dream oracle of Ino near Thalamae, the islet of Pephnus where the Dioscuri were said to be born, and Leuctra, with its shrines of Aesculapius, Cassandra and Love and the Ithomatian Zeus found in a burnt wood. He then describes Cardamyle and Gerenia, with the tomb and sanctuary of Machaon, Mount Calathium and Alagonia, and explains why Eurypylus’ name is not spoken at Pergamus.
  4. Pausanias, Description of Greece 4.34.1–12Messenian coast: the Pamisus, Corone, Colonides and Asine of the DryopiansPausanias describes the Pamisus and its fish and compares it with other rivers, then Corone with the sanctuary of Ino, the Plane-tree Grove spring and the town’s sacred sites. He mentions the sanctuary of Apollo by the sea and Colonides, with its Attic origin. At Asine he tells the Dryopians’ history and the two versions of how they came to Peloponnese.
  5. Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.24.1–11Laconian coast: Zarax, Cyphanta, Brasiae, Las and HypsaPausanias describes Zarax, destroyed by Cleonymus, the grotto of Aesculapius at Cyphanta with its spring struck by Atalanta, and Brasiae, whose people say Semele and the infant Dionysus drifted there in a chest. He then describes Las, with its temple of Athena Asia, the fountain Galaco, the river Smenus and the grave of Las. He argues from Homer that Achilles cannot have been a suitor of Helen.

Nonnus of Panopolis (11)

  1. Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 9.229–321Book 9: Hera drives Ino mad; Athamas takes ThemistoHera falls on the house of Athamas, and Ino runs mad from her chamber to Delphi. Apollo calms her with laurel and sleep, and she afterwards founds dances for Bacchos. Athamas forgets her and marries Themisto, who bears him sons.
  2. Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 10.0–138Book 10: Athamas' madness; Ino leaps into the seaAthamas, driven mad, flogs a she-goat for his wife, hunts his son Learchos as a stag and kills him, and boils Melicertes in a cauldron. Ino snatches the child and runs to the sea, calling on Zeus and Hermes. She leaps in and is received by Poseidon as Leucothea, and Semele mocks her from heaven.
  3. Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 9.93–168Book 9: Mystis and the Corybants nurse the childIno nurses the baby with her own son Melicertes and gives him to her maid Mystis, who invents the mystic rites of Dionysos. Hera finds him and swears to ruin Ino's house, but Hermes carries him to Rheia, taking the shape of Phanes to deceive her. The Corybants dance round the boy to hide his growing up.
  4. Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 9.1–92Book 9: Hermes takes the infant Dionysos to InoZeus sews the unborn Dionysos into his thigh and brings him forth, and Hermes carries the baby away. Hermes first leaves him with the daughters of Lamos, whom Hera drives mad, and then brings him to Ino. He tells her to nurse the child and promises her a home in the sea.
  5. Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 21.90–177Book 21: Earthquake and madness in Arabia; Lycurgos is blindedPoseidon shakes Arabia with his trident, and Megaira drives the Nysian women to kill their children. Lycurgos, still bound, defies the gods and demands fire to burn the vines, until Hera cuts him free and Zeus makes him a blind wanderer, though the Arabs later worship him as a god. Under the sea the Nereids, Ino and Melicertes entertain Dionysos.
  6. Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 5.122–228Book 5: Harmonia's necklace; the children of CadmosThe gods bring wedding gifts, and Aphrodite gives Harmonia a serpent-shaped necklace that Hephaistos had made. Harmonia bears four daughters, Autonoe, Ino, Agaue and Semele, and a son, Polydoros. Cadmos gives Autonoe to Aristaios.
  7. Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 5.533–621Book 5: Autonoe's grief; Zeus desires PersephoneiaAutonoe gathers her son's bones and buries them. Agaue bears Pentheus, and Ino marries Athamas and bears Learchos and Melicertes. Zeus, who once begot Zagreus on Persephoneia in the shape of a dragon, watches her bathe and is caught by desire for her.
  8. Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 21.178–239Book 21: Dionysos beneath the sea; a Satyr carries his message to DeriadesDionysos stays with Ino and Palaimon in the sea while his followers search for him in grief, until Scelmis brings the news that he is returning. A Satyr, disguised as a horned bull-man, brings the god's message to Deriades, who mocks the strange envoy. The message offers peace if the Indians accept the wine and honour the gods, and war if they refuse.
  9. Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 39.0–129Book 39: The fleet arrives; Deriades and Dionysos address their menThe ships built by the Rhadamanes arrive, and Deriades, alarmed but defiant, calls up a fleet from his islands. He argues that Dionysos is no god, since a son of Zeus would not fight with leaves and fawnskin. Dionysos answers by naming his allies in the sea and among the winds, and tells his captains to attack before the Indians can use fire against the ships.
  10. Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 46.210–264Book 46: Agaue kills Pentheus and shows his head to CadmosThe women tear Pentheus apart, and Agaue, believing him a lion, cuts off his head and carries it in triumph to Cadmos, boasting of her kill. Cadmos laments over her words, tells her that she holds her own son, and curses Cithaeron and Dionysos for the ruin of his family.
  11. Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 46.265–369Book 46: Agaue's lament; Dionysos leaves Thebes for AthensDionysos restores Agaue's senses, and she mourns over Pentheus's head, cursing her sanity and calling herself a child-murderer. Pentheus is buried, and Dionysos gives the mourners a drink of forgetfulness and sends Cadmos and Harmonia wandering west towards their fate as stone snakes. He then goes in procession to Athens.