Jasper van der Laanen - Die Töchter des Kekrops befreien Erechteus

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

, Aglaurus (;

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

: Ἄγλαυρος means 'dewfall') or Agraulus (; means 'rustic one') was an

Athenian Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

princess.

Family

Aglaurus was the daughter of King

Cecrops In Greek mythology, Cecrops ( /ˈsiːkrɒps/; Ancient Greek: Κέκροψ, ''Kékrops''; ''gen''.: Κέκροπος) may refer to two legendary kings of Athens: * Cecrops I, the first king of Athens. * Cecrops II, son of Pandion I, king of ...

and another

Aglaurus Aglaurus (; grc, Ἄγλαυρος, , 'dewfall') or Agraulus (; grc, Ἄγραυλος, , 'rustic one') is a name attributed to three figures in Greek mythology. *Aglaurus, an Athenian princess as the daughter of King Actaeus. She married Cecr ...

, daughter of King

Actaeus In Greek mythology, Actaeus (; Ancient Greek: Ἀκταῖος ''Ἀktaῖos'' means "coast-man"), also called Actaeon, was the first king of Attica, according to Pausanias. Family Actaeus was the father of Aglaurus, and father-in-law to Cecr ...

. She was the sister of Herse,

Pandrosus Pandrosos or Pandrosus (Ancient Greek: Πάνδροσος) was known in Greek myth as one of the three daughters of Kekrops, the first king of Athens, and Aglaurus, daughter of King Actaeus. Family Pandrosus' two sisters were Aglauros and ...

and possibly, Erysichthon. Aglaurus had two offspring by two different gods, Alcippe (with Ares) and

Ceryx In Greek mythology, Ceryx ( grc, Κῆρυξ ''Kērux'', literally "herald") was a member of the Athenian royal family as the son of Hermes by either the princesses, Pandrosus or Agraulus. Mythology Ceryx was, like his father, a messenger. B ...

(with

Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, wikt:Ἑρμῆς, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travelle ...

). There were numerous versions of her myth.

Mythology

The earliest writer to mention her is

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars a ...

in his play ''Ion'', lines 22–23 and 484–485. In Moses Hadas and John Mclean's 1960 Bantam Classics translation they have

say: :"(Athena) gave Erichthonius to Aglaurus' daughters to keep" Later, speaking of "a haunt of Pan": :"There the daughters of Aglaurus still tread the measures of their dance, on the green lawns before the shrine of

Pallas Pallas may refer to: Astronomy * 2 Pallas asteroid ** Pallas family, a group of asteroids that includes 2 Pallas * Pallas (crater), a crater on Earth's moon Mythology * Pallas (Giant), a son of Uranus and Gaia, killed and flayed by Athena * Pa ...

(Athena)" In another version of the story, as told by the '' Bibliotheca'',

Hephaestus Hephaestus (; eight spellings; grc-gre, Ἥφαιστος, Hḗphaistos) is the Greek god of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire (compare, however, with Hestia), and volcanoes.Walter B ...

attempted to rape

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded ...

but was unsuccessful. His semen fell on the ground, impregnating Gaia. Gaia did not want the infant Erichthonius, so she gave the baby to the goddess

. Athena gave the baby in a box to three women — Aglaurus and her two sisters — and warned them to never open it. Nonetheless, Aglaurus and Herse opened the box. The sight of the infant caused them both to go insane and they threw themselves off the Acropolis, or, according to

Hyginus Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Grammati ...

, into the sea. An alternative version of the same story is that, while Athena was away bringing a limestone mountain from the Pallene peninsula to use in the Acropolis, the sisters, minus Pandrosus again, opened the box. A crow witnessed the opening and flew away to tell Athena, who fell into a rage and dropped the mountain (now

Mt. Lykabettos Mount Lycabettus (), also known as Lycabettos, Lykabettos or Lykavittos ( el, Λυκαβηττός, ), is a Cretaceous limestone hill in the Greek capital Athens. At 277 meters (908 feet) above sea level, its summit is the highest point in Cen ...

). Once again, Herse and Aglaurus went insane and threw themselves to their deaths from a cliff. Another legend represents Aglaurus in a totally different light.

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

was at one time involved in a long and protracted war, and an oracle declared that the war would cease if someone would sacrifice himself for the good of his country. Agraulos (as she is spelled in this version) came forward and threw herself off the Acropolis. The Athenians, in gratitude for this, built her a temple on the Acropolis, in which it subsequently became customary for the young Athenians, on receiving their first suit of

armor Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or f ...

, to take an oath that they would always defend their country to the last. According to

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

, Mercury loved Herse but her jealous sister, whom Ovid calls Aglauros, stood between them, barring Mercury's entry into the house and refusing to move. Mercury was outraged at her presumption and turned her to stone. It is in reference to this myth that

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian people, Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', origin ...

places her on the second terrace of

Purgatory Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...

, alongside Cain, to serve as God's reins against jealousy.

Worship

One of the Attic

deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and ear ...

s (''Agraule'') derived its name from this heroine, and a festival and mysteries were celebrated at Athens in honor of her. According to Porphyry, she was also worshiped in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

, where human sacrifices were offered to her down to a very late time. Mythographers believe Aglaurus to have an origin distinct from that of her sisters, due in part to the fact that she had her own

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

near the Acropolis,

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...

, 8.53 and unlike her sister Pandrosus, was more associated with young men or soldiers ('' epheboi'') than with infants. She was particularly associated with the festival of

called the Plynteria.

Gallery

File:Erichthonius Released from His Basket LACMA 65.37.98.jpg, ''Erichthonius Released from His Basket'' by Antonio Tempesta (1606) File:Jakob Jordaens 015.jpg, ''Daughters of Kekrops Finding Erichthonios'' by Jacob Jordaens (1640) File:Jacob-jordaens-erichtonius.jpg, ''Les Filles de Cécrops découvrant l'enfant Érichthonios'' by Jacob Jordaens (1617) File:Peter Paul Rubens - The Discovery of the Child Erichthonius - WGA20295.jpg, ''The Discovery of the Child Erichthonius'' by Peter Paul Rubens (circa 1615) File:Pierre, Jean-Baptiste Marie - Mercury, Herse and Aglauros - 1763.jpg, ''Mercury, Herse and Aglauros'' by Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre (1763) File:Rubens, Peter Paul - Finding of Erichthonius - 1632-1633.jpg, ''Finding of Erichthonius'' by Peter Paul Rubens (between 1632 and 1633) File:Willem van Herp Erichthonius.jpg, ''The finding of the infant Erichthonius by Cecrops's daughters'' by Willem van Herp (circa 1650)) File:Othea's Epistle (Queen's Manuscript) 18.jpg, Aglauros refuses Mercury admittance to her sister Herse (15 century) File:Willem de Pannemaker05.jpg, ''Aglauros Changed to Stone by Mercury'' by Giovanni Battista Lodi da Cremona (circa 1550)

Notes

References

* Gaius Julius Hyginus, ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
* Graves, Robert, ''The Greek Myths'', Harmondsworth, London, England, Penguin Books, 1960. *Graves, Robert, ''The Greek Myths: The Complete and Definitive Edition.'' Penguin Books Limited. 2017. *

, ''The Histories'' with an English translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920.
Online version at the Topos Text Project.Greek text available at Perseus Digital Library
*

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...

, ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
* Publius Ovidius Naso, ''Metamorphoses'' translated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Publius Ovidius Naso, ''Metamorphoses.'' Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892
Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library
* Stephanus of Byzantium, ''Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt,'' edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aglaurus, Daughter of Cecrops Metamorphoses characters Princesses in Greek mythology Women of Ares Women of Hermes Attican characters in Greek mythology Characters in Greek mythology Deeds of Hermes Deeds of Athena Religion in ancient Athens Metamorphoses into inanimate objects in Greek mythology