Ichor › What is ichor?
What is ichor?
Ichor (Greek ichor) is the ethereal fluid said to flow in the veins of the gods instead of blood. It is mentioned in a small number of ancient texts, most famously in the Iliad.
The meaning in a sentence
In Greek mythology, ichor is the divine fluid that takes the place of blood in the gods. It sets them apart from mortals, who bleed and die.
The Iliad's scene
The key passage is in Book 5 of Homer's Iliad. The Greek warrior Diomedes, helped by Athena, wounds Aphrodite when she tries to rescue her son Aeneas. Divine ichor flows from the goddess's hand. Homer explains that gods do not eat bread or drink dark wine, so they have no blood, and are called immortals. The scene is both comic and tender: Aphrodite flees to Olympus, wounded, to be comforted by her mother Dione.
Homer tells a similar story when Diomedes also wounds Ares. The war god bellows and goes to Zeus to complain.
What the word meant
The Greek word ichor appears in Homer as the liquid in a god's body. Later Greek writers sometimes used it for other watery fluids, including the discharge from a wound. In English it can mean a watery discharge from a sore, though this is rare. Dictionaries such as Britannica and the Oxford English Dictionary list both meanings, divine and medical. Etymology is uncertain, so we avoid claims about where the word came from.
Is ichor poisonous?
In the standard sources, ichor itself is not poisonous. However, ancient authors do describe the poisoned blood of monsters. The best known example is the Hydra. Heracles dipped his arrows in the venom of the Lernaean Hydra, and the poison later killed the centaur Nessus and, ultimately, Heracles himself. These are separate stories from ichor, though modern writers often blend them.
Colour and appearance
Many modern retellings describe ichor as golden. Homer does not give a clear colour in the passage above, and later poets differ, so treat golden ichor as a popular image rather than an ancient rule. Artists have also painted it in different ways.
Ichor in modern culture
Ichor features in fantasy novels, games and film as a magical or toxic liquid. Authors tend to pick whichever meaning suits them: divine blood, or a sinister fluid. This site follows the ancient sources, but we mention it because many readers arrive here after seeing it in a book or game.
Related ideas
- Nectar and ambrosia: the food and drink of the gods. In some accounts these help keep them immortal.
- Immortality: not every being in myth is immortal. Heroes die. Some, like Heracles, are made divine after death.
- Demigods: children of a god and a mortal. They inherit strength or gifts but still bleed.
To meet the gods who bleed ichor, go to the Olympians, or read the myths in which they interfere in mortal affairs. If you want more on Heracles and the Hydra, see the heroes and monsters pages.
Read the original
The Theoi website hosts translations of Homer's Iliad Book 5 and other passages. Britannica has a short overview of the gods and their attributes. For a printed edition, look for a modern English translation of the Iliad in your local library.
Ichor and later Greek thought
Later Greek writers also debated what gods were made of. Some philosophers criticised Homer for making gods bleed and quarrel. Others treated the myths as allegory. These debates show that the Greeks did not all read the stories literally, which is a useful reminder when you meet ichor in modern fiction.
Frequently asked questions
Is ichor gold?
Modern writers often describe it as golden, but Homer does not clearly give a colour. Treat it as a popular image.
Which ancient text mentions ichor most clearly?
Book 5 of Homer's Iliad, where the goddess Aphrodite is wounded by Diomedes.
Does ichor give immortality?
In Homer, it is what makes the gods different from mortals, but the gods are described as immortal because they do not eat bread or drink wine.