Itonia,Itonias orItonis (Gr.Ἰτωνία,Ἰτωνίας orἸτωνίς) was anepithet of theGreek goddessAthena worshiped widely inThessaly and elsewhere.[1] The name was derived from the town of Iton in the south ofPhthiotis.[2][3][4][5]
The cult forAthena Itonia associated Athena in some mystical manner with the god of the lower world who is calledHades byStrabo, but inPausanias, who must be speaking of the same cult, is calledZeus.[6][7] It may be thatAthena Itonia had something of the character which in her primitive worship she had atAthens, and that she was a goddess who fostered the growths of the earth and who therefore had some affinity to theChthonic deities.[8]
In Iton there was a celebratedsanctuary and festivals for this cult, and is hence also calledincola Itoni ("resident of Iton").[9] From Iton her worship spread intoBoeotia, where she was the chief deity of war,[8] and the country aboutLake Copais. In her temple betweenPherae andLarissa were hung the shields won from theGauls in the last victory of Greece over barbarism, although a fragment fromBacchylides indicates thatAthena Itonia was not only a war goddess, but a goddess of the arts of peace, especiallypoetry.[8]
The temple ofAthena Itonia inCoronea was the meeting-place of thePanboeotian Confederacy, and where thePamboeotia was celebrated, in the neighborhood of a grove of Athena.[10][11] Other writers report the cult ofAthena Itonia was also found atAthens andAmorgos, and a cult festival inCrannon.[8]
According to another tradition, Athena received the epithet of Itonia from Itonus, a king or priest.[10][12]
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870).Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.{{cite encyclopedia}}:Missing or empty|title= (help)
