0:40

Hi, Hello, welcome. This

0:43

is let's talk about myths baby, and

0:45

I am your host live she who's

0:48

obsession with Euripides only gets stronger by

0:50

the day. I've loved

0:52

Euripides from the moment I first read his work like

0:54

it was either Arrestes or Electra, I think, And

0:56

then I first read those and I know

0:58

he struck me, you know, just immediately as being

1:01

different, like Euripides cared. I

1:03

find him to be so relatable, not only because his work

1:05

makes clear that he cared about the lived experiences

1:07

of those around him, of like people who weren't

1:09

Athenian men. But the more I

1:12

read of him, the more relatable I find him, Like

1:14

was he like me? Did he see the obvious

1:16

injustices committed by those in

1:18

power against those who are not, and like get

1:20

angry? Like did he see what happened

1:23

and look for any way to help to

1:25

comment on the crimes, to

1:28

make some attempt at creative

1:31

storytelling, to show others what they couldn't

1:34

see. I don't know. He just

1:36

seems relatable. So let's

1:38

return to Euripides's ion, because this play is

1:40

incredible, and quite frankly, it's all that's keeping me from

1:42

crying because I'm writing this episode. On May

1:44

twenty seventh, we

1:47

returned to his Ion, a play that

1:50

has not at all slowly convinced me that not only

1:52

did Euripides care about the lived experiences

1:54

of women, but like maybe he even saw the overtflaws

1:56

in his country's increasingly violent patriarchy.

1:59

This play is, like, honestly, it's a game changer. Maybe

2:01

it's because of when I'm reading it, or it's because

2:03

it's Euripides was empathetic and caring,

2:06

but or maybe he does a little of the two. Either

2:08

way, I don't I really don't think I've ever found

2:10

so much righteous appreciation of an ancient

2:12

work. Criusa,

2:15

you remember, is the daughter of Erectheus. She's

2:17

a princess of Athens, part of the royal family

2:19

whose birth came from the earth of Athens,

2:22

from the very soil of the city. When

2:24

she was young, she was raped

2:26

by Apollo, like so many other women from

2:29

Greek myth but unlike all those women, she had

2:31

Euripides telling her story. She

2:33

was raped and it was awful, and you should take

2:36

care listening to this episode, but you should

2:38

know that for all her trauma is examined

2:40

In this play, that's

2:42

it. That's her trauma is examined.

2:45

It's written as trauma as someone that was

2:47

that something that was utterly life changing, as

2:49

a crime committed not only by a god

2:51

but a man. Display examines

2:54

the crimes of men broadly,

2:56

and the God specifically. Criusa

3:01

and her husband, the man she married after giving

3:03

birth in secret to Apollo's child,

3:05

a child which he hid away in Delphi.

3:08

They've gone there to seek the God's

3:10

prophecy on whether they, as a couple

3:13

will have children. Creusa confided

3:15

in the temple attendant there without her husband's

3:17

knowledge, sharing the story of

3:19

her friend, really

3:22

her story. The attendant was

3:24

of course Ion, her son, who doesn't know

3:26

he's her son. And then God damned Apollo

3:28

when told suit this Creusa's husband

3:30

that Ion was his son. It's a terrible case

3:33

of misunderstandings and messes. Creusa

3:35

has the guidance of a father figure, this man who

3:37

cared for her own father and was like he's known

3:39

her all her life. When he heard that

3:41

her husband now had a secret son, Ah,

3:43

he suggested that the only thing Creusa can

3:46

do is kill both her husband and his

3:48

son, or else they'll plot out to take control

3:50

of Athens. He's not totally

3:52

wrong, but murder is never the answer.

3:56

This is a difficult play to summarize, especially

3:58

right now. You best just have listened to the

4:00

past three episodes before this one. Okay,

4:17

this is episode two

4:19

sixty three. When the Pythia

4:21

speaks. You listen. Euripides

4:24

is Ion part four. Creusa

4:41

speaks to Apollo. She doesn't know how

4:43

to proceed, doesn't know what to

4:45

do with her life now that her childlessness

4:47

has been confirmed, now that her husband

4:50

has been given a son by the very

4:52

god that raped her. She doesn't know how

4:54

to handle a world that is quite so unjust

4:58

so relatable, Creusa. So

5:01

she continues her song It's part soliloquy,

5:03

part plea for help, as she speaks

5:05

aloud of how to go on after

5:08

this new use. So, as she turns

5:10

her attention to Apollo, she

5:12

begins, quote, you were

5:14

crooning to the tune of the seven stringed

5:17

lie, which, in the lifeless horns

5:19

of beasts that rove the fields,

5:21

sounds the melodious songs of the muses.

5:25

It's not lost on me that she speaks such seemingly

5:27

beautiful words before addressing Apollo, before

5:30

she makes the clearest and most graphic accusations

5:33

against the god. And this is

5:35

graphic, so please take care and skip ahead

5:37

if you need to. I want to read Creosa's

5:40

quote because for all it's horrifying,

5:43

I just think it's incredibly important to have this piece

5:45

of evidence that it wasn't just like accepted

5:47

that the gods assaulted people, that they didn't

5:50

just think it was fine and good because they were

5:52

a god and the victims were usually women,

5:54

That people did recognize it as trauma,

5:57

that they did see the horror in the gods.

5:59

And the way is that even the mythos

6:01

could affect real people in the real world.

6:06

So Creusa speaks to Apollo. She recalls

6:08

what he did to her quote,

6:11

you came to me, your hair gleaming

6:13

with gold, when I was gathering in my

6:15

lap saffron strands reflecting

6:17

the golden rays. You took me

6:19

by my white wrists to lie on the

6:21

floor of the cave as I cried a

6:24

loud mother. Mother, you

6:26

a rapist and a god. You brought me

6:28

to shame doing your part in service

6:31

to Love's goddess Kippris. She

6:35

cried out to her mother, and

6:38

that again is intentional legally,

6:40

it would be her father who could have helped her father

6:42

whose property was being harmed,

6:44

and that's the point she called

6:46

out to her mother, because, as Euripides has examined

6:49

throughout this play, mothers are there for affection,

6:51

mothers are there to console. And

6:53

again I intentionally generalize because

6:56

of how this play is written, but I want to be clear that

6:58

fathers can do and should serve

7:00

the same role as mothers, but from a sociological

7:03

standpoint, and certainly here in Eurybites' play,

7:05

it's the maternal mothering nature

7:08

that is being highlighted. And

7:10

it's reminded again when Creusa

7:12

goes on to explain that she had cast

7:15

out the baby out of quote

7:17

a mother's fear. She

7:19

says she laid the baby in Apollo's bed,

7:21

exactly where it had happened, because

7:24

despite it being a tragic event, despite

7:26

it being something awful, Creosa

7:28

exposing this child, we are meant

7:31

to understand, We are meant to

7:33

feel sympathy for her, to recognize that

7:35

she had gone through a trauma and did the only thing

7:38

she, presumably a teenager

7:41

could think of. She

7:44

laments the loss of the baby, accuses

7:46

Apollo of droning on and on

7:48

with his songs. Even as their son is lost,

7:51

she continues to brate Apollo

7:54

while standing before his temple, and

7:56

I am fucking here for it. She

7:58

calls him a vile seducer. She attacks

8:01

him for giving her husband a son when her own

8:03

child is lost and gone, probably

8:05

pray for birds. She even

8:07

tells him the daily his sacred

8:09

island and the place of his birth hates

8:12

him. Creusa isn't

8:14

afraid of the god. He's already done his worst.

8:17

She doesn't fear his wrath, and so she

8:19

can tell Apolo exactly how it feels.

8:22

She can and is voicing the words

8:24

of so many women of myth.

8:26

She's saying what they all wish they could

8:28

have, because your ripidies actually wants

8:31

to hear their voices. The

8:48

old man, Crius's friend and father

8:50

figure, has heard her words, but he can't

8:52

quite believe what she said. He needs

8:54

to be sure, what are you saying happened?

8:57

What child did you give birth to? And what

8:59

is the charge you're leveling against Apollo.

9:02

Criusa says that though she's ashamed,

9:04

she will tell him, and that shame cuts

9:07

so deep, so real, This whole

9:09

place is just so fucking real. The

9:11

old man reassures her too. He tells her to

9:14

share her story, that he is good

9:16

at grieving with those he loves,

9:19

So she tells him. She tells him about the cave

9:21

of the Long Rocks. She tells him

9:23

that it was there that she tried to fend off

9:25

Apollo, but that she couldn't, that

9:28

he forced her, and

9:30

he he remembers. This

9:33

kind old man who's known Creusa her

9:36

entire life, remembers not

9:38

the assault. He didn't know about that, but

9:40

he'd noticed that she'd changed.

9:43

He'd noticed that she grieved something

9:46

he didn't understand, and he

9:48

remembers it. She

9:50

tells him that she gave birth, and when he asks

9:52

who helped her where it happened, she

9:55

tells him that she did it alone, in the very

9:57

same place where she was raped. My

10:01

heart fucking aches, But oh, does it

10:03

feel overwhelming love for your ibities

10:05

for writing this, forgiving a fuck

10:08

with this man too. He is presenting a kind

10:11

of alternative to suit this men.

10:13

He's showing can care about

10:16

these plights of women, especially

10:18

when their control, their possessions

10:22

aren't at risk. This man

10:24

has nothing. He's been enslaved to Creus

10:26

his family, so he's not struggling

10:28

for power, he's

10:31

working on pure empathy, and

10:35

he keeps asking questions. He wants to know

10:37

everything. He wants to understand everything

10:39

that Creusa went through. Once

10:41

again contrasting suit this who

10:44

may not have known anything about this part of Creus's

10:46

life, but Who's made it very clear that he's not interested

10:49

in asking after other people's lived

10:51

experiences, only his own.

10:54

When the old man asks, Creusa tells

10:57

him. She tells him that no one knew but

10:59

the birth, That no one knew but the child

11:01

she left in the cave. He

11:03

asks her how she could do it, how she could

11:05

leave him, and it doesn't feel accusatory,

11:08

but a sincere question that is sincerely

11:10

answered. Creusa replies, quote,

11:13

how crying my heart out

11:15

in pitiful sobs, she

11:18

didn't have anything else she could do. She couldn't keep

11:20

the baby. No one could know what happened. They

11:22

would never believe a god had fathered

11:25

the child, and so she would be branded

11:27

ruined, probably thrown out from her

11:29

home. The baby probably in the end

11:31

would have died anyway. And she keeps

11:34

talking about it, this sadness and

11:36

the heartbreak that she'd had when she had

11:38

to do it, how the baby had reached

11:40

out to her, suffered when she

11:42

couldn't reach back, And

11:45

she shares another secret that it

11:47

was her hope that the God would have saved

11:49

the child, That she hadn't wanted

11:51

him to die, but she couldn't have cared

11:53

for him herself. The

11:56

God stepping in to save his child

11:58

was her only hope. She lives in

12:00

a world in which she couldn't have done anything

12:02

else, and Euripides is shoving it down the throats

12:04

of the Athenian men and his audience. It's

12:07

no wonder that this is one of his alphabet plays,

12:09

one of his plays that didn't become famous

12:11

and that wasn't taught in schools. This play

12:14

forces its viewers to face some harsh,

12:16

fucking truths about the world in which they

12:18

lived perfectly happy and free,

12:20

but where women, let alone everyone

12:23

else had nothing of the sort.

12:27

When the old man starts crying, lamenting,

12:29

Creusa asks him why he's

12:32

he's hurt. Seeing her hurt, he

12:34

tells her that she should gave revenge on

12:36

the god who wronged her, and when she asks

12:39

how she, as a mortal, could

12:41

possibly harm the God, he says

12:44

quote, set fire

12:46

to the venerable oracle of Loxius,

12:50

burn the oracle to the ground,

12:53

he's suggesting, but

12:55

Crius is afraid, too afraid to

12:58

do something so dramatic, so

13:00

instead, again he suggests that she kill

13:02

her husband. No, she

13:04

says she still respects him. He was once

13:06

a good man. Okay,

13:09

the old man says, then kill the child who

13:11

threatens your place. That

13:13

she's keen on. This is still a Greek

13:15

myth after all, and actually I should

13:18

have said this earlier. But this is a happy ending,

13:20

Like if you like me right now, need a happy ending.

13:22

This has a happy ending, and

13:24

this is a Greek myth. So we're gonna have some

13:27

drama before we get there. So you

13:29

know this this Chreu says, keen

13:31

on, this is still a Greek myth. We have to get some

13:33

intrigue before the big reveal. She's got to want

13:35

to kill her own child before she can learn that he

13:37

is indeed her own child. How

13:40

would she do it? Though? The old

13:42

man suggests giving her women swords,

13:44

which I fucking love. But Chriusa

13:47

does it. She thinks it's a bit much. Well,

13:49

he's going to be at the feast held by her husband.

13:52

The old man says, you could do it there. She's

13:55

unsure of that too, and he gets a little frustrated

13:57

by her hesitance. But she isn't

13:59

giving up. She tells him that she does have something that might

14:01

work. He's willing to be her accomplice,

14:04

he says, if she tells him what her

14:06

plan is. And so here we get

14:08

to the reason I picked up this play that has

14:10

changed my life for the better. Here in part

14:13

four, Creus asks

14:15

the old man if he knows of the quote

14:17

Battle of the earth Born.

14:20

Yes, he says, quote in which the

14:23

giants made a stand against the gods

14:25

at Flegria. There,

14:27

Chreusa tells him quote Earth

14:29

gave birth to the Gorgon, dire

14:32

monster. He

14:35

knows the story. It was Earth's attempt to

14:37

help her earth born giant children in their battle

14:39

with the Olympians, exactly,

14:41

Criusa says, quote, and Zeus's

14:44

daughter, the goddess Palace, killed

14:46

her. Oh, is that the story?

14:48

The old man clarifies, is that the story he'd

14:50

heard so long ago. Athena

14:53

wears the gorgon on her armor, Creus ads

14:56

her aegis, he clarifies, and

14:58

what does it look like? He asks. She

15:00

tells him, Quote a breastplate

15:03

armored with the coils of a viper.

15:06

The gorgon egis Athena is shield

15:08

where the fearful face sits, forever

15:11

immortal. And if you're listening

15:14

to me thinking live, what are you talking about? That isn't

15:16

the story of Medusa? And it's Medusa's

15:19

head in Athena's shield. Well,

15:21

we'll get back to that first.

15:24

This gorgon's blood is special. When

15:26

the old man asks how this will help them

15:28

kill the boy, Creusa tells him that her ancestor

15:31

athens is founding king born of the Earth

15:34

of Athens, Ericthonius, when

15:36

he was born Athena gave him a

15:38

gift. Quote two drops

15:41

of the gorgon's blood.

15:44

And what does that do? He asks? Quote

15:47

one is lethal, the other an antidote

15:50

to diseases. Creusa

15:53

tells him that she carries these two drops of blood

15:55

on her always in two gold bracelets

15:58

passed down by her father. How

16:00

does it work, he asks. Crius

16:03

explains one type of gorgon

16:05

blood came from a vein. The

16:07

antidote keeps illnesses away and

16:09

can even save a life, and

16:12

the other, the other drop of blood is

16:14

from the Gorgan's snakes. It's

16:16

venom poison. She

16:19

explains that she wears them separate, they

16:21

can't be mixed together. Well,

16:24

then the old man concludes, you've got

16:26

everything you need. Yes,

16:28

Creusa confirms, this is how the boy

16:30

will die, and you'll be the one to do it. They

16:33

continue to plan they'll do it when they return

16:36

to Athens. When he arrives at her home. Oh,

16:39

that's not a great idea, he tells her. Everyone

16:41

will assume you did it, even if you don't.

16:45

You're right, creusagrees. Quote

16:47

everybody says stepmothers hate their step

16:49

children. Kill

16:51

him here in Delphi. The old man suggests, then

16:54

you can keep yourself out of it, and

16:56

it will be finished so much sooner. Crius

16:58

adds, well, you know what to

17:00

do. Then, Creusa tells him. She gives

17:02

him the gold bracelets and tells him to go

17:04

to her husband's feast for his new son. When

17:07

they go to Poor Libay, to the gods, he can

17:09

pour the poison into the boy's drink. She

17:13

clarifies, though, that he should insure

17:15

to keep the venom away from everybody

17:17

else. She only wants the boy dead.

17:19

He poses not only a threat, but a constant

17:22

reminder of her own trauma, her own

17:24

inability to have a child to love

17:26

after the loss of her own. The

17:29

old man agrees with her plan. He tells her to

17:31

go inside the guesthouse where she'll be staying.

17:33

He'll handle the task that they've just discussed.

17:36

Chrisa leaves, and before he goes

17:39

off, he speaks of what he intends to do

17:41

and notes quote for the

17:43

prosperous, it is a fine thing to

17:45

respect piety, but if one wishes

17:48

to do harm to one's enemies, there is

17:50

no law or custom that stands

17:52

in our way. Rich

17:54

people can do whatever they want, he's

17:56

basically saying, and God's if

17:58

that isn't far too real. Rich

18:01

people can keep bombing children, keep burning

18:03

innocent refugees in a safe

18:05

zone that they told them to flee to, so just

18:07

so long as they keep getting richer. The

18:40

chorus sings of Hecate and

18:42

Persephone. Really a goddess

18:44

that combines the two quote

18:47

Enodia of the Crossroads, Daughter

18:49

of Demeter, you are queen of assaults

18:52

that come at night and now during

18:54

the day, guide the filling of

18:56

the deadly drinking cup against those

18:59

whom my mistress aims them with drops

19:01

from the earth born Gorgon slit

19:04

throat against the man trying

19:06

to lay siege to the house of

19:08

the Erek. That I they

19:11

sing to this goddess, asking that no foreigner

19:13

come to Athens to take over, that

19:16

no one but Athenians born of its soil

19:18

may take up the role of leader. There's

19:22

a lot going on here. I'm trying. I can't

19:24

provide any more commentary. They sing

19:26

of their mistress of Creusa

19:28

and the grief they know she will feel

19:31

if this fails. They sing

19:33

of her loss, that she would likely take

19:35

her own life just to save herself

19:37

the suffering if this plan doesn't

19:40

work. It's a metaphor, though

19:42

really they don't seem afraid she'd actually

19:44

do it, but instead of what would

19:46

come over her if she had to live the new

19:48

life. In their minds, Ion

19:51

seems to have become a kind of stand in for

19:53

Apollo, the god who hurt Creusas

19:55

so badly, then gave her husband

19:57

a son and her nothing. They

20:00

can't see past the hurt and the anger. They

20:03

sing of the way they'd feel if the boy were

20:05

to live in Athens or to witness its festivals,

20:08

and celebrations. They

20:10

sing to those who criticize women for

20:12

their marriages. They sing of flipping

20:15

the switch on those who demoralize

20:17

women, who blame them for things they have no control

20:19

over. Quote. Let the song

20:22

be sung in reverse, and the muse

20:24

sing out of tune against men for

20:26

their heedless couplings. Sing

20:31

Muse of the crimes of men.

20:35

They sing of Apollo, how he's abandoned

20:37

his son and showed such ingratitude

20:40

to a woman he wronged so horribly.

20:43

A servant eventually joins the chorus

20:46

on stage. He's looking for Creusa.

20:49

They've been caught found out.

20:51

He tells them that the authorities of Delphi

20:54

are searching for her, that they intend to put

20:56

her to death. When the chorus

20:58

asks, the servant shares his story.

21:00

There is always a messenger speech. Remember

21:03

to share the moments that happen off stage.

21:06

And what's happened off stage was

21:08

the feat. He

21:11

describes Suitus's actions, how

21:13

he went off to pay his respects to

21:15

the gods and left Ion to put together

21:17

the feast, or watch over the

21:20

servants who would put together to the feast. Really,

21:22

he tells them of the process, how they erected

21:24

a tent to keep away the afternoon sun

21:27

and its heat. How they prepared the space

21:29

exactly as the gods require. How

21:31

he brought in sacred offerings from the

21:33

treasuries. He tells them

21:35

of how they adorned the tent, How there

21:38

were offerings made by Heracles,

21:40

things he'd taken from the amazons.

21:43

How the fabric had stories woven

21:45

into it, Helios in his sun,

21:47

Chariot, Night in her own, the

21:49

Pleiades in the sky. How the constellations

21:52

of the sky were woven into this fabric.

21:55

He tells us of the rest of the tent,

21:57

how its walls were made of offerings

21:59

from other city states, how the daughters

22:02

of Erectheus were on one.

22:04

He tells them of the dinner, how it had all

22:06

taken place, how it was decorated, and

22:08

how fine the food was. Then

22:11

he tells of what happened. This

22:14

servant, this messenger, says that after

22:16

everyone had eaten, the old man came

22:18

to serve the party. He tells

22:20

them how the revelers laughed at him, how

22:23

he poured water and lit incense, how

22:25

he took charge of the festivities and prepared

22:28

the drinks, replacing old cups for

22:30

new ones. He tells of how

22:32

the old man handed the boy a very specific

22:34

cup, how the cup and the wine within

22:37

it had been tainted with the Gorgon's

22:39

venomous blood. He tells

22:41

them that the boy Ion had heard

22:43

a servant saying some inauspicious

22:46

word and took it as an omen. He'd

22:48

been so long working for the god, he was

22:50

always prepared for signs. He

22:53

requested a new cup of wine because

22:55

of the omen, and he poured the other on the

22:57

ground as a libation for the gods.

23:00

He instructed everyone to do the same, and

23:02

then the cups were refilled with a special

23:04

wine, a sweet wine from Thrace.

23:07

He told them that as this was happening,

23:09

a flock of doves flew down

23:11

from Apollo's temple, and, as

23:13

they were thirsty, set out to

23:15

drink some of the wine that had been spilled

23:18

on the ground. He tells them

23:20

about how only the birds who drank

23:22

from the boys spilled wine died,

23:25

how they didn't just die, but horribly

23:27

and painfully. This

23:29

was how they caught the old man, how they knew he'd

23:32

poisoned Ion's cup, How the people

23:34

forced him to tell the story that only

23:36

under compulsion he gave up the truth that

23:39

it was Creusa who'd ordered him to do it.

23:42

He tells them how Ion had come out of

23:44

the celebration and spoken to the crowd,

23:46

that he'd made the claim against Creusa,

23:48

and announced that the whole of Delphi

23:51

was looking for her, that she came

23:53

there on a tragic search for answers,

23:55

and quote from Phoebus,

23:57

she acquired a longing for children

24:00

and now has lost her life and the

24:02

hope of children with it. The

24:18

chorus sings of inescapable

24:21

death, how they will face it

24:23

alongside Creusa. They

24:25

sing of Dionysus's wine mixing

24:28

with the blood of snakes. They

24:30

sing of escape, attempts to avoid

24:32

death. Maybe they could find a chariot

24:35

or a ship, but they add quote,

24:38

there is no way to hide unless a god

24:40

decides to spirit one away from

24:42

the scene. This

24:44

is, of course, meant to make us think

24:47

not only of them, but of ionto how

24:49

this was how he avoided death. Even

24:51

if the play's characters don't yet understand

24:54

that. They sing of Creusa,

24:56

of the suffering that she now faces,

24:59

and they sing of violence. They acknowledge

25:01

their role in wishing harm on their neighbor,

25:04

and how there will be justice for it. And

25:07

again it is inten that it is

25:09

these women who acknowledge their mistake,

25:12

that their actions and goals were wrong,

25:14

and that they should face consequences for

25:16

those actions. They don't try

25:18

to deny it or justify it, or

25:20

say that it was a mistake. It

25:23

happened, and they helped. It's

25:26

then that Creusa returns. She speaks

25:28

immediately of what they face, how the

25:30

people of Delphi want them dead. We

25:34

know. They tell her quote what

25:36

troubles fortune has left you in?

25:40

Creusa speaks of escaping. Could

25:42

she do it? She barely got out of the home

25:45

where she was staying. She had to keep hidden.

25:47

The chorus, though, has an idea. They

25:49

tell her that she must go to the altar of Apollo

25:52

and that there she will be a suppliant

25:54

to the God. That won't stop her

25:56

from being killed. Creusa acknowledges, but

25:59

the chorus explains that it will at

26:01

least curse those who dare to

26:03

kill her on the altar to the god.

26:06

So she does. She rushes to the altar and takes

26:09

her place as a suppliant. And

26:11

this is when Ion, with armed people

26:13

of Delphi, find her. Ion

26:18

is well. He is rightly angry. He

26:20

calls Creusa a viper, describes

26:22

her eyes red and flashing

26:24

like a snake's. He speaks

26:26

of what she attempted quote, her

26:29

daring knows no bounds, and she's

26:31

as potent as the gorgon's blood

26:33

with which she meant to kill me. He

26:37

calls for her to be taken, speaks of how

26:39

she'll be hurled from the cliffs of Parnassus.

26:41

He talks about how he's lucky that it happened

26:44

there in Delphi and not in Athens.

26:46

There he has friends, there, he will

26:48

have justice. He tells Creusa

26:50

then that the altar of Apollo won't

26:53

save her. That quote, any

26:55

pity for you belongs more to me

26:58

and my mother. She may not be

27:00

with me in person, but the name of Mother

27:03

is never far from my heart.

27:06

They fight over Apollo, or

27:10

who is his and who is not. Creusa

27:13

is pledging herself to the god there at

27:15

his altar in this attempt to save her life.

27:17

Ion, though, sees the god at his as his father.

27:20

Even when Creusa speaks of him belonging

27:22

to a new father to Suthus, Ion

27:25

insists his real father is Apollo.

27:28

He's no longer Apollos. She says

27:31

that's why she wanted him dead. He was

27:33

going to be an enemy to her, someone invading

27:35

her home. He tells her that he

27:37

wasn't heading to Athens with an army and that he

27:40

wasn't planning to invade, but

27:42

she can't see that. She says he'd planned

27:44

to quote set fire to

27:46

the house of Erectheus. Where

27:49

is the fire? Ion asks, do you

27:51

see any evidence that I want to harm the

27:53

home? They keep talking,

27:56

speaking of Creus's fears and what she was

27:58

prepared to do as she

28:00

saw it, to defend herself and her

28:02

home, her city. They speak

28:04

of the land that Xuthus intended

28:06

to give to Ion says, that's

28:09

all he would have taken. But to Creusa,

28:12

that wasn't Xuthus's to give.

28:14

It's Athenian land he won by helping

28:17

them in a war and marrying their princess.

28:19

It isn't his to give. There's

28:22

no land for me and my father, Ion asks.

28:25

She tells him Caxuthus is basically a mercenary.

28:27

That it's a shield and spear he can give to

28:29

his son, not the land of Athens.

28:34

Ion orders her to leave Apollo's

28:36

temple and she tells him, quote,

28:39

give that advice to your mother, whoever

28:41

she is. And

28:43

finally it comes out when Ion asks

28:45

her if she won't face the consequences for what

28:47

she tried to do. She says that she will, but

28:49

it will happen on the God's doorstep,

28:52

that it will happen right there. And

28:54

when he asks if she gets some kind of thrill

28:56

from dying alongside the God,

28:59

that's when she tells him, quote, I

29:01

will grieve someone by whom I

29:04

have been grieved at

29:07

this Ion la the system,

29:09

the world they live in. He says

29:12

it's not fair that someone who's committed

29:14

a crime can hide by an altar,

29:16

that it's not right for someone like that to

29:18

touch things that belong to the gods.

29:21

He says that it isn't right that someone

29:23

who's committed a crime can be on equal

29:26

footing in the holy space.

29:28

Quote the good and the evil

29:31

going to the same altar ought

29:33

not to have equal protection from

29:35

the gods. And

29:38

this is when the Pythia herself, the

29:40

woman who shares the God's prophecies,

29:43

comes out of the temple and speaks

29:45

to Ion. He greets her

29:47

as a mother, even if she didn't give birth to him,

29:49

she's the closest thing he's had to one. She

29:52

tells him that he's wrong to blame Creusa,

29:55

quite so strongly, wrong to be so

29:57

unforgiving of her. The Pithia

29:59

speaks of the relationships between children

30:02

and stepmothers, how the latter

30:04

are so often hostile.

30:06

What she doesn't say is why, because women

30:09

in that world are defined by their children.

30:11

It is a real and tangible threat.

30:13

When there are children by their husbands and

30:16

other women, it isn't petty

30:18

jealousy, but real and deadly threats.

30:22

And it's the Pithea, another woman, another

30:25

mother figure, who's going to talk him down.

30:27

She tells him to be more forgiving, to understand

30:30

better where Creusa is coming from. She

30:32

may not break down the reasoning, but she feels

30:34

for Creusa, and well

30:37

she knows things. She tells them to leave Apollo's

30:39

temple and that it's time for him to go to the land

30:42

of his father. She tells

30:44

him to go to Athens without guilt, and when

30:46

he says that people who kill their enemies are

30:48

guiltless, she disagrees. She

30:51

tells them to listen very closely to

30:53

take in what she is going to say. Quote

30:56

do you see this basket I'm holding in my arms?

31:00

Sure, Ion says, I see that it's

31:02

old and decorated. She

31:04

tells him that this was the basket she found

31:06

him in as a newborn. Tells him

31:09

that she's kept secrets and is now

31:11

shining a light on them. She

31:13

tells him when he asks, that she hid the

31:15

truth because the God wanted it, because

31:17

he wanted Ion to serve him. She

31:20

tells him that this has ended, that by

31:22

telling Ion of his father, he was sending

31:24

him away. She tells him that the

31:26

basket still holds the clothes

31:29

he wore as a baby when he arrived

31:31

in Delphi for her to care for. And

31:33

when Ion asks if this is her

31:36

way of helping him look for his mother, she

31:38

tells him that the God wanted the truth hidden

31:40

before, but he doesn't now. She

31:43

gives him the basket, tells him to take

31:45

it and look for his mother. Her

31:48

story with him is finished. She's done as

31:51

the God ordered, and so the Pithia

31:53

leaves Ion with tears brimming

31:56

in his eyes, and

31:58

Creusa was of course watching

32:01

all of this. Ion

32:15

speaks to himself about his mother.

32:17

He speaks of his lost childhood.

32:19

All the things he missed out on, how he never

32:22

felt his mother's love. He speaks

32:24

of how she too is suffering

32:26

for the same reasons. He

32:28

speaks of everything he was deprived of, and

32:30

he considers offering the basket

32:32

to Apollo, of just giving it away before

32:35

he can find out anything that he doesn't want

32:37

to know, but he snaps out of

32:39

it just in time, recalling that the Pythia told

32:41

him so specifically that this was a secret

32:43

that had to be found out.

32:46

So he opens the basket and pulls out what's

32:48

inside sacred wrappings

32:51

and offerings. He pulls out his

32:53

baby clothes, how they're in perfect condition

32:55

despite all the time that they'd

32:57

sat waiting, And of

33:00

course this is when Chriusus sees

33:02

what he's holding. Quote what

33:04

is this apparition? I see beyond

33:06

my wildest dream? He

33:09

tells her to shut up, she's already caused

33:11

enough trouble, but she won't.

33:14

This is not the time for silence, she tells him. Quote,

33:16

I see the carrier in which many

33:19

years ago I placed you, oh

33:21

my child, when you were still a newborn

33:23

baby, at the cave of key crops,

33:26

and under the ledge of the long rocks.

33:28

I shall leave the sanctuary of this altar.

33:31

Even if I must die,

33:34

Ion thinks she's been given some kind of madness

33:37

from Apollo. He has her restrained.

33:41

She tells him that he can kill her if he wants.

33:44

Quote, I will take hold of this

33:46

and you and what is hidden inside

33:48

that belongs to you. Ion

33:52

laments what's happened. Quote I am

33:54

seized as property by trickery.

33:58

There's that word again, property, But

34:00

she tells him quote no, but

34:03

you are found dear to those who

34:05

love you. Meanwhile,

34:07

South has told him that he you should love to suit this. That was

34:09

basically the only thing he said. Because

34:12

for the hundredth time, she is not her husband. She seeks

34:14

a child to love and to care

34:17

for, not property to

34:19

possess. She tells him

34:21

how dear he is to her, even as

34:24

he calls her a liar, but

34:26

she can prove it. Ion

34:28

begins pulling things out of the basket as

34:31

Creusa names what's inside. It's

34:33

her test. She tells him to look for a piece

34:36

that she wove as a child, that it

34:38

was unfinished, but it had quote a

34:40

gorgon in the center of the garments

34:42

fabric. They

34:45

speak of the gorgon's image that she wove,

34:47

how it looked just like Athena's aegis.

34:50

Creusa keeps naming the items inside

34:52

the basket, and Ion keeps pulling them

34:54

out and confirming her right. She

34:56

tells him of the ornaments she gave

34:59

to the newborn, what they were, and

35:01

how they served to honor his birth.

35:03

She tells him that she had put a garland

35:05

of olive around him quote

35:08

and if it's there, it has never lost

35:10

its fresh green color, but still flourishes

35:13

because it's from an incorruptible

35:15

olive. And

35:19

this is it. This is enough for Ion.

35:21

He pulls her into a hug, calling her

35:23

mother and telling her how happy he is

35:26

to have found her. She tells him

35:28

that he is a light brighter

35:30

than the sun. She tells him that she

35:32

thought he was dead, that she's so happy

35:34

to hold him in her arms. He tells

35:36

her that in her arms he feels as though

35:39

he's moving between the world of the living

35:41

and that of the dead. They hug

35:43

and kiss and speak of how happy

35:46

they are, how relieved and full

35:48

of joy. Ion

35:50

tells her quote, for me, mother,

35:52

anything was likely to have happened rather

35:55

than this, that I am yours.

35:58

He's offering himself

36:00

to her. He's hers not

36:03

because it's the law, or because she can

36:05

wield power over him. He's hers because

36:07

of love and affection. Creusa

36:11

tells him, quote, my child,

36:13

your birth was full of tears. You were

36:15

parted from your mother's arms amid

36:17

cries of anguish. But now

36:20

my lips pressed to your cheeks, I

36:22

draw breath, feeling a most

36:24

sublime pleasure. But

36:27

when she speaks of being no longer childless,

36:30

how she's been blessed, and the line

36:32

of Athens will continue. This

36:35

is when he mentions his father, or

36:37

who he believes to be his father, Suthus,

36:40

and so Criusa has to tell him the truth. She

36:42

tells him that he has a different father,

36:45

that there was no wedding celebration.

36:48

She calls on Athena to help, but

36:51

calls her the Gorgon killer. She

36:53

has trouble getting it out, speaking in these confused

36:56

half sentences. As she slowly

36:58

gets the information out that

37:00

his father is Apollo,

37:03

she tells him that it was the work of her girlhood

37:05

that she had wrapped him in when she was born,

37:08

things she made as a child,

37:10

because she was a child, when Apollo

37:13

made her a mother, She

37:15

tells him what she did, how she meant

37:17

to kill him, but that it was

37:19

against her will. He replies

37:22

by reminding her that she almost died

37:24

by his hands. Creusa

37:27

speaks of their bad fortune, how their fates

37:29

have been twisted, how it just keeps twisting.

37:32

But she hopes that now it's over, that they've

37:34

been through enough. Ion,

37:36

though, has to be sure. He pulls her

37:38

to the side so he can whisper to her and asks

37:41

if she's lying, if she's trying to cover up for something

37:43

else that would have shamed her. That

37:46

she's saying he's the son of Apollo, maybe to cover

37:48

up the secret. So she swears

37:50

on everything she has that it was Apollo

37:53

who fathered him, and

37:55

so the oracle is clarified. When

37:57

Ion asks why Apoulo would say that he was

38:00

xuth as his son, Creusa notes that

38:02

that wasn't what he said. He said he

38:04

was giving Ion as a gift to soothe

38:06

this. Criso explains

38:09

that in doing so, the god has helped Ion

38:11

that without a father to claim, he wouldn't

38:13

have anything, wouldn't inherit what is

38:16

rightly his? Through Creusa by

38:18

saying Suthus is his father Apollo

38:21

is giving him what is his right by birth,

38:24

because yeah, Euripides is also going to throw

38:26

in a bit of commentary on how lineage doesn't

38:28

pass through mothers to their children even

38:30

when their princess is born of Athenian

38:33

soil. Ion

38:36

hasn't ready to be done with it, though. He He wants

38:38

to go inside and just like ask Apollo for

38:40

himself, but he's stopped

38:43

because Athena is here. Instead. She

38:45

appears on the roof of the temple, hovering

38:47

with the help of that diosex machina,

38:50

that crane that serves

38:52

to hold the gods above the mortals on the

38:54

ancient stage. She's

38:57

there to set the record straight. She tells

38:59

him she's there with this message from Apollo.

39:01

She confirms the Ion is indeed

39:03

his son, and that he's been given to Xuthus

39:06

as a gift for all the reasons Creusas

39:08

say. She directs her words then

39:10

to Creusa and tells her to

39:12

bring Eye on to Athens to seat him

39:14

there on the throne of Erectheus, at

39:16

his rightful place as an Athenian born

39:19

of its soil. She tells him of what's

39:21

to come, how he will give his name to the Ionian

39:24

people how it all happened,

39:26

and why she takes the guilt

39:28

away from Apollo, which is disappointing

39:30

but unsurprising and likely a necessary

39:32

thing in order for this play to actually be staged,

39:36

And so Creusa forgives him because

39:38

he brought her son back to her.

39:56

Well, Nerd, thank you so much for listening.

39:59

As always, this episode

40:01

was very long. I had to keep all of your

40:03

ibides' words. This play is too good.

40:06

I had planned to talk with the Gorgon in

40:08

this piece, because she is such a unique

40:11

Gorgan, but I will have to wait.

40:13

I have travel coming up like tomorrow,

40:15

and had too much to write and record, and

40:18

I've done it in between witnessing the horrors

40:20

perpetrated by Western civilization. This

40:23

love between a mother and her child was

40:25

just. It was particularly hard to read

40:27

after I watched Tents and a Refugee

40:29

Can't Burn camp

40:31

full of sheltering families who'd gone

40:34

to the safe zone just as they were told

40:36

to do, mothers who

40:38

watched their children burn alive. They

40:41

said it was a mistake, but the next

40:43

day they used helicopters to shoot civilians

40:45

trying to escape a hospital. So I

40:48

don't know how anyone can

40:50

believe them, like, is this if this is how

40:52

we as a civilization respond to

40:54

the deaths of innocent Western

40:56

civilians by burning

40:59

babies alive and killing five times

41:01

as many children. I

41:04

just I don't know what else to say.

41:08

I won't to review today. Thank you for all

41:10

of them, but I just I can't read words of praise

41:12

for myself right now. Be

41:16

mad. I don't know. I'm feeling

41:18

too despared to be mad at this moment,

41:20

but I will be later and you can do it too.

41:24

We can't. We can't let them convince

41:27

us that this was necessary. We

41:30

can't. Let's talk about myths.

41:32

Maybe is written and produced by me Live Albert

41:34

Nikayla Smith is my assistant producer.

41:36

Laura Smith is the production assistant and audio

41:39

engineer. Select music in this episode

41:41

was by Luke Chaos. The podcast

41:44

is part of the iHeart Podcast Network. Listen

41:46

on Spotify or Apple or wherever you get

41:48

you your podcasts. I

41:50

do have a Patreon, but if you

41:52

ever thought about giving me money, you should give

41:55

it to Palestine

41:57

instead, Palatinian Children's Relief

41:59

Fund, maybe ANRA. Anyway,

42:05

I am live

42:08

and I

42:10

love your ipodies. I can say that I

42:13

will fucking love your ipodies,