Iamus

For the computer, see Iamus (computer). For the album, see Iamus (album).

In Greek mythology, Iamus (Ancient Greek: Ἴαμος) was the son of Apollo and Evadne, a daughter of Poseidon, raised by Aepytus. In a story told by Pindar, after his mother lies with Apollo and the child is born, he is left in the wilderness. Here he is raised by a pair of snakes, before being found again after Aepytus upon his visit to the Oracle of Delphi. Iamus was later taken to Olympia by his father, who teaches him ability of prophecy.

Mythology

In the sixth Olympian Ode by the 5th-century BC poet Pindar, Evadne lies with Apollo and becomes pregnant, but is shamed by Aepytus for her pregnancy. When it was time for the child to be born, Apollo sends down Eileithyia and the Moirai (Fates) to assist Evadne. After giving birth, she abandons the child in the wild out of distress. The child survives, as he is nourished by two snakes, who feed him a harmless kind of venom produced by bees. When Aepytus learns from the Delphic Oracle that the new born was sired by Apollo himself, and was destined to be a great prophet, he orders for the child to be brought back into the house. The infant is found alive lying among violets, and is named "Iamus" by Evadne.

When he reached his youth, Iamus descended into the waters of Alpheios and invoked Poseidon, his grandfather, and Apollo, his father, asking them to reveal his destiny to him. Only Apollo answered his prayer, and appearing to him, took him to Olympia. There, Apollo taught him the art of prophecy and gave him the power to understand and explain the voices of birds.

References

• Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
• Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Pindar, Odes translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Pindar, The Odes of Pindar including the Principal Fragments with an Introduction and an English Translation by Sir John Sandys, Litt.D., FBA. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1937. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Salvador, Jesús A. (1997). "Iamus and ἴα in Pindar ("O". 6, 53-57)". Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica. 56 (2): 37–59. doi:10.2307/20547394. JSTOR 20547394.