lacchus

lacchus was an obscure god sometimes called the son of Demeter (or of Persephone) and often identified with Dionysus, although occasionally said to be his son. Dionysus' other name, of course, was Bacchus, and it is possible that Iacchus came to be identified with him because of a resemblance between the two names.

Or again, as with Bacchus (and also Hymen) his name may have evolved from a ritual cry: he was always associated, as Dionysus was, with shouting and revelry. Furthermore, the verb 'to shout' is iacho, so he really seems to be a sort of personalised shout of joy ('Yahoo', so to speak).

Ialysa

Ialysa was one of the Danai'ds, whose name seems to mean 'wailing woman', from ialemos, 'wail', 'lament', or rather ialemizo, 'to bewail', which gave ialemistria, 'wailing woman'. Her name is thus a 'worn-down' form, as are those of Cameira and Linda, also daughters of Danaë.

ïambe

ïambe was a servant woman in the house of Celeus of Eleusis who consoled Demeter with her jokes. Her name seems to be closely linked to the iamb or iambus, the metrical foot in Greek verse that consisted of two syllables - a short one followed by a long one (as in the English word 'defeat').

Such verse was often jesting in nature, and it is not impossible that her name is the origin of the term for the foot. (According to some authorities, the Greek word for the foot, iambos, derives from iapto, 'to assail', 'shoot', that is, to lampoon.)

Iamus

Iamus, the son of Apollo and Evadne, has his tale told by Pindar in his Olympian Odes. When a newborn baby, Iamus was fed by two snakes on the 'innocuous venom of bees' (ios, accusative ion, 'venom'), and at five days old he was found with his 'tender body bedewed with the yellow and red rays' of violets (ion, 'violet'), so his mother called him Iamos, 'violety'. A colourful origin, but it is disturbing that violets do not normally have 'yellow and red rays'. Perhaps Pindar had another flower in mind, such as the gillyflower.

Ianthe

Ianthe was the girl loved by Iphis (who was actually another girl disguised as a boy so that she could do this). Her name seems to mean 'violet flower', from ion, 'violet' and anthos, 'flower'.

She was the daughter of Telestes of Crete, and her name would seem to be merely a 'pretty' one, with no special significance. (It resembles the name Iolanthe, familiar to lovers of Gilbert and Sullivan. This is not a name in Greek mythology, however. If it was, it too would mean 'violet', since it is really a form of Violetta via French Yolande.)

Iapetus

Iapetus was a Titan, so the son of Uranus and Gaia. He was the husband of Clymene, who bore to him the Titans Promotheus, Epimetheus, Atlas and Menoetius. His name apparently derives from laptop 'to assail', 'strike' (see also Iambe), but whether it is of Greek origin or not, it is almost certainly related to the Biblical Japhet (one of the sons of Noah), whose own name is usually explained as meaning 'spacious' (or 'youthful' or 'beautiful').

It has on the other hand been pointed out that if his name is derived from ipto, 'to oppress', then it will have exactly the same meaning ('oppressed') as that of another Biblical character, Job. Perhaps he was intended to represent a man 'born to misery', or to symbolise mankind itself thus.

Iasion

Iasion (or Iasius) was the son of Zeus (or Corythus) and Electra. He married Demeter and (possibly later) Cybele. His name seems to have something to do with dealing, since it resembles iasis, 'cure', 'remedy'. Such an interpretation, however, can only be a conjecture since we are not told much about him.

Iaso

Iaso can be more positively connected with iasis, 'cure', since this daughter of Asclepius was a goddess of healing and health, like her sister Hygea.

Iasus

Iasus, too, also appears to have been a healer (compare Iaso). He was king of Argos and the brother of Agenor and Pelasgus (or else a son of Argus). Another Iasus was a son of Lycurgus, who one story says was the father of Atalanta.

Icarius

Icarius (not to be confused with Icarus) was the name of two mythological characters of note: the son of Oebalus and Batia (or Perieres and Gorgophone), and the father of Erigone.

The first Icarius married Periboea who bore him two daughters, Penelope and Iphthime, as well as five sons. Although not the same person as Icarus, his name would seem to be of similar origin, and for the possibilities see the name of his better-known near namesake.

Icarus

Icarus was the son of Daedalus who flew too near the sun so that his wax wings melted and he plunged into the sea, named the Icarian after him. In much that he did, Icarus was similar to his father, and for this reason it seems appropriate to suggest a derivation such as eico, 'to yield', 'obey', 'follow' for his name. The noun eicon (English 'icon'), 'figure', 'likeness', would also produce this sense.

Idaea

Idaea was a daughter of Dardanus, king of Scythia. She married Phineus, and bore him Thynius and Mariandynus. Another Idaea was a nymph from Mount Ida who bore Teucer to Scamander. Doubtless her name reveals the meaning of Idaea - 'from Mount Ida'. (Although ida also meant 'wood', 'copse', and she might thus have been a wood nymph.)

Idas

Idas, with his inseparable brother Lynceus, was the son of Aphareus, king of Messenia, and Arene. His name suggests 'Ida', but we are not told of any connection with this famous mountain.

He was an adventurous (and headstrong) person, however, so perhaps his name relates to idea, 'form', 'manner', 'fashion'. Or again, as with Idaea, possibly ida, 'wood', 'timber' may be more fitting. (One incident involving a tree was when Idas' lynx-eyed brother Lynceus spotted Castor hiding inside an oak; Idas promptly killed him. This was the culminating stage of Idas' long-running quarrel with the Dioscuri.) Idas married Marpessa, who bore him Cleopatra (who married Meleager).

Idmon

Idmon was a son of Apollo and Cyrene who sailed with the Argonauts. He was a seer and predicted his own death on the journey. His name would therefore seem to derive from eido, 'to see', 'know', in a sense that Pierre Grimai translates as 'clairvoyant'.

Idomeneus

Idomeneus, king of Crete, was the leader of the Cretan forces in the Trojan War. He was the son of Deucalion. Perhaps his name, like that of Idmon, derives from idmon, 'practised', 'skilled', 'knowledgeable'.

Iliona

Iliona was the eldest daughter of Priam and Hecabe. She married Polymestor, king of Thrace. Priam was king of Troy, of course, and Iliona's name may therefore well mean 'lady of Ilium', since Mos or Mon was the alternative name for Troy (see Ilus).

Ilus

Ilus was the son of Tros and Callirrhoë. He married Eurydice, the daughter of Adrastus, and she bore him Laomedon and Themiste. He founded the city of Troy (Greek Mos, Latin Mum) and in it, where the Palladium dropped (see Pallas), the famous temple for Athena. His name seems to derive from He, 'troop', which seems appropriate.

Inachus

Inachus was the god of the river Inachus and a king of Argos. He was the son of Oceanus and Tethys, and he married his half-sister Melia, who bore him several children including Io.

His name is difficult to interpret with any obvious relevance: inodes means 'sinewy', 'fibrous' (this could have an erotic connotation), while einacis means 'nine times' (with possibly some ritual allusion). His name may even somehow link up with that of his daughter Io.

Ino

Ino was the daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia who became the wife of Athanas. Her name is so short that we can only speculate on an origin: perhaps is, inos, 'sinew', 'force', with some erotic or orgiastic connotation in the root. We are certainly told that she and her sisters Agave and Autonoë were stricken with a Bacchic frenzy in which they tore to pieces Agave's son Pentheus who had been spying on them.

After her death, however, Ino became known as Leucothea, and if this name (which see) relates to the white waves of the sea, then it is possible that Ino's original name was actually Ilo, and derives from Mo, 'to roll'. But further suggestions will only be even more fanciful than this.

Io

Io's main claim to fame is that she was turned into a white heifer by Hera or Zeus, and that when swimming through a section of the Adriatic Sea she gave her name to this as the Ionian Sea. (Later, still as a heifer and still swimming, she passed through the Bosporus, which as 'Oxford' - bos, 'ox' and poros, 'ford' - was also named after her.)

She was originally the daughter of Inachus, first king of Argos, and Melia. Traditionally she is associated with the moon, which in a dialect of Argos was called Io, from io, eimi, 'to go'. Equally, she could have been regarded as the feminine equivalent of Ion, and thus as a forerunner of the Ionian race.

Somehow the 'cow and moon' association seems the most attractive, since the inhabitants of Argos are said to have worshipped the moon as a cow, regarding the horned new moon as a source of water, and so of cattle food. There are those, even, who see the cow jumping over the moon in the 'Hey diddle diddle' nursery rhyme as symbolic of the changing seasons and the passing of the months.

Iona and Peter Opie firmly discount such explanations in The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes. (It is simply an agreeable coincidence that the female half of this husband-and-wife team has a name that itself may well link up with that of Io!)