Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, King Erichthonius (; grc, , Erikhthónios) was a legendary early ruler of ancient

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 ...

. According to some

myths Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...

, he was

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 of the soil, or Earth) and adopted or raised by the goddess

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

. Early Greek texts do not distinguish between him and

Erechtheus Erechtheus (; grc, Ἐρεχθεύς) in Greek mythology was the name of an archaic king of Athens, the founder of the ''polis'' and, in his role as god, attached to Poseidon, as "Poseidon Erechtheus". The mythic Erechtheus and the historical Ere ...

, his grandson, but by the fourth century BC, during Classical times, they are distinct figures.

Etymology

Erichthonius of uncertain etymology is possibly related to a

pre-Greek The Pre-Greek substrate (or Pre-Greek substratum) consists of the unknown pre-Indo-European language(s) spoken in prehistoric Greece before the coming of the Proto-Greek language in the Greek peninsula during the Bronze Age. It is possible that ...

form *''Erekteu-''. The connection of with ἐρέχθω, "shake" is a late folk-etymology; other folk-etymologies include , ''erion'', "wool" or ''eris'', "strife"+ ''chthôn or chthonos'', "earth".

Mythology

Birth

Athena Scorning the Advances of Hephaestus

According to the '' Bibliotheca'', Athena visited the smith-god

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 Burk ...

to request some weapons, but Hephaestus was so overcome by desire that he tried to seduce her in his workshop. Determined to maintain her virginity, Athena fled, pursued by Hephaestus. He caught Athena and tried to rape her, but she fought him off. During the struggle, his semen fell on her thigh, and Athena, in disgust, wiped it away with a scrap of wool (, ''erion'') and flung it to the earth (, ''chthôn''). As she fled, Erichthonius was born from the semen that fell to the earth. Athena, wishing to raise the child in secret, placed him in a small box and then made sure no one would ever find out by giving him away. Athena gave the box to the three daughters (

Herse In Greek mythology, Herse ( grc, Ἕρση " dew") may refer to the following figures: *Herse, daughter of Selene by Zeus, see Ersa. * Herse, daughter of Cecrops. *Herse, one of the many consorts of King Danaus of Libya and mother of his daughte ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

) of

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 ...

, the king of Athens, and warned them never to look inside. Pandrosus obeyed, but Herse and Aglaurus were overcome with curiosity and opened the box, which contained the infant and future-king, Erichthonius ("troubles born from the earth," following another etymology). (Sources are unclear regarding how many sisters participated.) The sisters were terrified by what they saw in the box: Either a snake coiled around an infant, or an infant that was half-human and half-serpent. They went insane and threw themselves off the

Acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...

. Other accounts state that they were killed by the snake. An alternative version of the story is that Athena left the box with the daughters of Cecrops while she went to fetch a limestone mountain from the Pallene peninsula to use in the Acropolis. While she was away, Aglaurus and Herse opened the box. A crow saw them open the box, and flew away to tell Athena, who fell into a rage and dropped the mountain she was carrying (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 ...

). As in the first version, Herse and Aglaurus went insane and threw themselves to their deaths off a cliff.

Reign

When he grew up, Erichthonius drove out

Amphictyon Amphictyon or Amphiktyon (; grc, Ἀμφικτύων), in Greek mythology, was a king of Thermopylae and later Athens. In one account, he was the ruler of Locris. Pseudo-Scymnos, ''Circuit de la terre'' 587 ff. Etymology The name of Amphictyon ...

, who had usurped the throne from

Cranaus In Greek mythology, Cranaus or Kranaos (;Ancient Greek: Κραναός) was the second King of Athens, succeeding Cecrops I. Family Cranaus married Pedias, a Spartan woman and daughter of Mynes, with whom he had three daughters: Cranaë, Cranaec ...

twelve years earlier, and became king of Athens. He married

Praxithea In Greek mythology, Praxithea (; Ancient Greek: Πραξιθέα) was a name attributed to five women. * Praxithea, a Naiad nymph. She married Erichthonius of Athens and by him had a son named Pandion I. Praxithea's sister Zeuxippe married her neph ...

, a

naiad In Greek mythology, the naiads (; grc-gre, ναϊάδες, naïádes) are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water. They are distinct from river gods, who ...

, with whom he had a son, . During this time, Athena frequently protected him. He founded the Panathenaic Festival in the honor of Athena, and set up a wooden statue of her on the Acropolis. According to the

Parian Chronicle The Parian Chronicle or Parian Marble ( la, Marmor Parium, Mar. Par.) is a Greek chronology, covering the years from 1582 BC to 299 BC, inscribed on a stele. Found on the island of Paros in two sections, and sold in Smyrna in the early 17 ...

, he taught his people to yoke

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

s and use them to pull

chariot A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&nbs ...

s, to smelt

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

, and to till the earth with a

plough A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...

. It was said that Erichthonius was lame of his feet and that he consequently invented the

quadriga A () is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast and favoured for chariot racing in Classical Antiquity and the Roman Empire until the Late Middle Ages. The word derives from the Latin contraction of , from ': four, and ': yoke. The four- ...

, or four-horse chariot, to get around more easily. He is said to have competed often as a chariot driver in games.

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D� ...

was said to have been so impressed with his skill that he raised him to the heavens to become the constellation of the Charioteer (

Auriga AURIGA (''Antenna Ultracriogenica Risonante per l'Indagine Gravitazionale Astronomica'') is an ultracryogenic resonant bar gravitational wave detector in Italy. It is at the Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nuclea ...

) after his death. The snake is his symbol, and he is represented in the statue of Athena in the

Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...

as the snake hidden behind her shield. The most sacred building on the

Acropolis of Athens The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. Th ...

, the

Erechtheum The Erechtheion (latinized as Erechtheum /ɪˈrɛkθiəm, ˌɛrɪkˈθiːəm/; Ancient Greek: Ἐρέχθειον, Greek: Ερέχθειο) or Temple of Athena Polias is an ancient Greek Ionic temple-telesterion on the north side of the Acropolis ...

, is dedicated to Erichthonius. Erichthonius was succeeded by his son Pandion I.

Gallery

File:Erichthonius Released from His Basket LACMA 65.37.98.jpg, ''Erichthonius Released from His Basket'' by

Antonio Tempesta Antonio Tempesta, also called il Tempestino (1555 – 5 August 1630), was an Italian painter and engraver, whose art acted as a point of connection between Baroque Rome and the culture of Antwerp. Much of his work depicts major battles and hi ...

(1606) File:Jakob Jordaens 015.jpg, ''Daughters of Kekrops Finding Erichthonios'' by

Jacob Jordaens Jacob (Jacques) Jordaens (19 May 1593 – 18 October 1678) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and tapestry designer known for his history paintings, genre scenes and portraits. After Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck, he was the leading Fle ...

(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 Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

(circa 1615) File:Pierre, Jean-Baptiste Marie - Mercury, Herse and Aglauros - 1763.jpg, ''Mercury, Herse and Aglauros'' by

Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre (6 March 1714 – 15 May 1789) was a French painter, draughtsman and administrator. Life He was a student of Charles-Joseph Natoire at the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture and painted a self-portrait in ...

(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 Willem van Herp (I) or Willem van Herp the Elder (variations on first name: 'Guilliam', 'Gilliam' and 'Guillaume') (c. 1614 in Antwerp – 1677) was a Flemish Baroque painter specializing in religious paintings and small cabinet paintings of "low ...

(circa 1650))

Footnotes

References

Sources

Apollodorus Apollodorus (Ancient Greek, 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: ...

, ''Apollodorus, 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 Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Beekes, S. P., ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', 2 vols. Leiden: Brill, 2009. * Graves, Robert; ''

The Greek Myths ''The Greek Myths'' (1955) is a mythography, a compendium of Greek mythology, with comments and analyses, by the poet and writer Robert Graves. Many editions of the book separate it into two volumes. Abridged editions of the work contain only th ...

'', Moyer Bell Ltd; Unabridged edition (December 1988), . *

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

, ''The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes''. Cambridge, MA.,

; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Smith, William; ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 p ...

'', London (1873)
''Erichthonius''

External links

* {{Authority control Autochthons of classical mythology Children of Gaia Children of Hephaestus Kings of Athens Kings in Greek mythology Attican characters in Greek mythology Deeds of Athena