Ion

Question 1

Who is the author?

Answer 1

Euripides

Question 2

Who are the important characters?

Answer 2

• Ion
• Apollo
• Xuthus
• Creusa
• Pythia (priestess of delphi)

Question 3

Provide the background for this story.

Answer 3

• Set in Delphi
• Apollo rapes Creusa who has a child she abandons to die
• The child is saved by Apollo
• Creusa is now married to Xuthus and cannot bear children
• Hermes mentions in the beginning of the play that Apollo wants to make things right by Creusa

Question 4

What is the storyline?

Answer 4

• When Creusa’s husband visits the temple of Delphi Apollo feels bad and tell him that the first person he sees after leaving the temple is his son.
• At the same time, Creusa was talking to Ion outside the temple
• Xuthus is happy to know he has a son (Ion) but does not tell Creusa thinking she will get jealous.
• However, Creusa finds out with the help of an old man and they make a plan to murder Ion (Creusa thinks Ion is an illegitimate child of Xuthus).
• The murder attempt fails, Ion goes after Creusa (unknown to him as his mother) to kill her.
• However, Apollo interferes via Pythia and they do not kill each other. - Ion lives with Xuthus and Creusa as their son.