In
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 ...
, Erysichthon (
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 peri ...
: Ἐρυσίχθων), also spelled Erisichthon (lit. 'Earth-tearer') 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 ...
prince as the son of King
Cecrops I
Cecrops (; grc, Κέκροψ, ''Kékrops''; ''gen''.: Κέκροπος) was a mythical king of Attica which derived from him its name Cecropia, having previously borne the name of Acte or Actice (from Actaeus). He was the founder and the first ki ...
of
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 ...
and
Agraulus
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 Cecro ...
, 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 ...
. His possible sibling were
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 Cecro ...
,
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 ...
and
Pandorus
In Greek mythology, Pandorus ( grc, Πάνδωρος) may refer to the following personages:
* Pandorus, son of Zeus and Pandora II, daughter of Deucalion and Pyrrha. He was the brother of Melera, and possibly Graecus and Latinus.
*Pandorus, an ...
. Erysicthon died childless during his father's reign.
Mythology
Erysichthon was said to have died in
Prasiae
Prasiae or Prasiai ( grc, Πρασιαί),Aristophanes, ''Pac.'' 242 or Prasia (Πρασία),''Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax'' p. 17 also known as Brasiae or Brasiai (Βρασιαί), was a town on the eastern coast of ancient Laconia, described by P ...
(modern
Porto Rafti), on the east coast of Attica, as he was returning from the holy island of
Delos
The island of Delos (; el, Δήλος ; Attic: , Doric: ), near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island are ...
with a statue of
Eileithuia
Eileithyia or Ilithyiae or Ilithyia (; grc-gre, Εἰλείθυια; (''Eleuthyia'') in Crete, also (''Eleuthia'') or (''Elysia'') in Laconia and Messene, and (''Eleuthō'') in literature)Nilsson Vol I, p. 313 was the Greek goddess of chi ...
, goddess of childbirth. Of the three ancient wooden images of the goddess that could be seen at her temple at Athens, one was identified as the image that Erysichthon had brought from Delos. According to
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 th ...
, Erysichthon's tomb could be seen at Prasiae, where his corpse was said to have been buried after his ship had arrived in port.
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 th ...
1.2.6
/ref>
Notes
Princes in Greek mythology
References
* 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: ...
, ''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. ISBN 0-674-99135-4
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
* 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 th ...
, ''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
{{Greek-myth-stub
Attican characters in Greek mythology
Attic mythology