Unchanged by any teller — how the centuries since have seen Oenopion.
The gallery
Dionysus and Oenopion
Unknown (Attic black-figure), c. 540–530 BC
British Museum amphora B 210 shows Dionysus with Oenopion — the Chian king often named as the wine-god's son, who brought viticulture to Chios. Archaic vase-painting keeps the island's legendary wine-king beside his divine father.
Blind Orion Searching for the Rising Sun
Nicolas Poussin, 1658
Poussin's Met landscape shows the aftermath of Oenopion's revenge: Orion, blinded by the Chian king after assaulting Merope, rides toward the dawn that will restore his sight. The hunter's blindness is Oenopion's defining deed in the mythic cycle.
In play
Orion (mythology)
The hunter's Chian episode makes Oenopion the king who blinds Orion for violating Merope — then hides in an underground (or iron) chamber when the giant returns for vengeance.
Oenopion
Legendary king of Chios, bringer of wine, son of Dionysus (or of Rhadamanthys and Ariadne) — remembered for the blinding of Orion.
Chios
Oenopion's island — assigned to him in Cretan tradition, famed for wine, and the stage of Orion's crime and punishment.