HYPERMNES′TRA. One of the fifty daughters of Danaus, who were
collectively called the Danaides. She was the one who refused to kill
her husband on the wedding night. See Danaus.
IAC′CHUS. A name of Bacchus.
IAP′ETOS. The father of Atlas. See Japetus.
IB′LEES. The Arabian Satan.
IC′ARUS, son of Dædalus, who with his father made themselves wings
with which to fly from Crete. They were fixed to the shoulders by wax.
Icarus flew too near the sun, and the heat melting the wax, caused the
wings to drop off, and he fell into the sea and was drowned.
ICHNOBA′TE. One of Actæon’s hounds; it means tracker.
IDÆ′A. A name of Cybele, from Mount Ida, where she was worshipped.
IDÆ′AN MOTHER. Cybele was sometimes so called.
IDA′LIA. A name of Venus, from Mount Idalus.
IMPERA′TOR was a name of Jupiter, given to him at Præneste.
I′NACHUS was one of the earliest of the demigods or heroes.
INCENDIARY, see Erostratus.
INCENSE, see Venus.
IN′CUBUS. A Roman name of Pan, meaning The Nightmare. See Innus.
INDIG′ETES were deified mortals, gods of the fourth order. They were
peculiar to some district.
IN′DRA. The Hindoo Jupiter; his wife was Indrant, who presides over the
winds and thunder.
INFANTS, see Natio.
IN′NUS. A name of Pan, the same as Incubus.
I′NO, second wife of Athamas, King of Thebes, father of Phryxus and
Helle. Ino had two children, who could not ascend the throne while
Phryxus and Helle were alive. Ino therefore persecuted them to such
a degree that they determined to escape. They did so on a ram, whose
hide became the Golden Fleece (see Phryxus and Helle). Ino destroyed
herself, and was changed by Neptune into a sea-goddess.
INO′A were festivals in memory of Ino.
INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC, see Euterpe.
I′O was a daughter of Inachus, and a priestess of Juno at Argus.
Jupiter courted her, and was detected by Juno, when the god turned
Io into a beautiful heifer. Juno demanded the beast of Jupiter, and
set the hundred-eyed Argus to watch her. Jupiter persuaded Mercury to
destroy Argus, and Io was set at liberty, and restored to human shape.
Juno continued her persecutions, and Io had to wander from place to
place till she came to Egypt, where she became wife of King Osiris, and
won such good opinions from the Egyptians that after her death she was
worshipped as the goddess Isis.
IOLA′US, son of Iphicles, assisted Hercules in conquering the Hydra, by
burning with hot irons the place where the heads were cut off; and for
his assistance he was restored to youth by Hebe. Lovers used to go to
his monument at Phosis and ratify their vows of fidelity.
IO′THUN. Celtic mythological monsters, or giants.
IPH′ICLUS was twin brother of Hercules, and father of Iolaus.
IPHIGENI′A was a daughter of Agamemnon. He made a vow to Diana, which
involved the sacrifice of Iphigenia, but just at the critical moment
she was carried to heaven, and a beautiful goat was found on the altar
in her place.
I′RIS, daughter of Thaumas and Electra, was the attendant of Juno, and
one of the messengers of the gods. Her duty was to cut the thread which
detained expiring souls. She is the personification of the rainbow.
IRON, see Vulcan.
I′SIS, wife of Osiris, see Io.
I′TYS was killed by his mother Progne when six years old, and given to
his father Tereus as food. The gods were so enraged at this that they
turned Itys into a pheasant, Progne into a swallow, and Tereus into an
owl.
IXI′ON was son of Phlegyas, King of the Lapithæ. For attempting to
produce thunder, Jupiter cast him into hell, and had him bound to a
wheel, surrounded with serpents, which is for ever turning over a river
of fire.
“The powers of vengeance, while they hear,
Touched with compassion, drop a tear;
Ixion’s rapid wheel is bound,
Fixed in attention to the sound.”