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Ixion

Mythology
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Thessalian king bound to a fiery wheel spinning eternally through the underworld as punishment for attempting to seduce Hera and for murdering his father-in-law.

Detailed Definition
Ixion murdered his father-in-law, was purified by Zeus, then lusted after Hera; Zeus tricked him with a cloud-Nephele, and he was bound to a spinning wheel in Hades. He embodies ingratitude and lust. Poets use Ixion to symbolize eternal punishment, the limits of divine mercy, and the consequences of hubris in epic and eschatological verse.
Example
Example in poetry:
Ixion, king bound to a fiery wheel for attempting to seduce Hera, appears in Pindar and Virgil; Poets use Ixion to symbolize eternal punishment for hubris; In Dante’s Inferno, he appears in the circle of seducers; “Ixion’s wheel” might describe inescapable guilt; His story warns against divine transgression.
Additional Notes
Ixion, first kin-slayer, is purified by Zeus but then attempts to seduce Hera—tricked by a cloud (Nephele) in her likeness. Bound to a fiery wheel in Tartarus, he becomes a byword for eternal punishment and ingratitude. His story appears in Pindar and Euripides, symbolizing the limits of divine mercy and the horror of hubristic desire—key for tragic or moralizing poetry.
Also Known As
wheel-bound sinner cloud deceiver Lapith king
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