Sacrifices TO Iphigenia and an Etymology for Her Name

Pausanias, 1.43.

“They also say that there is a hero-shrine to Iphigenia—for she died there, according to the Megarians.  But I have also heard another report circulated by the Arcadians and I know that Hesiod wrote in his Catalogue of Women that Iphigenia did not die, but thanks to Artemis is actually Hekate.  What Herodotus wrote agrees with these things—that some who live near Skythia sacrifice survivors of shipwrecks to a maiden and they say that the maiden is Agamemnon’s daughter.”

λέγουσι δὲ εἶναι καὶ ᾿Ιφιγενείας ἡρῷον· ἀποθανεῖν γὰρ καὶ ταύτην ἐν Μεγάροις. ἐγὼ δὲ ἤκουσα μὲν καὶ ἄλλον ἐς ᾿Ιφιγένειαν λόγον ὑπὸ ᾿Αρκάδων λεγόμενον, οἶδα δὲ ῾Ησίοδον ποιήσαντα ἐν καταλόγῳ γυναικῶν Ιφιγένειαν οὐκ ἀποθανεῖν, γνώμῃ δὲ ᾿Αρτέμιδος ῾Εκάτην εἶναι· τούτοις δὲ ῾Ηρόδοτος ὁμολογοῦντα ἔγραψε Ταύρους τοὺς πρὸς τῇ Σκυθικῇ θύειν παρθένῳ τοὺς ναυαγούς, φάναι δὲ αὐτοὺς τὴν παρθένον ᾿Ιφιγένειαν εἶναι τὴν ᾿Αγαμέμνονος.

Iphigenia

7.26.5

“The temple is Artemis’ and the statue is made in a technique similar to our own.  A virgin serves in the temple—and she is there until she reaches the age of marriage. There is another statue inside which is very old. The people of Aigeira claim it is Iphigenia, Agamemnon’s daughter. If they are telling the truth, then the temple was built for Iphigenia in the beginning.”

᾿Αρτέμιδός τε ναὸς καὶ ἄγαλμα τέχνης τῆς ἐφ’ ἡμῶν· ἱερᾶται δὲ παρθένος, ἔστ’ ἂν ἐς ὥραν ἀφίκηται γάμου. ἕστηκε δὲ καὶ ἄγαλμα ἐνταῦθα ἀρχαῖον, ᾿Ιφιγένεια ἡ ᾿Αγαμέμνονος, ὡς οἱ Αἰγειρᾶταί φασιν· εἰ δὲ ἀληθῆ λέγουσιν οὗτοι, δῆλός ἐστιν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ᾿Ιφιγενείᾳ ποιηθεὶς ὁ ναός.

 

Etymologicum Magnum

“Iphigenia: Euphorion says she really is the daughter of Helen and Theseus and was secretly given to Klytemnestra. [The origin of her name] is that Helen gave birth [hupogeinato] to her after she was overcome by force [iphi] by Theseus.”

᾿Ιφιγένεια: Εὐφορίων αὐτὴν ἐτυμολογεῖ ῾Ελένης καὶ Θησέως· ὑποβλητὴν δὲ δοθῆναι Κλυταιμνήστρᾳ· οὕνεκα δή μιν ἶφι βιασαμένη ῾Ελένη ὑπεγείνατο Θησεῖ.

For the assertion that Iphigenia was Helen’s daughter, see an earlier post. In the Hesiodic passage mentioned here, Iphigenia is referred to as Iphimedê and is transformed by Artemis into Hekate.

 

And a somewhat related bit from Pindar:

 

Pindar, Pythian 11.22-32

 

“The pitiless woman. Was it Iphigeneia
Slaughtered on Euripus far from her homeland
Who made her raise her anger-heavy hand?
Or was it being tamed by long-nights in another’s bed
That led her to this? For young brides
This is the most hateful error, impossible to conceal
Because of other people’s tongues.
Your fellow-citizens are gossip-mongers.
For prosperity carries with it a proportional envy.
Whoever gasps near the ground moves unseen.
Atreus’ heroic son died
When he finally arrived home in famous Amyklai—
And he lost the prophet-girl too, after he destroyed
The burned homes of the Trojans for Helen”

 

νηλὴς γυνά. πότερόν νιν ἄρ’ ᾿Ιφιγένει’ ἐπ’ Εὐρίπῳ
σφαχθεῖσα τῆλε πάτρας
ἔκνισεν βαρυπάλαμον ὄρσαι χόλον;
ἢ ἑτέρῳ λέχεϊ δαμαζομέναν
ἔννυχοι πάραγον κοῖται; τὸ δὲ νέαις ἀλόχοις
ἔχθιστον ἀμπλάκιον καλύψαι τ’ ἀμάχανον
ἀλλοτρίαισι γλώσσαις·
κακολόγοι δὲ πολῖται.
ἴσχει τε γὰρ ὄλβος οὐ μείονα φθόνον·
ὁ δὲ χαμηλὰ πνέων ἄφαντον βρέμει.
θάνεν μὲν αὐτὸς ἥρως ᾿Ατρεΐδας
ἵκων χρόνῳ κλυταῖς ἐν ᾿Αμύκλαις,
Γ′ μάντιν τ’ ὄλεσσε κόραν, ἐπεὶ ἀμφ’ ῾Ελένᾳ πυρωθέντας
Τρώων ἔλυσε δόμους

#MythMonth Re-Post: Aiakos, Aegina and the Building and Destruction of Troy

According to some authors Aiakos, who ends up as a judge of the dead in the underworld, was the son of Zeus and Europa. According to others (Pindar, Corinna) he was son of Zeus and Aegina (Or Poseidon and Aegina). When Poseidon and Apollo went to build the walls of Troy, they took Aiakos along to help them. A scholiast reports that it had to happen this way: since a mortal helped build the walls, they were not wholly invincible.
Pindar’s account of this emphasizes an omen that appeared at the completion of the walls. In his telling, Apollo interprets the omen as indicating that the descendants of Aiakos will be instrumental in the destruction of the city. Who are his descendants? Ajax, Achilles. Oh, Neoptolemos and Epeius the builder of the Trojan horse too!
(go here for the full Ode and a good commentary).

Pindar, Ol. 8.24-54

“For whatever weighs a great deal is hard
To judge with a fair mind at the right time.
But some law of the gods established this sea-protected land [Aegina]
As a sacred pillar
For every kind of stranger.
May rising time never tire
Of making this true
for this land tended by the Dorian people since Aiakos’ time.
It was Aiakos that Leto’s son and wide-ruling Apollo took
When they were going to build a wall around Troy. They summoned him
As a coworker for the wall. For it was fated that
When wars arose in the city-sacking battles,
That the wall would breathe out twisting smoke.
When the wall was just built, three dark serpents
Leapt up at it: two fell against it
and, stunned, lost their lives.
One rose up with cries of mourning.
Apollo interpreted this sign immediately and said:
“Pergamos will be sacked, hero, by your hands’ deeds:
So this sacred vision says to me
Sent by loud-thundering Zeus.
And it won’t be done without your sons: the city will be slaughtered by the first
And the third generations.*” So the god spoke clearly
And he rode Xanthus to the well-horsed Amazons and to the Danube.
The trident-bearer directed his swift-chariot.
To the sea by the Isthmus
Bearing Aiakos here
With golden horses,
Gazing upon the ridge of Corinth, famous for its feasts.
But nothing is equally pleasing among men.”

… ὅ τι γὰρ πολὺ καὶ πολλᾷ ῥέπῃ,
ὀρθᾷ διακρίνειν φρενὶ μὴ παρὰ καιρόν,
δυσπαλές: τεθμὸς δέ τις ἀθανάτων καὶ τάνδ᾽ ἁλιερκέα χώραν
παντοδαποῖσιν ὑπέστασε ξένοις
κίονα δαιμονίαν
ὁ δ᾽ ἐπαντέλλων χρόνος
τοῦτο πράσσων μὴ κάμοι
Δωριεῖ λαῷ ταμιευομέναν ἐξ Αἰακοῦ:
τὸν παῖς ὁ Λατοῦς εὐρυμέδων τε Ποσειδᾶν,
Ἰλίῳ μέλλοντες ἐπὶ στέφανον τεῦξαι, καλέσαντο συνεργὸν
τείχεος, ἦν ὅτι νιν πεπρωμένον
ὀρνυμένων πολέμων
πτολιπόρθοις ἐν μάχαις
λάβρον ἀμπνεῦσαι καπνόν.
γλαυκοὶ δὲ δράκοντες, ἐπεὶ κτίσθη νέον,
πύργον ἐσαλλόμενοι τρεῖς, οἱ δύο μὲν κάπετον,
αὖθι δ᾽ ἀτυζομένω ψυχὰς βάλον:
εἷς δ᾽ ἀνόρουσε βοάσαις.
ἔννεπε δ᾽ ἀντίον ὁρμαίνων τέρας εὐθὺς, Ἀπόλλων:
‘ Πέργαμος ἀμφὶ τεαῖς, ἥρως, χερὸς ἐργασίαι ἁλίσκεται:
ὣς ἐμοὶ φάσμα λέγει Κρονίδα
πεμφθὲν βαρυγδούπου Διός:
οὐκ ἄτερ παίδων σέθεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἅμα πρώτοις ῥάζεται
καὶ τερτάτοις.’ ὣς ἆρα θεὸς σάφα εἴπαις
Ξάνθον ἤπειγεν καὶ Ἀμαζόνας εὐίππους καὶ ἐς Ἴστρον ἐλαύνων.
Ὀρσοτρίαινα δ᾽ ἐπ᾽ Ἰσθμῷ ποντίᾳ
ἅρμα θοὸν τανύεν,
ἀποπέμπων Αἰακὸν
δεῦρ᾽ ἀν᾽ ἵπποις χρυσέαις,
καὶ Κορίνθου δειράδ᾽ ἐποψόμενος δαιτικλυτάν.
τερπνὸν δ᾽ ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἴσον ἔσσεται οὐδέν.

*First and Third generation: Aiakos had two sons (Telemon and Peleus) with Endeis and one with another woman (Phocus). Telemon and Peleus killed their half-brother; but the three sons fathered Ajax, Achilles and Panopeus (Phocus). The latter two grandsons fathered Neoptolemus and Epeios. Achilles’ son Neoptolemus helped take Troy; Epeios built the wooden horse.

Zeus – Aegina
|
Endeis – Aiakos – Psamathe
|                 |
Telamon Peleus                  Phocus
|                |                        |
Ajax       Achilles                  Panopeus
|               |                                  |
Neoptolemus                 Epeios