#ioke

Catchup Post (2/2)

80 / ??!!

Daimon of onslaught, pursuit, and routs.

One of the guards of Zeus, as a spirit of the Aegis. Her companions are Alke, Eris, and Phobos. We do not know who her parents might be, nor when she was born.

She attends Athena in battle according to Homer, and we hear that Ioke is called Blood-Chilling. This is because the Aegis is most commonly described as being the Grey-Eyed Athene’s battle garb. Yet Zeus is also a bearer of the Aegis, and indeed, one of his epithets is Aigiochos, bearer of the Aegis. Hephaestus made it for Zeus. And Apollo has also worn it in battle. The Aegis brings Victory, and imbues the enemy with fear.

It is possible that there was a real ritual object in Athens which stood for the Aegis, but it is lost to time. We know almost nothing about Ioke, as the only surviving document that treats Her as a personification is Homer’s Iliad.

Khaire Ioke, Blood-chilling servant of Athene! Let those who would harm me and mine face your fury, And flee your onslaught. (Not that I’ve had any reason to use such a prayer, thank the Gods!)

Sources:

Theoi.com lsj.translatum.gr

Faraone, Christopher A. Ancient Greek Love Magic, Harvard, 1999. Hornblower, Simon, et al. The Oxford Classical Dictionary, Oxford, 2012. Kirk, G.S. The Iliad: A Commentary, Vol. 2, Cambridge, 1990. Van Wees, Hans. War and Violence in Ancient Greece, Classical Press, 2009.

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greek mythology | personified spirits | Αλκη