Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/633

Rh IPIIIGENEIA. was saved in a peal of thunder by the voice of Ar- temis and the interference of Achilles, who had been gained over by Clytaemnestra, and sent Iphigeneia to Scythia. Tzetzes (/. c.) even states that Achilles was actually married to her, and be- came by her the father of Pyrrhus. While Iphigeneia was serving Artemis as priest- ess in Tauris, her brother Orestes, on the advice of an oracle, formed the plan of fetching the image of Artemis in Tauris, which was believed once to have fallen from heaven, and of carrying it to Attica. (Eurip. Iph. Taur. 79, &c.) When Orestes, ac- companied by Pylades, arrived in Tauris, he was, according to the custom of the country, to be sacri- ficed in the temple of the goddess. But Iphigeneia recognised her brother, and fled with him and the statue of the goddess. Some say that Thoas, king of Tauris, was previously murdered by the fugi- tives. (Hygin. Fab. 121 ; Serv. ad Aen. ii. 116.) In the meantime Electra, another sister of Orestes, liad heard that he had been sacrificed in Tauris by the priestess of Artemis, and, in order to ascertain the truth of the report, she travelled to Delphi, Avhere she met Iphigeneia, and was informed that she had murdered Orestes. Electra therefore re- solved on putting Iphigeneia's eyes out, but was prevented by the interference of Orestes, and a scene of recognition took place. All now returned to Mycenae ; but Iphigeneia carried the statue of Artemis to the Attic town of Brauron near Mara- tlion. She there died as priestess of the goddess. As a daughter of Theseus she was connected with the heroic families of Attica, and after her death the veils and most costly garments which had been worn by women who had died in child- birth were offered up to her. (Eurip. Jpk. Taur. 1464 ; Diod. iv. 44, &c. ; Pans. i. 33.) Pausanias (i. 43), however, speaks of her tomb and heroum at Megara, whereas other traditions stated that Iphigeneia had not died at all, but had been changed by Artemis into Hecate, or that she Avas endowed by the goddess with immortality and eternal youth, and under the name of Oreilochia she became the wife of Achilles in the island of Leuce. (Anton. Lib. 27.) The Lacedaemonians, on the other hand, maintained that the carved image of Artemis, which Iphigeneia and Orestes had carried away from Tauris, existed at Sparta, and was worshipped there in Limnaeon under the name of Artemis Orthia, (Pans. iii. 16.) The worship of this goddess in Attica and Lacedaemon is of great importance. At Sparta her image was said to have been found in a bush, and to have thrown the beholders into a state of madness ; and once, as at the celebration of her festival, a quarrel arose which ended in bloodshed, an oracle com- manded that in future human sacrifices should be offered to her. Lycurgus, however, is said to have abolished these sacrifices, and to have introduced in their stead the scourging of youths. (Paus. iii. 16. § 6 ; Diet, of Antiq. s. v. Diamastigosis.) That in Attica, also, human sacrifices were offered to her, at least in early times, may be inferred from the fact of its being customary to shed some human blood in the worship instituted there in honour of Orestes. (Eurip. Jph. Taur. 1446, &c.) Now, as regards the explanation of the mythus of Iphigeneia, we are informed by Pausanias (ii. 35. § 2) that Artemis had a temple at Hermione, under the surname of Iphigeneia ; and the same author (vii. 26) and Herodotus (iv. 103) tell us, IPIIIS. 619 that the Taurians considered the goddess to whom they offered sacrifices, to be Iphigeneia, the daughter of Agamemnon. From these and other circum- stances, it has been inferred that Iphigeneia was originally not only a priestess of Artemis, or a heroine, but an attribute of Artemis, or Artemis herself. For further explanations, see Kanne, Mi/tkol. p. 115, &c. ; Muller, Dor. ii. 9. % 6 ; Schwenk, Etym. Mythol. Andeut. p. 218 ; G.Meyer, De Diana Taurica DisseH. Berlin, 1835. [L. S] IPHIMEDEIA or IPHI'MEDE ('Ic^iA^e'Sem, 'I</)»;u.6577), a daughter of Triops, and the wife of Aloeus. Being in love with Poseidon, she often walked to the sea, and collected its waters in her lap, whence she became, by Poseidon, the mother of the Aloadae, Otus and Ephialtes. When Iphi- medeia and her daughter, Pancratis, celebrated the orgies of Dionysus on Mount Drius, they were carried off by Thracian pirates to Naxos or Stron- gyle ; but both were delivered by the Aloadae. The tomb of Iphimedeia and her sons was shown at Anthedon. She was worshipped as a heroine at Mylasia in Caria, and was represented by Poly- gnotus in the Lesche at Delphi. (Hom. Od. xi. 304 ; Apollod. i. 7. § 4 ; Diod. v. 50 ; Hygin. Fab. 28 ; Paus. ix. 22. § 5, x. 28. in fin. ; Pind. Pyth. vii. 89.) [L. S.] IPHI'MEDON {'IcpifieScov), a son of Eurys- theus, who fell in the battle against the Hera- cleidae. (Apollod. ii. 8. § 1.) [L.S.] IPHI'NOE {'Icpivo-n). 1. A daughter of Proe- tus and Stheneboea. (Apollod. ii. 2. § 2.) 2. The wife of Metion, and mother of Daedalus. (Schol. ad Soph. Oed. Col. 468.) 3. A daughter of Nisus, and the wife of Mega- reus. (Paus. i. 39, in fin.) 4. A daughter of Alcathous, who died a virgin. The women of Megara previous to their marriage offered to her a funeral sacrifice, and dedicated a lock of hair to her. (Paus. i. 43. § 4.) 5. One of the Lemnian women who received the Argonauts on their arrival in Lemnos. (Apollon. Rhod. i. 702 ; Val. Flacc. ii. 162, 327.) [L. S.] IPHION ('I(^fa)f) of Corinth, a painter, who is only known by two epigrams, which are ascribed, on doubtful grounds, to Simonides. (Anth. Pal. ix. 757, xiii. 17 ; Brunck, Anal. vol. i. p. 142, No. 85, 86.) [P. S.] IPH IS Clcpis). 1. A son of Alector, and a descendant of Megapenthes, the son of Proetus. He was king of Argos, and from him were descended Eteoclus and Evadne, the wife of Capaneus. (Paus. ii. 18. § 4, X. 10. $ 2 ; Apollod. iii. 7. § 1 ; SchoL ad Pind. 01. vi. 46.) He advised Polyneices to induce Amphiaraus to take part in the expedition against Thebes, by giving the famous necklace to Eri- phyle. (Apollod. iii. 6. § 2.) As he lost his two children, he left his kingdom to Sthenelus, the son of Capaneus. (Paus. ii. 18. § 4; Eurip. Suppl. 1034, &c.) 2. A son of Sthenelus, and brother of Eurys- theus, was one of the Argonauts who fell in the battle with Aeetes. (Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. iv. 223; Val. Flacc. i. 441 ; Diod. iv. 48, with Wes- seling's note.) 3. [Anaxarete.] [L. S.] IPHIS C<pis). ]. One of the daughters of Thespius, by whom Heracles became the father of Celeustanor. (Apollod. ii. 7. § 8.) 2. The beloved of Patroclus, of the island of Scyros. (Hom. //. ix. 667 ; Philostr. Her. 10.)