Idomeneus (ī-dom´en-ūs).—King of Crete, and leader of the Cretans against Troy. He rashly vowed to Neptune that, if the god granted him a safe return, he would sacrifice to him whatever he should first meet on landing. He was met by his son, whom he accordingly sacrificed. A plague came in consequence, and the Cretans expelled Idomeneus.
Iduna, or Idun.—Daughter of the dwarf Svald, and wife of Bragi. She kept in a box the golden apples which the gods tasted as often as they wished to renew their youth. Loki on one occasion stole the box, but the gods compelled him to restore it. Iduna seems to personify that part of the year when the sun is north of the equator. Her apples indicate fruits generally. Loki carries her off to Giant-land when the sun descends below the equator, and he steals her apples. In time, Iduna makes her escape, in the form of a sparrow, when the sun again rises above the equator; and both gods and men rejoice in her return.
Ifing.—In Scandinavian mythology the great stream between the earth and the sacred lands, whose waters never froze.
Ilioneus (ī´li-o-nūs).—The youngest son of Niobe.
Ilium (ī´li-um).—A poetical name for Troy, derived from Ilus, the son of Tros, its founder. See “[Troja].”
Indra.—In Hindu mythology the ever-youthful god of the firmament, and the omnipotent ruler of the elements. He is a most important personage in Indian fable. In the Vedic period of the Hindu religion, he occupied a foremost rank, and, though degraded to an inferior position in the Epic, he long enjoyed a great legendary popularity. In works of art he is represented as riding on an elephant.
Ino (ī´nō).—Daughter of Cadmus and Hermione, wife of Athamas, king of Thebes.
Io (ī´ō).—Daughter of a king of Argos; beloved by Jupiter, and through fear of Juno changed into a cow (see “[Argus]”). Juno now tormented her with a gadfly, and drove her from land to land, swimming the Bosphorus (i. e. ox-ford), until she found rest at length in Egypt, where she regained her original form. She was afterwards worshiped as an Egyptian divinity under the name of Isis.
Iolaus (ī-o-lā´us).—The faithful companion and charioteer of Hercules.
Iphigenia (if-i-jen-ī´a).—Daughter of Agamemnon and Clytæmnestra, who was to have been offered up by way of expiation for an offense committed by her father against Diana in killing a hart in her sacred grove; but the goddess put a hart in her place and conveyed her to Tauris, when she became the priestess of the goddess. Here she afterwards saved her brother [Orestes] (q.v.).