Ion of Chios

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Ion of Chios (/ˈɒn/; Greek: Ἴων ὁ Χῖος; c. 490/480 – c. 420 BC) was a Greek writer, dramatist, lyric poet and philosopher. He was a contemporary of Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles. Of his many plays and poems only a few titles and fragments have survived. He also wrote some prose works, including a Pythagorean text, the Triagmos, of which a few fragments survive.

Life

He was the son of Orthomenes, and was surnamed the son of Xuthus: probably a nickname alluding to Xuthus, the father of the mythical Ion.[1] When very young he went to Athens, where he enjoyed the society of Cimon, of whom he left laudatory notices in some of his works which are quoted by Plutarch.[2] Plutarch informs us that Ion severely criticised Pericles,[3] who is said to have been his rival in love.[4] Ion was familiarly acquainted with Aeschylus, if we may believe an anecdote related by Plutarch,[5] but he did not come forward as a tragedian till after Aeschylus' death. We also learn from Ion himself[6] that he met Sophocles at Chios, when the latter was commander of the expedition against Samos, 440 BC.

His first tragedy was brought out in the 82nd

tragic prizes at the same time, he presented every Athenian with a pitcher of Chian wine.[8] Hence it would seem that he was a man of considerable wealth. He is mentioned by Strabo among the celebrated men of Chios.[9]

Works

The number of his tragedies is variously stated at 12, 30, and 40. We have the titles and a few fragments of eleven plays, namely, Agamemnon; Alcmene; Argeioi; Eurytidai; Laertes; Mega Drama; Omphale; Phoinix or Kaineus; Phoinix Deuteros (The Second Phoenix); Phrouroi; and Teucer. The Omphale was a satyric drama.

scholia, and elegies. Some remnants of his elegies are in the Greek Anthology
.

His prose works, mentioned by the scholiast on Aristophanes, are one called Presbeutikon (Πρεσβευτικόν), which some thought spurious; Ktisis (Κτίσις); Kosmologikos (Κοσμολογικός); Hypomnemata (Ὑπομνήματα); and some others, which are not specified. The nature of the first of these works is not known. The full title of the Ktisis was Chiou Ktisis (Χίου Κτίσις): it was a historical work, in the Ionic dialect, and apparently in imitation of Herodotus: it was probably the same as the Syngraphe (Συγγραφή), which is quoted by Pausanias.[12] The Kosmologikos is probably the same as the philosophical work, entitled Triagmos (Τριαγμός) or Triagmoi (Τριαγμοί), which seems to have been a treatise on the constitution of things according to the theory of triads; the few surviving fragments suggesting it had Pythagorean leanings.[13] The Hypomnemata are by some writers identified with the Epidemiai (Ἐπιδημίαι) or Ekdemetikos (Ἐκδημητικός),[14] which contained either an account of his own travels, or of the visits of famous people to Chios.

Notes

  1. ^ Scholium ad Aristoph. Pac. 830; Suda, Eudocia, Harpocr., Ion
  2. ^ Plutarch, Cimon, 5, 9, 16
  3. ^ Plutarch, Pericles 5, 28
  4. ^ Athenaeus, x. 436
  5. ^ Plutarch, De Profect. in Virt. 8
  6. ^ ap. Athenaeus, xiii. 603
  7. ^ Aristophanes, Peace, 830
  8. ^ Scholium ad Aristoph. Pac. 830; Suda, Athenaios; Athenaeus, i. 3; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1454, 24.
  9. ^ Strabo, xiv.
  10. ^ Pseudo-Longinus, 33
  11. ^ Diogenes Laertius, iv. 31; Athenaeus, x. 436, xi. 468, xiv. 634
  12. ^ Pausanias, vii. 4. 6
  13. Diels–Kranz
    36
  14. ^ Julius Pollux, ii. 88

References

  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainSmith, William, ed. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help) Article: "Ion of Chios"
  • Smith William. “Ion of Chios” ‘’Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.’’ Volume 2. p. 606

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