Itonus, king of
Iton in
Phthiotis and son of
Amphictyon. He was married to
Melanippe, a
nymph, and had a son
Boeotus[2] and two daughters,
Chromia and
Iodame.[3] He founded a sanctuary of
Athena, where his daughter Iodame served as priestess. Itonis and Itonia, surnames of Athena, were believed to have been derived from his name. In some versions of Athena's parentage, king Itonus is the father of the goddess.[4] According to
Graves, the myth of Itonus represents a claim by the Itonians that they worshipped Athene even before the
Athenians did and his name shows that she had a willow cult in Phthiotis — like that of her counterpart, the goddess
Anatha, at
Jerusalem until
Jehovah's priests ousted her and claimed the rain—making willow as his tree at the
Feast of Tabernacles.[5]
This article includes a list of Greek mythological figures with the same or similar names. If an
internal link for a specific Greek mythology article referred you to this page, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended Greek mythology article, if one exists.
Itonus, king of
Iton in
Phthiotis and son of
Amphictyon. He was married to
Melanippe, a
nymph, and had a son
Boeotus[2] and two daughters,
Chromia and
Iodame.[3] He founded a sanctuary of
Athena, where his daughter Iodame served as priestess. Itonis and Itonia, surnames of Athena, were believed to have been derived from his name. In some versions of Athena's parentage, king Itonus is the father of the goddess.[4] According to
Graves, the myth of Itonus represents a claim by the Itonians that they worshipped Athene even before the
Athenians did and his name shows that she had a willow cult in Phthiotis — like that of her counterpart, the goddess
Anatha, at
Jerusalem until
Jehovah's priests ousted her and claimed the rain—making willow as his tree at the
Feast of Tabernacles.[5]
This article includes a list of Greek mythological figures with the same or similar names. If an
internal link for a specific Greek mythology article referred you to this page, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended Greek mythology article, if one exists.