Ion

In his play, Ion, Euripides attempts to answer the question of why the gods hold back justice. In the play, Creusa is seduced by Apollo and she becomes pregnant. In order to avoid shaming her father, Creusa abandons her son in a cave near Apollo’s temple at Delphi. She later marries Xuthus, who is unaware that she ever gave birth to a child. The two travel from Athens to Delphi because Xuthus wants to seek an oracle from Apollo concerning a male heir since they are childless.

At the temple, Creusa meets a young man named Ion who is the keeper of the temple. He tells Creusa of how he was abandoned as an infant and taken into custody at the temple, where he has lived for his whole life. He longs to know his mother and father but has lost all hope of ever knowing who they were. Touched by his sad story, Creusa tells of her misfortune, only she says it is a story of one of her friends.

Meanwhile, Xuthus receives an oracle in the temple telling him the next person he sees will be his son. As soon as he exits the temple he sees the Ion and runs and embraces him. Ion is startled, but when he hears that he will be adopted as Xuthus’s heir, he rejoices because at least he will have a father and a future.

Creusa, however, is outraged at this, fearing that Xuthus will kill her and give her inheritance and kingdom to Ion. She devises a plan to murder Ion with poison, lest she lose all she has. She has her servant put a drop of gorgon venom into Ion’s wine cup while he is partying with his friends over his good fortune and Xuthus is offering a sacrifice to Apollo. Ion, however, anticipates treachery and pours out the wine and has new wine brought. A bird drinks the wine and dies, confirming Ion’s suspicions. He calls the leaders of the city to arrest Creusa and throw her off a cliff for her crime.

Creusa hides in the temple but is found by Ion. Fortunately, Creusa realizes that Ion is the son she abandoned many years earlier when he tells her about the blanket and the basket he was left in. Ion rejoices to be reunited with his real mother and to learn that his father is a god. He agrees to keep this a secret from Xuthus, and they prepare to return to Athens as a happy family.

As they are leaving the temple, Athena appears and explains why Apollo had them wait so long to be reunited and why they had to go through such trying circumstances. Creusa repents of her anger and hatred towards Apollo, realizing that he had a greater plan to bless the region with a powerful new nation. Ion will have four sons who will set up power city states along the coast and on the islands of the Aegean Sea. This Ionian kingdom with have great influence throughout Asia and Europe. Xuthus will also have a natural son, Dorus, who will become a powerful king in Achaea.

Athena concludes her speech: “Heaven’s justice may tarry a while, yet comes it at the last in no wise weakened.”

The play ends with the chorus chanting: “’Tis only right that he, whose house is sore beset with trouble, should reverence God and keep good heart; for at the last the righteous find their just reward, but the wicked, as their nature is, will never prosper.”

The Greeks, as well as the Hebrews, struggled with the sovereignty of God (the gods) and the problem of evil. Both concluded that while the righteous may suffer, in the end, they will be blessed by God, and while the wicked may prosper for a while, they will not ultimately prosper in the end. God is in control and has our ultimate blessing in mind even though we may have to endure some trouble along the way. Don’t curse God when trouble comes; be patient and remain righteous.