Euripides: Ion and Phoenissae

From Aristophanes, who presented his contemporary Euripides as debunking established religion, and from the biographical accounts of immediately succeeding centuries, which presented him in the same light, Euripides would seem to be an anti-traditional figure. This external evidence would seem to be corroborated by much internal evidence in the plays, suggestive of a sceptical and questioning intellect, taking up the challenging ideas of such philosophers as Xenophanes and interacting with the thought of the sophistic enlightenment. Views of the gods in Ion are peculiarly polarised. It is an attack on Apollo or a vindication of Apollo. Athens and the aetiology of the Arrephoria are central or Delphi and Apollo are more significant; or Eleusis is a vital link. Apollo was a Protean deity with many titles, which varied from place to place. Of these the most prevalent in fifth century cult, on the evidence of inscriptions, was Delios, Delian.