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Euripides’ Play Ion and the Athenian Policies
The ancient time Athenians believed that they were an indigenous tribe of the acropolis, conceived and born out of the land. The belief resulted from the community myth asserting that Erichthonius, their ancestor, was born of the earth when Hephaestus, their god of the forge, tried to have sex with Athena. Athena pushed him away, and the sperms spilled on her thigh then later on the ground. As a result, Erichthonius was born from the earth and became the first king of the Athenians (Drama and Citizenship). The people believed that they were not troubled by inversions and migrations. All the indigenous Athenians were considered to be well-born and therefore possessed an inherited personal status. In essence, if a person is born out of a city that was free from racial impunity, then they were also considered free from it (Walsh 301). Well-born indigenous citizens possessed qualities that distinguished them from any other ordinary people.
Question One
Euripide’s play Ion places a central significance in the characters’ noble births, which is the Athenian doctrine of autochthony. The main character, Ion, introduces this perspective of nobility while addressing Kreousa. Ion believes that appearance provides sufficient evidence showing an individual’s birth and standing. “You must be well-born, Woman, whoever you are, as your bearing and manners show” (233-257). The play recognizes the importance of the city of Athens and the origin of its people. Ion marvels at the fact that Kreousa is the very daughter of Erichthonius.
The conversation between Ion and Xouthos reveals how abhorred the servile status was. Ion longs to prove that his birth was legitimate to escape from servility. He loves serving the gods but is disturbed by his status as a servant. He questions Xouthos persistently to know if he is a free man, and when he finally realizes that he is well-born, he says, “I have escaped servility” (637-667). The plot of the play in itself reflects the legend of the ancestry of the Athenians. Ion has a mysterious birth, abandoned at birth, but eventually rises to become recognized and even receives the throne. At the end of the play, Kreousa says, “Come take your rightful power” ((1616-1622). The writing style, therefore, fits the game into the contemporary circumstances of the Athenians by adopting their mythological traditions.
Question Two
The writer criticizes the Athenian policies. Kreousa does not only show happiness even though she is well-born. The tears of Kreousa and her childlessness are very inconsistent with her status of being well-born that should guarantee her freedom and happiness (233-257). Kreousa herself admits that although she comes from a great city and possesses a noble origin with the blood of Erichthonius himself, the noble birth has not helped her much, and her only luck is that she is the daughter of Erichthonius (258-278). As mentioned earlier, all the indigenous Athenians were considered to be well-born and therefore possessed an inherited personal status. The writer thus exposes the weaknesses of the policies and their inability to address the very things regarded as ignoble that affected the supposed noble people. Although towards the end of the play, the sanctity of the temple and the oracle is defended and upheld, the playwright has outrightly attacked Apollo and questioned his morality for lying, cheating, and sexually assaulting Kreousa. Apollo has been portrayed as morally reprehensible.
Works Cited
N.d. “Drama and Citizenship at Athens”
Walsh, George B. “The Rhetoric of Birthright and Race in Euripides’ Ion.” Hermes, vol. 106, no. 2, pp. 301-315. www.jstor.org/stable/4476063