In Greek mythology, Cranaus or Kranaos (; Ancient Greek: Κραναός) was the second King of Athens, succeeding

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 At ...

Family

Cranaus married

Pedias In Greek mythology, Pedias ( Ancient Greek: Πεδιάδα means 'flat, level') was the Lacedamonian daughter of Mynes. She married the autochthonous King Cranaus who reigned in Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆν ...

, a Spartan woman and daughter of

Mynes ''Mynes'' is a butterfly genus in the family Nymphalidae found in Australia and Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of o ...

, with whom he had three daughters:

Cranaë In Greek mythology, Cranaë ( Ancient Greek: Κρανάη means 'stony') was an Athenian princess as daughter of King Cranaus and Pedias, the Lacedaemonian Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spár ...

Cranaechme In Greek mythology, Cranaechme ( Ancient Greek: Κραναίχμην means "rocky point" Robert Graves. ''The Greek Myths (1960)'') was an Athenian princess as daughter of King Cranaus and Pedias, the Lacedaemonian Sparta (Doric Greek: Σ� ...

, and Atthis. Atthis gave her name to

Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Se ...

after dying, possibly as a young girl,Apollodorus, 3.14.5;

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 ...

, ''Graeciae Descriptio'' 1.2.6; Strabo, '' Geographica'' 9.1.18 although in other traditions she was the mother, by

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 ...

, of Erichthonius.

Rarus In Greek mythology, Rarus ( Ancient Greek: Ρᾶρος) or Rar (Ρᾶρ) was a son of Cranaus, eponym of the Rharian Field near Eleusis, and a possible father of Triptolemus by an unnamed daughter of Amphictyon. According to Suda, Rarus was the ...

was also given as a son of Cranaus.

Reign

Cranaus was supposed to have reigned for either nine or ten years and was an

autochthonous Autochthon, autochthons or autochthonous may refer to: Fiction * Autochthon (Atlantis), a character in Plato's myth of Atlantis * Autochthons, characters in the novel ''The Divine Invasion'' by Philip K. Dick * Autochthon, a Primordial in the ' ...

(born from the earth), like his predecessor. During his reign the flood of the Deucalion story was thought to have occurred. In some accounts, Deucalion was said to have fled

Lycorea ''Lycorea'' is a genus of butterflies from the family Nymphalidae found in Mexico, Central America, and South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relati ...

to Athens with his sons Hellen and Amphictyon. Deucalion died shortly thereafter and was said to have been buried near Athens. Amphictyon is said to have married one of the daughters of Cranaus. Cranaus was deposed by Amphictyon son of Deucalion, who was himself later deposed by Erichthonius. Cranaus fled to Lamptrae, where he died and was buried. His tomb was still there in the times of Pausanias. Cranaus was venerated as hero in Athens; his priests came from the family Charidae. The people of Attica were referred to as ''Kranaoi'' after Cranaus, and Athens as ''Kranaa'' or ''Kranaai''.

Pindar Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar is ...

, ''Olympian Ode'' 7.82

Notes

References

Apollodorus Apollodorus (Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: :''Note: A f ...

, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
*

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his ...

, ''Birds''. ''The Complete Greek Drama.'' ''vol. 2''. Eugene O'Neill, Jr. New York. Random House. 1938
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
*Aristophanes, ''Aristophanes Comoediae'' edited by F.W. Hall and W.M. Geldart, vol. 2. F.W. Hall and W.M. Geldart. Oxford. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1907
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
* Herodotus, ''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
*

, ''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. {{ISBN, 0-674-99328-4
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*

, ''Odes'' translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
*Pindar, ''The Odes of Pindar'' including the Principal Fragments with an Introduction and an English Translation by Sir John Sandys, Litt.D., FBA. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1937
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
* Strabo, ''The Geography of Strabo.'' Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
*Strabo, ''Geographica'' edited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Autochthons of classical mythology Kings of Athens Kings in Greek mythology Attican characters in Greek mythology