{"id":869,"date":"2018-03-26T02:49:34","date_gmt":"2018-03-26T02:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/imaginingancientcorinth.com\/?page_id=869"},"modified":"2018-03-26T02:49:34","modified_gmt":"2018-03-26T02:49:34","slug":"ino-and-melicertes-draft","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/imaginingancientcorinth.com\/?page_id=869","title":{"rendered":"Ino and Melicertes (Draft)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Marble Palaemon on a dolphin.<\/a> Corinth Image: BW 1981 055 01<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cFleeing [her husband Athamas], Ino threw herself into the sea with her child Melicertes from the Molurian Rock.\u201d (Paus. 1.44.8)<\/p>\n

Such a sentence ostensibly announces the ending to a story, but in fact, it is only the beginning. \u00a0After their horrific plunge off the craggy cliffs, it would seem that death is the only possible result. \u00a0Yet the child is rescued by a dolphin and their transformation and rebirth is signified by their new names, Leucothea (white goddess) and Palaimon (the wrestler). \u00a0Who are this mother and child? Why does Ino throw herself and her son into the sea? Why does Pausanias give the reader details of the story piecemeal rather than all at once? \u00a0And why is this story so important to the isthmus and to the identity of the Corinthia?<\/p>\n

Pausanias gives us hints about what caused Ino\u2019s flight. \u00a0He reports that Athamas killed his older son Learchus for one of two reasons, insanity or rage. \u00a0Pausanias\u2019 readers would immediately remember the two versions of the story. According to the first, Hera, enraged that Athamas and Ino had nursed the infant Dionysus, causes Athamas to go mad and kill his older son Learchus. \u00a0Ino and Melicertes flee the deranged Athamas and throw themselves into the sea (Ovid, Met. 4.416-542; Apollodorus 1.9.2, 3.4.3; Hyginus 1-2).<\/p>\n

According to the second, after the death of Athamas\u2019 first wife Nephele, Ino plots against Nephele\u2019s children, Phrixus and Helle. \u00a0She persuades the women of<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Palaemon riding a dolphin. Mosaic. Mid 2nd century CE. Roman bath. Isthmia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Orchomenus to cause a famine by parching the seeds before they are planted. When Athamas sends messengers to Delphi to understand why famine had come upon the land, Ino bribes the messengers to say that in order to bring an end to the famine, the children Phrixus and Helle must be sacrificed. \u00a0Discovering the plot, Athamas attacks Ino and Melicertes who escape by tossing themselves into the sea (Hyginus 2; Zenobius 4.38).<\/p>\n

A plunge hundreds of feet into the Saronic Gulf would normally be the end of the story. Yet pitied by the gods, the mother is transformed into a divine escort, the Nereid Leucothea, and the son into a dolphin-rider, Palaemon. \u00a0Like other Nereids, Leucothea guards and protects those transitioning from one place or world to the next. During a voyage at sea, Ino\/Leucothea defends her son just as Leucothea shields Odysseus when his raft is shattered on the way to the land of the Phaeacians (Od<\/i>. 5.333-462). \u00a0At the time of death, Ino\/Leucothea also mourns Melicertes\u2019 death (Statius, Theb<\/i>. 6.10-14) and helps immortalize him as Palaemon, just as Thetis and the Nereids mourn Achilles and accompany him to the Isles of the Blest (Homer, Od<\/i>. 24.45-89; Proclus, Chrestomathia<\/i> 2; Pindar, Ol<\/i>. 2.68-83). \u00a0In short, whether traveling in this world or to the next, Leucothea plays the role of divine escort who protects, laments, and makes immortal those who have met an untimely end.<\/p>\n

How widespread are their cults?<\/p>\n

Pausanius mentions Leukothea several times, her likeness often appearing in temples alongside representations of Poseidon, Dionysus and other deities (Paus 2.2.1, 2.3.4, 3.19.3). When we look at the claims that various locales make regarding Ino-Leucothea, we can also see evidence of some inter-polis rivalry. \u00a0For example, the Megarians are responsible for burying Ino\u2019s corpse and the first to recognize and worship her as Leucothea (Paus. 1.42.7). The city Corone\u2014on the sea coast under Mount Mathia in Messenia\u2014is sacred to Ino because it is considered to be the place where she first emerged in her new incarnation as Leukothea (Paus 4.34.4). The people of Brasiae (on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese) claim that Ino first nursed Dionysus in a cave near the plain of Dionysus (Paus. 3.24.3-4). The Boeatae honor Ino by throwing barley cakes into small, but deep lake sacred to her: if the cake remains submerged it is a sign of good luck; if it resurfaces, it is a bad omen (Paus 3.23.8). \u00a0On the west coast of the central spur of the Peloponnese between Oetylus and Thalamae, an oracle of Ino speaks to suppliants through dreams (Paus. 3.26.1).<\/p>\n

\"Palaemonium<\/a>
Roman Coin Depicting the Palaemonium<\/a>, circular temple of Melikertes-Palaimon with dome-shaped roof decorated with two dolphins; building has six outer columns; inside, Melikertes-Palaimon lying on back of dolphin, r., and pine-tree; between two pine-trees. Bronze. 161-80 CE. Berlin, Staatliche Museen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As for Melicertes, after his body was carried ashore to Isthmia by a dolphin, Sisyphus discovers it and celebrates the first Isthmian Games at his funeral. \u00a0It was then discovered and interred with great ceremony. This marked the beginning of the Isthmian games, which were held thereafter in honor of Melicertes-Palaemon (Paus 1.44.8). \u00a0\u00a0Pausanius remarks on several images of Palaemon, in which the god is depicted riding on a dolphin, usually accompanying Poseidon along with other sea-divinities (Paus 2.1.11, 2.3.4). Although not as widespread as that of his mother, the cult of Melicertes-Palaemon was extremely important in Isthmia, to such an extent that a special shrine was built for him adjoining the temple of Poseidon. There was even an underground \u1f04\u03b4\u03c5\u03c4\u03bf\u03bd, a secret, sacrosanct inner chamber, where Palaemon was said to reside. Initiates would be conducted down into this chamber in order to undergo sacred rites (Paus 2.1.11). Among Romans, Palaemon is often conflated with the Roman deity Portunus, in his capacity as a patron of sailors and protector of the Isthmus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cFleeing [her husband Athamas], Ino threw herself into the sea with her child Melicertes from the Molurian Rock.\u201d (Paus. 1.44.8) Such a sentence ostensibly announces the ending to a story, but in fact, it is only the beginning. \u00a0After their horrific plunge off the craggy cliffs, it would seem that death is the only possible […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imaginingancientcorinth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/869"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imaginingancientcorinth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imaginingancientcorinth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imaginingancientcorinth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imaginingancientcorinth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=869"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/imaginingancientcorinth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":871,"href":"https:\/\/imaginingancientcorinth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/869\/revisions\/871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imaginingancientcorinth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}