Iapetus and Japheth: Hesiod’s Theogony, Iliad 15.187-93, and Genesis 9-10

Genesis, as it adapts the Deluge from Mesopotamian sources, for the sequel, transforms Hesiod’s account of Cronus’ castration of Uranus, and the unspecified wrongdoing of his brother Iapetus, mixing it with the type of myth depicted in Iliad 15, where three brothers draw lots to determine their portions. This results in Genesis 9-10’s mysterious depiction of Ham seeing the genitals of the drunk Noah, who, when awake, curses not Ham but his son Canaan, while bestowing blessings on his two other sons, Shem and Japheth, father of Javan (= Greek Ion). Parallel wordplay in the Theogony and Genesis affirm the link.