Invocation.—An address at the commencement of a poem, in which the author calls for the aid of some divinity, particularly of his muse.
Iphigenia (if´i-jē-nī´ä).—The heroine of Euripides’ tragedy Iphigenia in Aulis, and of Goethe’s tragedy Iphigenia auf Tauris. She was placed on the altar in a rash vow by her father. Artemis at the last moment snatched her from the altar and carried her to heaven, substituting a hind in her place. The similarity of this legend to the scripture stories of Jephthah’s vow and Abraham’s offering of his son Isaac is noticeable.
Iras.—A strongly delineated character in Ben Hur, a Tale of The Christ, by Lew Wallace.
Iras.—A female attendant on Cleopatra in Shakespeare’s play, Antony and Cleopatra.
Isaac of York.—A wealthy Jew, the father of Rebecca, in Sir Walter Scott’s novel, Ivanhoe.
Isabella.—The heroine in Shakespeare’s comedy, Measure for Measure.
Island of Lanterns.—In the celebrated satire of Rabelais, an imaginary country inhabited by false pretenders to knowledge. The name was probably suggested by the City of Lanterns, in the Greek romance of Lucian. Swift has copied this same idea in his Island of Laputa.
Island of St. Brandan.—A marvelous flying island, the subject of an old and widely spread legend of the middle ages. Though the island of St. Brandan has been a disappointment to voyagers, it has been a favorite theme with poets.
Island of the Blest.—Imaginary island in the west. Hither the favorites of the gods were conveyed without dying, and dwelt in never-ending joy. The name first occurs in Hesiod’s Works and Days. This phrase is often used in modern literature.
Ithuriel (i-thö´ri-el).—In Milton’s Paradise Lost, an angel commissioned by Gabriel to search through paradise, in company with Zephon, to find Satan, who had eluded the vigilance of the angelic guard, and effected an entrance into the garden. It is related that Ithuriel found Satan “squat like a toad, close at the ear of Eve,” and transformed him by a touch of his spear into his proper shape.