Ixion - Other uses of the name

In Greek mythology, a king of Thessaly, the first murderer; also the father of the Centaurs. For attempting to rape Hera he was bound to a wheel of fire, usually located in the underworld.

Ixion married Dia, a daughter of Deioneus (or Eioneus) and promised his father-in-law a valuable present. By killing his father-in-law, Ixion was reckoned the first man guilty of kin-slaying in Greek mythology.

However, Zeus had pity on Ixion and brought him to Olympus and introduced him at the table of the gods. Instead of being grateful, Ixion grew lustful for Hera, Zeus's wife. Zeus made a cloud in the shape of Hera, which became known as Nephele, and tricked Ixion into coupling with it. From the union of Ixion and the cloud came the race of Centaurs (hence their being called Ixionidae). However, another myth asserts that the founder of the Centaur race was not Ixion, but a zoophiliac outcast named Centaurus, a son of Apollo and brother of Lapithus.

Ixion was expelled from Olympus and blasted with a thunderbolt. Zeus ordered Hermes to bind Ixion to a wheel that was always spinning. Therefore, Ixion is bound to a burning wheel for all eternity in Tartarus.

Other uses of the name

Astronomy

28978 Ixion, a plutino discovered in 2001, is named after Ixion.

Computer and video games

In the video games Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2, Ixion is the name of the Aeon of lightning. In the same game, in Chronicles of the Sword, Chronicle 20, Ixion is an enemy. In the video game Civilization II: Test of Time, of the Science-Fiction campaign, (mostly occurring on the second planet 'Funestis') within the nearby star system Lalande 21185, when any of the alien races discover Circular Supports, they are able to build the Ixion military unit. In the video game Dark Cloud 2, Ixion is the name of the train used by Max and Monica to travel through time. In the video game Beatmania IIDX 10th style consumer version, "IXION" is a song under the genre Psychedelic Trance, performed by L.E.D. Aircraft of an airline named "Air Ixion" appear in Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies. Ixion is the name of a computer game published for Acorn's RISC OS computers.

Other

Ixion is a UK-based motorcycle-enthusiast mailing list Ixion appears in the rock opera of Dr. Shock, proving a fame-hungry anti-hero who, while attempting to save the world, is thwarted by his own greedy intentions. Ixion is a Polish metalcore band, formed in 2001 in Bydgoszcz, named after 28978 Ixion planetoid In the TV show Xena: Warrior Princess, when Ixion created the Centaurs, he had a choice between making them noble or evil. He made them noble, and put all of their evil into a stone, called The Ixion Stone, which he hid in the Ixion Caverns.