Ino was a mortal, princess of Thebes and Queen of Boeotia, who was transformed by the gods into a marine deity named Leucothea, who is the protector goddess of sailors according to Greek Mythology.
Role and Significance[]
Genealogy and Family[]
Ino is a child of the mortal, King Cadmus of Thebes, and his wife Queen Harmonia, the goddess of harmony and concord. She has three sisters, Autonoe, Agave and Semele and two brothers, Polydorus and Illyrius. Through her mother, she is a granddaughter of Ares and Aphrodite and through her sister, Semele, she is a maternal aunt of the Olympian god of wine, Dionysus. Ino managed to seduce King Athamas of Boeotia, who went on to divorce his first wife Nephele, to marry Ino, allowing her to become the Queen consort of Boeotia. Ino had two sons with King Athamas, Learchus and Melicertes, and became stepmother to Phrixus, Helle (Nephele's children) and Schoeneus, Leucon, Ptous and Erythrius (the children of Themisto)
Story[]
Upon marrying King Athamas of Boeotia, she became the stepmother of the twins-Phrixus and Helle, but instead of being a loving surrogate parent, she hated the children, and plotted to have them executed to death- by burning a field of local crops which caused a man-made famine in Boeotia- she then bribed the local oracle- to claim that the famine could only be ended with the deaths of Phrixus and Helle. Before they could be executed however, Phrixus and Helle were rescued by a flying golden ram, that was intended to ride the twins to safety. Helle however swooned and fell into the sea (named Hellespont) after her, Phrixus however managed to land in Colchis, where he was taken in by King Aeetes and his family.
Also in mythology, Themisto (the third wife of King Athamas) was recorded to hate Ino, and when their husband Athamas returned to Ino, Themisto out of jealousy dressed her children in white clothing and Ino's in black and directed the murder of the children in the black clothes. Ino, however who caught wind of Themisto's plan switched the children's clothes without Themisto knowing, causing her to end up killing her own children.
Later on Ino was given a baby Dionysus to care for, which made Hera, (the wife of Zeus, who cheated on his wife, Hera with the mortal princess Semele to conceive Dionysus), to curse Ino's husband, King Athamas into a violent rage where he attacked his family- members, hunting and killing his own son-Learchus like a deer stag, before attempting to do the same to Ino and their son, Melicertes. In a desperate escape tempt, Ino and Melicertes, jumped off a cliff into the sea, where the gods feeling pity on the two turned them into the marine deities, Leucothea and Palaemon.
In the Odyssey, Leucothea makes a dramatic appearance and tells the shipwrecked Odysseus to discard his cloak and raft, and offers him a veil to wind round himself, to save his life and reach land. Homer makes Leucothea the transfiguration of Ino.
Appearance and Personality[]
As a mortal, Ino was shown to be greedy and ambitious seducing the already married King Athamas of Boeotia, and getting her way with becoming his wife. She did not put up with her stepchildren, Phrixus and Helle and plotted to kill them, showing to be a pretty selfish, cunning and cruel person. As the Goddess Leucothea, she seems to be a benevolent deity, making up for her past mistakes.
Skills and Abilities[]
Relationships[]
Symbols[]
Names and Epithets[]
Trivia[]
The Greek spelling of Ino's name is Ἰνώ.
Ino and Leucothea can both be translated to "White Goddess"
Leucothea was also called Leucothoe.
Her Roman equivalent is called Mater Matula.
Ino shares her title of the "protectress of sailors" with Pleione.
Ino's sister Semele and stepdaughter, Helle were also turned into goddesses.