Explore "Ion" by Euripides on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Composed between 414 and 412 BC, this romantic drama follows the orphan Ion in the discovery of his divine origins. The story concerns Creusa, daughter of Erechtheus, who was a noble native of Athens. Years ago, the god Apollo seduced her in a cave and she gave birth to his son, whom she believed she had then killed by exposure. Keeping this a secret, many years later she was unable to have a child with her husband Xuthus, a Thessalian and son of Aeolus, and so they travelled to Delphi to seek advice from the oracle. However, as the play opens and Creusa arrives, she meets Ion, who introduces himself as an orphan slave, brought up by the priestess of Apollo and in time the true discovery of Ion's identity is revealed.
CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY MERCURY ION CREUSA, daughter of Erechtheus XUTHUS, husband of CREUSA TUTOR ATTENDANT PRIESTESS OF APOLLO MINERVA CHORUS OF HANDMAIDENS OF CREUSAAttendants of the Temple of Apollo