Chapter 10 Chapter Ten Ion

Erechtheus, king of Athens, had a beautiful daughter named Creusa.She became the bride of Apollo, the sun god, without the prior consent of the king, and bore him a son.Fearing that her father would be angry, she hid the child in a box in the cave where she had a tryst with the sun god.She sincerely hoped that the gods would take pity on this abandoned son.In order to make her son have a recognizable mark, she hung the jewelry she wore when she was a girl on the child.Naturally, the birth of his son could not be hidden from Apollo.He neither wanted to disappoint his lover nor leave his child alone, so he found his brother Hermes.As the messenger of the gods, Hermes can travel freely between heaven and earth without hindrance. "Dear brother," said Apollo, "a child was born to me by a mortal woman, the daughter of Erechtheus, king of Athens. Fearing her father, she hid the child in a cave. Please Help me, save this child, and take the child wrapped in sackcloth and the box to my temple at Delphi, and place it on the threshold of the temple, and I will do the rest, because he is my son .”

Hermes spread his wings, flew to Athens, found the child at the place appointed by Apollo, put him in a crate, carried him to Delphi, and placed him on the threshold of the temple according to Apollo's instructions. And lift the cover so that people can easily find him.These things are done at night. The next morning, as the sun rose, the priestess of Delphi walked towards the temple and suddenly found the baby sleeping in a small chest.She guessed it was an illegitimate child, and tried to remove him from the threshold.But the god made her feel a surge of pity.The priestess took the child out of the crate and took him by her side to raise him, though she did not know who the parents were.The child grows up day by day, playing in front of his father's altar all day long, but he doesn't know who his parents are.He gradually grew into a tall and handsome boy.The inhabitants of Delphi regarded him as the little guardian of the temple, liked him very much, and let him watch over the sacrifices offered to the gods.So he lived happily in his father's temple.

Creusa never heard from the sun god Apollo again, thinking that he had already forgotten her and her son. At this time, a fierce war broke out between the Athenians and the residents of the neighboring island of Obia.In the end the Obias failed.The Athenians won the war, and they were especially grateful for the help of a stranger from Achaia.He was the son of Helen, the ancestor of the Greeks, named Kesutus, and a descendant of Deucalion.He asked Creusa, the king's daughter, to marry him, and his request was granted.It seems that this incident angered the sun god, and in order to punish her, she has been barren.Several years later, Creusa wanted to go to the Temple of Delphi to ask for a son.In fact, this is exactly what Apollo meant. He would never forget his son.Princess Creusa and her husband set off with a party of servants.They were going to pay tribute to the Temple of Delphi. When the group arrived at the temple, the son of Apollo was stepping over the threshold and decorating the door frame with osmanthus branches.He saw the noble lady, who could not hold back tears at the sight of the temple.He cautiously asked her why she was sad.

"I don't want to know about your sorrows," he said, "but if you would please tell me, who are you and where do you come from?" "My name is Creusa," replied the princess, "my father is Erechtheus, and Athens is my native land." When the young man heard this, he exclaimed happily: "What a famous place that is, and how noble your birth is! But tell me, is it true? We see from the picture that your great-grandfather Uri Cthonius grew out of the ground like a crop. The goddess Athena put the child born of the soil in a box, and let the two dragons guard it, and then gave the box to Cecropas. The daughter went to protect it. I heard that those daughters could not restrain their curiosity and quietly opened the lid of the box. When they saw the boy, they suddenly went crazy and jumped off the rock of Cecropas Castle.

Is this also true? " Creusa nodded silently, because what happened to her ancestor reminded her of her abandoned baby.The son was standing in front of him, continuing to ask freely: "Is it true that your father, Erechtheus, was swallowed up by the crack of the earth? Did Poseidon kill him with his trident? His grave is really in my Is it near the cave that the enshrined master Apollo loved?" "Young stranger, please don't mention that cave," Creusa interrupted him, "where disloyalty and great crimes are committed." The young man, who was the guardian of the temple, told him that she was the wife of Prince Cxutos, who had come to Delphi with him, and begged the god to grant her only one son. "Phobos Apollo knows why I have no children," she sighed, "and he alone can help me."

"You don't have a son, are you an unfortunate person?" The young man asked sympathetically and sadly. "I have long been an unfortunate man," replied Creusa, "and I am very envious of your mother for having such a clever son as you." "I don't know who my mother and father are," The young man said sadly, "I don't know where I came from. My adoptive mother once told me that she was a priestess of the temple, she was very sympathetic to me and adopted me. Since then, I have lived in the temple, and I am a servant of the gods. " When the princess heard this, her heart skipped a beat.She pondered for a while, then turned her thoughts back, and said distressedly: "I know a woman whose fate is the same as your mother. I came here to pray to the oracle for her sake. Her husband came with her, and he made a detour to hear the oracle from Trophonius. Before he arrives, I would like to tell you the secret of that woman, because you are the servant of the gods. The lady said that before she married the present husband she had been intimate with the great god Phoebus Apollo. She bore a son to Apollo without consulting his father. The woman abandoned the child , I have never heard of him since then. In order to find out whether her son is alive or dead in front of the gods, I personally rushed here on behalf of that woman."

"How many years ago was this?" asked the young man. "If he's alive, he's your age," Creusa said. "How similar is the fate of your girlfriend to mine!" cried the young man sadly. "She sought her son, and I sought my mother. And all this happened in a distant country, but we They don’t know each other. But don’t expect the god in front of the incense burner to give you a satisfactory answer. Because you use your friend’s name to accuse him of injustice, but the god will not admit his mistake!” “Stop it! "Creusa interrupted him, "that woman's husband is here.

You must not let him know the secret I have confided to you. " Chrysutos joyfully stepped into the temple and approached his wife. "Trophonius gave me auspicious news. He said that I would not go home without a child. Why! Who is this young priest?" asked Kesutos. The young man took a step forward and replied humbly that he was only a servant of the Temple of Apollo.This is the most revered holy place of the Delphi people, and those chosen by the lottery of fate are inside. They surround the tripod censer and listen to the oracle pronounced by the priestess from there.When Cxutos heard this, he immediately ordered Creusa, like those who came to ask the oracle, to quickly decorate himself with flowers and branches, and pray to the gods before the altar of Apollo, and prayed that the gods would give them only one. Auspicious oracle.Creusa saw the osmanthus tree garlands on the open-air altar and walked over. Kesutos hurried into the inner part of the temple, and the young man was still guarding the vestibule.

After a while, the young man heard the sound of the door opening in the silk hall, and then saw Prince Kxutos come out excitedly.He suddenly hugged the young man outside the door fanatically, called him "son" repeatedly, and asked him to hug him too and give him a son's kiss.The young man didn't know what happened, thought he was crazy, and pushed him away forcefully indifferently.But Krysutos didn't care. "God himself has revealed to me," he said, "the oracle declares that the first person I meet when I walk out the door is my son. This is a gift from the gods. I don't know why." I don't understand, because my wife has never borne me a child. But I believe in the word of the gods, and he may explain it to me himself."

After hearing this, the young man couldn't help being happy, but he was still a little dissatisfied.When he endured his father's hug and kiss, he lamented, "Oh, dear mother, where are you? Who are you? When will I see your kind face?" He wondered if the wife of Kxutos would consider him her son, since she had no children of her own and did not know him.Besides, would the city of Athens accept the illegitimate prince? His father tried to comfort him, promising not to recognize him as a son before the Athenians and his wife, and he named him Ion, that is, the wanderer of the ends of the earth.

At this time, Creusa was still praying before the altar of Apollo, motionless.But her prayers were suddenly interrupted by the uproar of the maids, who came and complained: "Unfortunate mistress, your husband is full of joy, but you will never have a son in your arms. Apo Lo gave your husband a son, a grown-up son. He may have been born to another woman in the past. He happened to meet the son when he came out of the temple. He was happy to find his son again. " God did not enlighten the princess's mind, she failed to see through the secrets around her, and continued to worry about her sad fate.After a while, she plucked up her courage and asked what the name of the sudden son was. "He is the young man who kept the temple, you have seen him," answered the maids, "his father named him Ion. We do not know who his mother was. Your husband now comes to Barker The altar of Kos is gone. He intends to sacrifice his son quietly to the god, and hold a solemn feast there. He solemnly bids us not to tell you about it. But we, out of love for you, Disobeyed his orders. Don't you ever say we told you!" At this time, an old servant came out from the crowd. He was loyal to the Erechtheus family and was very loyal to his mistress.He thought that King Kesuthos was an unfaithful husband, and angrily and jealously proposed to destroy the illegitimate son so that he would not inherit the throne of Erechtheus.Creusa, thinking that she had been abandoned by her husband and former lover, namely Apollo, felt unbearable grief and indignation, so she agreed to the old servant's conspiracy and explained to him her former relationship with the sun god. After Kesutus and Ion left the temple, they climbed together to the top of the mountain of Panassas, where the god Bacchus was worshipped.After the prince poured wine and sacrificed on the ground here, Ion, with the help of his servants, set up a gorgeous tent in the wilderness, covered with the exquisite tapestry he brought from the temple of Apollo.There is a long table inside.The table is full of silver plates with rich food and gold cups filled with famous wine, which is luxurious.Chrysutos the Athenian sent envoys to the city of Delphi to invite all the inhabitants to a feast.Soon, the tent was full of distinguished guests wearing garlands.When having snacks after the meal, an old man walked out. His strange posture made the guests laugh.The old man walked into the tent and toasted the guests.Cxutos recognized him as the old servant of his wife Creusa, and praised his diligence and loyalty in front of the guests, and they also praised him for his kindness and kindness.The old man stood in front of the wine cabinet, serving the guests.At the end of the banquet, when the flute sounded, he hurriedly ordered his servants to remove the small cup and put on a large gold and silver bowl, as if he was going to pour wine for the young new owner.Sure enough, the old man approached the wine cabinet and poured a bowl full of wine.When people were not paying attention, he shook the golden bowl lightly, and there was a deadly poison in the bowl.The old man quietly came to Ion's side and dropped a few drops of spirits on the ground, which was regarded as a sacrifice.At this moment, a servant standing beside him cursed indifferently.Ion, who had been brought up in the temple, knew that it was a bad omen in the holy ordinance, so he poured all the wine in the cup on the ground, and ordered the servant to pass him a new cup and pour it. Wine, and then use this glass of wine to perform a grand ceremony of pouring sacrifices.The guests all did the same with him.At this time, a group of holy pigeons flew in, and they all grew up in the temple of Apollo.After flying into the tent, the pigeons saw that the ground was full of fine wine for offering sacrifices, and they all flew down to grab a drink.The other pigeons were all safe and sound after drinking the sacrificial wine, but the one that drank the first cup of wine that Ion poured out flapped its wings, shook and wailed, and died of convulsions after a while. Ion stood up from the chair angrily, clenched his fists, and shouted loudly: "Who wants to murder me? Old man, tell me! It was you who mixed poison in the wine and gave me the glass." He Grabbing the old man and preventing him from escaping, the old man unexpectedly confessed to the crime, but blamed it on Creusa.After hearing this, Ion left the tent, and all the guests were filled with righteous indignation and followed behind.In the open space outside, he raised his hands to the sky and said to the distinguished guests at Delphi who surrounded him: "Holy land, you can testify to me that this foreign woman wants to kill me with poison!" "Stone her! Stone her!" the people around shouted in unison, and followed Ion to find the evil woman.Kesutos followed the flow of people and didn't know what to do. Creusa waits at the altar of Apollo for the result of the evil plot, but the result is beyond her expectation. A distant noise made her jump out of her contemplation.Before she knew what was going on outside, a servant beside her husband who was loyal to her rushed in first, and came to tell her that the plot had been uncovered and that the people of Delphi were coming to settle accounts with her.Upon hearing this news, Creusa's maidservants surrounded her to protect her. "Mistress, you must hold fast to the altar," they said, "and if this holy place does not save you from being killed, the crime of bloodshed committed by them is unforgivable." , a group of furious people was getting closer and closer under the leadership of Ion. His voice was heard in the wind: "Gods, be merciful to me. They tell me that my stepmother killed me. She hates me very much. Where is she? Let's do it together and kill her from the sky." Push it off the top of the highest mountain!" They came to the altar.Ion seized the woman, whom he did not know to be his real mother, but whom he regarded as his sworn enemy; he wanted to drag her away from the altar, which had become her inviolable sanctuary.Apollo didn't want to see his son become the murderer of his biological mother.He hinted the oracle to the priestess, and let her understand what was going on, and knew that the child she had adopted was not the son of Cxutos, but the son of Apollo and Creusa.She left the three-legged altar, found the small box containing the baby she had found at the entrance of the temple, hurried to the altar, and saw Creusa struggling desperately under Ion's pull.Seeing the priestess, Ion hurriedly went up to her reverently. "Welcome, dear mother, although you did not give birth to me, I would like to call you mother! Did you hear that I just escaped a disaster? I just got my father, and his wife plotted to murder me!" After hearing this, the priest warned him: "Ion, please return to Athens with a pair of clean hands!" Ion pondered for a while, looking for a suitable answer: "Is it unreasonable to kill your enemies?" "Don't touch me till I've finished speaking!" said the merciful priestess. "Do you see this little box? That's where you were abandoned here." "What does this little box have to do with me?" Ion asked. "There is still the sackcloth to wrap you in, my dear child," said the priestess. "The sackcloth that wrapped me?" Ion exclaimed, "This is a clue, it can help me find my biological mother." The priestess handed him the small open box, and Ion enthusiastically reached out and took out a bunch of carefully folded linen from it.With tears in his eyes, he weighed these precious relics with sorrow.Creusa also gradually regained her composure. She saw the linen and the small box in Ion's hand, and understood the truth.She jumped up and left the altar, and cried out joyfully, "My son!" She stretched out her arms and hugged the astonished Ion tightly.Ion looked at her suspiciously, and reluctantly broke free.Creusa stepped back a few steps and said, "This sackcloth will bear witness to my words. Son! Spread it out, and you will find the mark I made for you. In the middle of this piece of cloth is the Gorgon Surrounded by poisonous snakes, like a shield." Ion dubiously opened the sackcloth, and suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Oh, great Zeus, this is the Gorgon, and here are poisonous snakes!" "There is also a golden dragon necklace in the box," Creusa went on, "in memory of the dragon in Erichthonius' box. It is a necklace for babies to wear around their necks." Ion searched the box for a while, smiling happily, and found the Golden Dragon Necklace. "The last token," said Creusa, "is the olive leaf garland, made of olive leaves from the olive trees of Athens, which I put on the newborn's head." Ion reached out and searched the bottom of the box for a while, and found a beautiful wreath of olive leaves. "Mother, mother!" He shouted, choked with sobs, hugged his mother's neck, and kissed her cheek repeatedly.At last he let go, and wanted to find his father Cxutos.At this time, Creusa told him the secret of his birth, saying that he was the son of Apollo who had served so faithfully in that temple for so many years. Kexutos regarded Ion as a treasure bestowed by the gods.All three of them went to the Temple of Apollo to thank the gods.Sitting on a three-legged altar, the priestess prophesied to them that Ion would be the ancestor of a great family, the ancestors of the Ionians. Full of joy and hope, Cxutos and Creusa returned to Athens with their newly found son, and all the residents of Delphi went out to see them off.