Listed 100 (total found 104) sub titles with search on: Mythology for wider area of: "ATHENS Municipality GREECE" .
ATHENS (Ancient city) GREECE
Agraulos. Daughter of Cecrops and Agraulos, of whom various
stories are told. Athene is said to have given Erichthonius in a chest to Agraulos
and her sister Herse, with strict injunctions not to open it; but they disobeyed
the command. Agraulos was subsequently punished by being changed into a stone
by Hermes, because she attempted to prevent the god from entering the house of
Herse, with whom he had fallen in love. Another legend relates that Agraulos threw
herself down from the Acropolis because an oracle had declared that the Athenians
would conquer if some one would sacrifice himself for his country. The Athenians
in gratitude built her a temple on the Acropolis, in which the young Athenians,
on receiving their first suit of armour, took an oath that they would always defend
their country to the last.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Ion, the fabulous ancestor of the Ionians, is described as a son of Apollo by
Creusa, the daughter of Erechtheus and wife of Xuthus (Apollod. i. 7.3; Creusa).
The most celebrated story about him is that which forms the subject of the Ion
of Euripides. Apollo had visited Creusa in a cave below the Propylaea, and when
she gave birth to a son, she exposed him in the same cave. The god, however, had
the child conveyed to Delphi, and there had him educated by a priestess. When
the boy had grown, and Xuthus and Creusa came to consult the oracle about the
means of obtaining an heir, the answer was, that the first human being which Xuthus
met on leaving the temple should be his son. Xuthus met Ion, and recognised him
as his son; but Creusa, imagining him to be a son of her husband by a former beloved,
caused a cup to be presented to the youth, which was filled with the poisonous
blood of a dragon. However, her object was discovered, for as Ion, before drinking,
poured out a libation to the gods, a pigeon which drank of it died on the spot.
Creusa thereupon fled to the altar of the god. Ion dragged her away, and was on
the point of killing her, when a priestess interfered, explained the mystery,
and showed that Ion was the son of Creusa. Mother and son thus became reconciled,
but Xuthus was not let into the secret. The latter, however, was satisfied, for
he too received a promise that he should become a father, viz. of Dorus and Achaeus.
The inhabitants of Aegialus, on the northern coast of Peloponnesus, were likewise
Ionians, and among them another tradition was current. Xuthus, when expelled from
Thessaly, went to Aegialus. After his death Ion was on the point of marching against
the Aegialeans, when their king Selinus gave him his daughter Helice in marriage.
After the death of Selins, Ion succeeded to the throne, and thus the Aegialeans
received the name of Ionians, and the town of Helice was built in honour of Ion's
wife (Paus. vii. 1. 2; Apollod. i. 7. 2). Other traditions represent Ion as king
of Athens between the reigns of Erechtheus and Cecrops; for it is said that his
assistance was called in by the Athenians in their war with the Eleusinians, that
he conquered Eumolpus, and then became king of Athens. He there became the father
of four sons, Geleon, Aegicores, Argades, and lloples, according to whom he divided
the Athenians into four classes, which derived their names from his sons. After
his death he was buried at Potamus (Eurip. Ion, 578 ; Strab. viii.; Conon, Narrat.
27; comp. Herod. v. 6..)
The Ionians made twelve cities; for it would be foolishness to say that these are more truly Ionian or better born than the other Ionians; since not the least part of them are Abantes from Euboea, who are not Ionians even in name, and there are mingled with them Minyans of Orchomenus, Cadmeans, Dryopians, Phocian renegades from their nation, Molossians, Pelasgian Arcadians, Dorians of Epidaurus, and many other tribes; and as for those who came from the very town-hall of Athens and think they are the best born of the Ionians, these did not bring wives with them to their settlements, but married Carian women whose parents they had put to death.
This extract is from: Herodotus. The Histories (ed. A. D. Godley, 1920), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Apr 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
Neleus, or Neileos, the younger son of Codrus, disputed the right of his elder brother Medon to the crown on account of his lameness, and when the Delphic oracle declared in favour of Medon, he placed himself at the head of the colonists who migrated to Ionia, and himself founded Miletus. His son Aepytus headed the colonists who settled in Priene. Another son headed a body of settlers who reinforced the inhabitants of Iasus, after they had lost a great number of their citizens in a war with the Carians. (Herod. ix. 97; Paus. vii. 2, § 1, who in the old edition calls him Neileus; Polyb. xvi. 12; Suidas, s. v. Ionia; Strab. xiv.)
Sons of Euctemon, Athenians, lead Phocians to Asia.
Iolaus of Thebes, the nephew of Heracles, led the Athenians and Thespians to Sardinia. A fourth component part of the population was the army of Iolaus, consisting of Thespians and men from Attica, which put in at Sardinia and founded Olbia; by themselves the Athenians founded Ogryle, either in commemoration of one of their parishes in the home land, or else because one Ogrylus himself took part in the expedition.
Lycus. A son of Pandion, and brothe of Aegeus, Nisus, and Pallas. He was expelled y Aegeus, and took refuge in the country of the Termili, with Sarpedon. That country was afterwards called, after him, Lycia (Herod. i. 173, vii. 92).
Metion, a son of Erechtheus and Praxithea, and husband of Alcippe. His sons, the Metionidae,
expelled their cousin Pandion front his kingdom of Athens, but were themselves
afterwards expelled by the sons of Pandion (Apollod. iii. 15. 1, 5. 6. 8; Paus.
i. 5.3). Diodorus (iv. 76) calls Daedalus one of the sons of Metion, and Metion
himself a son of Eupalamus and grandson of Erechtheus (comp. Plat. Ion; Paus.
vii. 4.5). Apollodorus (iii. 15.8) on the other hand, calls Eupalamus a son of
Metion and father of Daedalus. According to a Sicyonian legend, Sicyon also was
a son of Metion and a grandson of Erechtheus (Paus. ii. 6.3; comp. Schol. ad Soph.
Oed. Col. 468, who calls the wife of Metion Iphinoe.
Pallas. A son of the Athenian king Pandion, and accordingly a brother of Aegeus, Nisus, and Lycus, was slain by Theseus. The celebrated family of the Pallantidae at Athens traced their origin up to this Pallas. (Apollod. iii. 15.5; Paus. i. 22.2, 28.10; Plut. Twes. 3; Eurip. Hippol. 35.)
Teleon. An Athenian, a son of Ion, the husband of Zeuxippe, and father of the Argonaut Butes. (Apollod. i. 9.16; Apollon. Rhod. i. 95.) From him the Teleonites in Attica derived their name. (Eurip. Ion, 1579.)
Polieus, "the protector of the city;" a surname of Zeus, under which he had an altar on the acropolis at Athens. Upon this altar barley and wheat were strewed, which were consumed by the bull about to be sacrificed to the god. The priest who killed the victim, threw away the axe as soon as he had struck the fatal blow, and the axe was then brought before a court of justice. (Paus. i. 24.4, 28.11.)
Alexicacus (Alexikakos), the averter of evil, is a surname given by the Greeks to several deities, as--Zeus (Orph. De Lapid. Prooem. i.),--to Apollo, who was worshipped under this name by the Athenians, because he was believed to have stopped the plague which raged at Athens in the tine of the Peloponnesian war (Paus. i. 3.3, viii. 41.5),--and to Heracles. (Lactant. v. 3.)
Hypatus Hupatosos), the most high, occurs not only as an epithet of Zeus in poetry (Hom. Il. viii. 31, xix. 258), but as a real surname of the god. An altar of Zeus Hypatus existed at Athens in front of the Erechtheium; and it was not allowed to offer up to him any thing alive or libations, but only cakes (Paus. i. 26.6, viii. 2.1). Zeus Hypatus was also worshipped at Sparta (iii. 17.3), and near Glisas in Boeotia. (ix. 19.3)
Maemactes (Maimaktes), i. e. the stormy, a surname of Zeus, from which the name of the Attic month Maemacterion was derived. In that month the Maemacteria was celebrated at Athens. (Plut. de Ir. cohib. 9.)
Meilichius (Meilichios), i. e. the god that can be propitiated, or the gracious,
is used as a surname of several divinities.
1. Of Zeus, as the protector of those who honoured him with propitiatory sacrifices.
At Athens cakes were offered to him every year at the festival of the Diasia (Thucyd.
i. 126; Xenoph. Anab. vii. 7. 4). Altars were erected to Zeus Meilichius on the
Cephissus (Paus. i. 37.3), at Sicyon (ii.9.6), and at Argos (ii. 20.1; Plut. De
cohib. Ir. 9).
2. Of Dionysus in the island of Naxos (Athen. iii.) .
3. Of Tyche or Fortune (Orph. Hymn. 71. 2).
The plural theoi meilichioi is also applied to certain divinities whom mortals
used to propitiate with sacrifices at night, that they might avert all evil, as
e.g. at Myonia in the country of the Ozolian Locrians (Pans. x. 38.4; comp. Orph.
E. 30) .
Patroos (Patrooi) are , properly speaking, all the gods whose worship has been handed down in a nation or a family from the time of their fathers, whence in some instances they are the spirits of departed ancestors themselves. (Lucian, De MOrt. Pereg. 36.) Zeus was thus theos patroios at Athens (Paus. i. 3.3, 43.5), and among the Heracleidae, since the heroes of that race traced their origin to Zeus. (Apollod. ii. 8. § 4.) Among the Romans we find the divinities avenging the death of parents, that is, the Furiae or Erinnyes, designated as Patrii Dii. (Cic. in Ferr. ii. 1, 3 ; eomp. Liv. xl. 10.) But the name was also applied to the gods or heroes from whom the gentes erived their origin. (Serv. ad Aen. iii. 832 ; State. Theb. iv. 111.)
Maemactes (Maimaktes), i. e. the stormy, a surname of Zeus, from which the name of the Attic month Maemacterion was derived. In that month the Maemacteria was celebrated at Athens. (Plut. de Ir. cohib. 9.)
Pallas, a surname of Athena. In Homer this name always appears united with the name Athena, as Pallas Athene or Pallas Athenain ; but in later writers we also find Pallas alone instead of Athena. (Pind. Ol. v. 21.) Plato (Cratyl.) derives the surname from pallein, to brandish, in reference to the goddess brandishing the spear or aegis, whereas Apollodorus (i. 6.2) derives it from the giant Pallas, who was slain by Athena. But it is more probable that Pallas is the same word as pallax, i. e. a virgin or maiden. (Comp. Tzetz. ad Lyc. 355.) Another female Pallas, described as a daughter of Triton, is mentioned under Palladium.
Palladium (Palladion), is properly an image of Pallas Athena, but generally an ancient one, which was kept hidden and secret, and was revered as a pledge of the safety of the town or place where it existed. Among these ancient images of Pallas none is more celebrated than the Trojan Palladium, concerning which there was the following tradition. Athena was brought up by Triton; and his daughter, Pallas, and Athena once were wrestling together for the sake of exercise. Zeus interfered in the struggle, and suddenly held the aegis before the face of Pallas. Pallas, while looking up to Zeus, was wounded by Athena, and died. Athena in her sorrow caused an image of the maiden to be made, round which she hung the aegis, and which she placed by the side of the image of Zeus. Subsequently when Electra, after being dishonoured, fled to this image, Zeus threw it down from Olympus upon the earth. It came down at Troy, where Ilus, who had just been praying to the god for a favourable omen for the building of the city, took it up, and erected a sanctuary to it. According to some, the image was dedicated by Electra, and according to others it was given by Zeus to Dardanus. The image itself is said to have been three cubits in height, its legs close together, and holding in its right hand a spear, and in the left a spindle and a distaff (Apollod. iii. 12.3; Schol. ad Eurip. Orest. 1129; Dionys. i. 69). This Palladium remained at Troy until Odysseus and Diomedes contrived to carry it away, because the city could not be taken so long as it was in the possession of that sacred treasure (Conon, Narr. 34; Virg. Aen. ii. 164). According to some accounts Troy contained two Palladia, one of which was carried off by Odysseus and Diomedes, and the other carried by Aeneas to Italy, or the one taken by the Greeks was a mere imitation, while that which Aeneas brought to Italy was the genuine one (Dionys. l. c. ; Paus. ii. 23.5; Ov. Fast. vi. 421). But if we look away from this twofold Palladium, which was probably a mere invention to account for its existence in more than one place, several towns both in Greece and Italy claimed the honour of possessing the ancient Trojan Palladium; as for example, Argos (Paus. ii. 23.5), and Athens, where it was believed that Diomedes, on his return from Troy, landed on the Attic coast at night, without knowing what country it was. He accordingly began to plunder; but Demophon, who hastened to protect the country, took the Palladium from Diomedes (Paus. i. 28.9). This Palladium at Athens, however, was different from another image of Pallas there, which was also called Palladium, and stood on the acropolis. In Italy the cities of Rome, Lavinium. Luceria, and Siris likewise pretended to possess the Trojan Palladium (Strab. vi.; Serv. ad Aen. ii. 166, &c.; Plut. Camill. 20; Tac. Ann. xv. 41; Dionys. ii. 66). Figures reminding us of the description we have of the Trojan Palladium are frequently seen in ancient works of art.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited July 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Polias, i. e. "the goddess protecting the city," a surname of Athena at Athens, where she was especially worshipped as the protecting divinity of the acropolis. (Paus. i. 27. I)
Poliouchos, i.e. "protecting the city," occurs as a surname of several divinities, such as Athena Chalcioecus at Sparta. (Paus. iii. 17.2), and of Athena at Athens.
Hygieia, the goddess of health, and a daughter of Asclepius. A surname of Athena who worshipped at Athens.
Paeonia (Paionia), i. e. the healing goddess, was a surname of Athena, under which she had a statue at Athens, and an altar in the temple of Amphiaraus at Oropus. (Paus. i. 2.4, 34.2.)
Areia. A suntame of Athena, under which she was worshipped at Athens. Her statue, together with those of Ares, Aphrodite, and Enyo, stood in the temple of Ares at Athens. (Paus. i. 8.4.) Her worship under this name was instituted by Orestes after he had been acquitted by the Areiopagus of the murder of his mother. (i. 28.5.) It was Athena Areia who gave her casting vote in cases where the Areiopagites were equally divided. (Aeschyl. Eum. 753.) From these circumstances, it has been inferred, that the name Areia ought not to be derived from Ares, but from ara, a prayer, or from areo or aresko, to propitiate or atone for.
Hippia and Hippius (Ippia and Hippios, or Hippeios), in Latin Equester and Equestris,
occur as surnames of several divinities, as of Hera (Paus. v. 15.4); of Athena
at Athens, Tegea and Olympia (i. 30.4, 31.3, v. 15.4, viii. 47 ); of Poseidon
(vi. 20.8, i. 30.4; Liv. i. 9); of Ares (Paus. v. 15.4); and at Rome also of Fortuna
and Venus (Liv. xl. 40, xlii. 3; Serv. ad Aen. i. 724).
Pallenis, a surname of Athena, under which she had a temple between Athens and Marathon. (Herod. i. 62.)
Parthenos, i. e. the virgin, a surname of Athena at Athens, where the famous temple Parthenon was dedicated to her. (Paus. i.24, v. ii. 5, viii. 41.5, x. 34, in fin.) Parthenos also occurs as the proper name of the daughter of Apollo and Chrysothemis, who after her premature death was placed by her father among the stars. (Hygin. Poet. Astr. 25. in fin.)
Pandemos, i. e. "common to all the people", occurs as a surname of Aphrodite, and that in a twofold sense, first describing her as the goddess of low sensual pleasures as Venus vulgivaga or popularis, in opposition to Venus (Aphrodite) Urania, or the heavenly Aphrodite (Plat. Sympos.; Lucret. iv. 1067). She was represented at Elis by Scopas riding on a ram (Paus. vi. 25.2). The second sense is that of Aphrodite uniting all the inhabitants of a country into one social or political body. In this respect she was worshipped at Athens along with Peitho (persuasion), and her worship was said to have been instituted by Theseus at the time when he united the scattered townships into one great body of citizens (Paus. i. 22. 3). According to some authorities, it was Solon who erected the sanctuary of Aphrodite Pandemos, either because her image stood in the agora, or because the hetaerae had to pay the costs of its erection (Harpocrat. and Suid. s. v.; Athen. xiii.). The worship of Aphrodite Pandemos also occurs at Megalopolis in Arcadia (Paus. viii. 32.1), and at Thebes (ix. 16.2). A festival in honour of her is mentioned by Athenaeus (xiv.). The sacrifices offered to her consisted of white goats (Lucian, Dial. Meret. 7; comp. Xenoph. Sympos. 8.9; Schol. ad Soph. Oed. Col. 101; Theocrit. Epigr. 13). Pandemos occurs also as a surname of Eros (Plat. Symp.).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited July 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Aristo, the best, a surname of Artemis at Athens. (Paus. i. 29. 2.)
Aristobule, the best adviser, a surname of Artemis, to whom Themistocles built a temple at Athens under this name; and in it lie dedicated his own statue. (Plut. Tlhemist. 22.)
Calliste (Kalliste), a surname of Artemis, by which she was worshipped at Athens and Tegea. (Paus. i. 29.2, viii. 35.7.)
Delphinia), a surname of Artemis at Athens. (Pollux, x. 119.) The masculine form Delphinius is used as a surname of Apollo, and is derived either from his slaying the dragon Delphine or Delphyne (usually called Python) who guarded the oracle at Pytho, or front his having shewn the Cretan colonists the way to Delphi, while riding on a dolphin or metamorphosing himself into a dolphin. (Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 208.) Under this name Apollo had temples at Athens, Cnossus in Crete, Didyma, and Massilia. (Paus. i. 19.1; Plut. Tiles. 14; Strab. iv)
Lusizona (Lusizone), i. e. the goddess who loosens the girdle, is a surname of Artemis and Eileithyia, who were worshipped under this name at Athens. (Theocrit. xvii. 60; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 287.)
Boedromius (Boedromios), the helper in distress, a surname of Apollo at Athens, the origin of which is explained in different ways. According to some, the god was thus called because he had assisted the Athenians in the war with the Amazons, who were defeated on the seventh of Boedromion, the day on which the Boedromia were afterwards celebrated. (Plut. Thes. 27.) According to others, the name arose from the circumstance, that in the war of Erechtheus and Ion against Eumolpus, Apollo had advised the Athenians to rush upon the enemy with a war-shout (Boe), if they would conquer. (Harpocrat., Suid., Etym. M. s.v. Boedromios; Callim. Hymn.inApoll. 69.)
Parnopius (Parnopios), i. e. the expeller of locusts, a surname of Apollo, under which he had a statue on the acropolis at Athens. (Paus. i. 24.8.)
Chloe, the blooming, a surname of Demeter the protectress of the green fields,
who had a sanctuary at Athens conjointly with Ge Curotrophos. (Paus. i. 22.3;
Eustath. ad Horn.) This surname is probably alluded to when Sophocles (Oed. Col.
1600) calls her Demeter euChloos. (Comp. Aristoph. Lysist. 815.) Respecting the
festival celebrated at Athens in honour of Demeter Chloe, see Chloeia.
Thesmia or Thesmophoros, that is, " the law-giver," a surname of Demeter and Persephone, in honour of whom the Thesmophoria were celebrated at Athens in the month of Pyanepsion (Herod. ii. 171, vi. 16 ; Aristoph. Thesm. 303), and to whom sanctuaries were also erected at Megara, Troezene, Pheneos, and other places. (Paus. i. 42.7, ii. 32.7, viii. 15.1, ix. 16.3, x. 33, in fin.)
Amphietes or Amphieterus, a surname of Dionysus. (Orph. Hymn. 52. 1, 51. 10.) It is believed that at Athens, where the Dionysiac festivals were held annually, the name signified yearly, while at Thebes, where they were celebrated every third year, it was interpretated to be synonymous with trietes.
Limnaea (Limnaia os, Limnetes is, Limnegenes), i. e. inhabiting or born in a lake
or marsh, is a surname of several divinities who were believed either to have
sprung from a lake, or had their temples near a lake. Instances are, Dionysus
at Athens (Eustath. ad Hom.; Callim. Fragm. 280; Thuc. ii. 15; Aristoph. Ran.
216; Athen. x., xi.), and Artemis at Sicyon, near Epidaurus (Paus. ii. 7.6, iii.
23.10), on the frontiers between Laconia and Messenia (Paus. iii. 2.6, 7.4, iv.
4.2, 31.3, vii. 20.7; Strab. viii.; Tac. Ann. iv. 43), near Calamae (Paus. iv.
31.3), at Tegea (viii. 53.11, comp. iii. 14.2), Patrae (vii. 20.7); it is also
used as a surname of nymphs (Theocrit. v. 17) that dwell in lakes or marshes.
Eirene. The goddess of peace. After the victory of Timothcus over the Lacedaemonians, altars were erected to her at Athens at the public expense. (Corn. Nep. Timoth. 2; Plut. Cim. 13.) Her statue at Athens stood by the side of that of Amphiaraus, carrying in its arms Plutus, the god of wealth (Paus. i. 8.3), and another stood near that of Hestia in the Prytaneion. (i. 18,3.) . At Rome too, where peace (Pax) was worshipped, she had a magnificent temple, which was built by the emperor Vespasian. (Suet. Vespas. 9 ; Paus. vi. 9.1.) The figure of Eirene or Pax occurs only on coins, and she is there represented as a youthful female, holding in her left arm a cornucopia and in her right hand an olive branch or the staff of Hermes. Sometimes also she appears in the act of burning a pile of arms, or carrying corn-ears in her hand or upon her head.
Eleos, the personification of pity or mercy, had an altar in the agora at Athens. "The Athenians," says Pausanias (i. 17.1), "are the only ones among the Hellenes that worship this divine being, and among all the gods this is the most useful to human life in all its vicissitudes." . Those who implored the assistance of the Athenians, such as Adrastus and the Heracleidae, approached as suppliants the altar of Eleos. (Apollod. ii.8.1, iii. 7. ; Schol ad Soph. Oed. Col. 258 )
Enyo (Enuo), the goddess of war, who delights in bloodshed and the destruction
of towns, and accompanies Mars in battles (Hom. Il. v. 333, 592; Eustath.) At
Thebes and Orchomenos, a festival called Homoloia was celebrated in honour of
Zeus, Demeter, Athena and Enyo, and Zeus was said to have received the surname
of Homoloius from Homolois, a priestess of Enyo (Suid. s. v.). A statue of Enyo,
made by the sons of Praxiteles, stood in the temple of Ares at Athens (Paus. i.
8.5). Among the Graeae in Hesiod (Theog. 273) there is one called Enyo. Respecting
the Roman goddess of war see Bellona.
Eucleia (Eukleia), a divinity who was worshipped at Athens, and to whom a sanctuary was dedicated there out of the spoils which the Athenians had taken in the battle of Marathon (Paus. i. 14.4). The goddess was only a personification of the glory which the Athenians had reaped in the day of that memorable battle. Eucleia was also used at Athens as a surname of Artemis, and her sanctuary was of an earlier date, for Euchidas died in it (Plut. Arist. 20). Plutarch remarks, that many took Eucleia for Artemis, and thus made her the same as Artemis Eucleia, but that others described her as a daughter of Heracles and Myrto, a daughter of Menoetius; and he adds that this Eucleia died as a maiden, and was worshipped in Boeotia and Locris, where she had an altar and a statue in every market-place, on which persons on the point of marrying used to offer sacrifices to her. Whether and what connexion there existed between the Attic and Boeotian Eucleia is unknown, though it is probable that the Attic divinity was, as is remarked above, a mere personification, and consequently quite independent of Eucleia, the daughter of Heracles. Artemis Eucleia had also a temple at Thebes (Paus. ix. 17.1).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited June 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Gamelii (Gamelioi theoi), that is, the divinities protecting and presiding over marriage
(Pollux, i. 24; Maxim. Tyr. xxvi. 6). Plutarch (Quaest. Rom. 2) says, that those
who married required (the protection of) five divinities, viz. Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite,
Peitho, and Artemis (Comp. Dion Chrys. Orat. vii.). But these are not all, for
the Moerae too are called theai lameliai (Spanheim ad Callim. Hymn. in Dian. 23,
in Del. 292, 297), and, in fact, nearly all the gods might be regarded as the
protectors of marriage, though the five mentioned by Plutarch perhaps more particularly
than others. The Athenians called their month of Gamelion
after these divinities. Respecting the festival of the Gamelia
Index, the indicater or denouncer, is a translation of Menutes, a surname of Heracles. Once, the story runs, a golden vessel had been stolen from the temple of Heracles at Athens. Heracles repeatedly appeared to Sophocles in a dream, until the latter informed the Areiopagus of it, and the thief was arrested, and confessed his crime. From this circumstance the temple was afterwards called the temple of Heracles Menytes, or Index. (Cic. de Div. i. 25; Hesych. s. v. menutes; Sophokleous genos kai bios.)
Hisagus, a river god, who, according to one tradition, gave decision in the dispute between Athena and Poseidon about the possession of Athens. (Serv. ad Aen. iii. 377.)
Horae. At Athens two Horae, Thallo (the Hora of spring) and Carpo (the Hora of
autumn), were worshipped from very early ties (Paus. ix. 35.1; comp. Athen. xiv.;
Ov. Met. ii. 1118; Val. Flacc. iv. 92; Lucian, Dial. Deor. x. 1). The Hora of
spring accompanies Persephone every year on her ascent from the lower world; and
the expression of "The chamber of the Horae opens " is equivalent to " The spring
is coining" (Orph. Hymn. xlii. 7; Pind. Fragm. xlv. 13). The attributes of spring-flowers,
fragrance, and graceful freshness-are accordingly transferred to the Horae; thus
they adorned Aphrodite as she rose from the sea, made a garland of flowers for
Pandora, and even inanimate things are described as deriving peculiar charms from
the Horae (Hom. Hymn. viii. 5; Hes. Op. 65; Hygin. Poet. Astr. ii. 5; Theocr.
i. 150; Athen. ii.). Hence they bear a resemblance to and are mentioned along
with the Charites, and both are frequently confounded or identified (Paus. ii.
17.4). As they were conceived to promote the prosperity of every thing that grows,
they appear also as the protectresses of youth and newly-born gods (Paus. ii.
13.3; Pind. Pyth. ix. 62; Philostr. Imag. i. 26; Nonnus, Dionys. xi. 50); and
the Athenian youths, on being admitted along the ephebi, mentioned Thallo, among
other gods, in the oath they took in the temple of Agraulos (Pollux, viii. 106.)...
...The Horae (Thallo and Carpo) were worshipped at Athens, and their temple there
also contained an altar of Dionysus Orthus (Athen. i. p. 38; comp. xiv. p. 656;
Hesych. s.v. horaia
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Thallo, one of the Attic Horae, who was believed to grant prosperity to the young shoots of plants, and was also invoked in the political oath which the citizens of Athens had to take. (Paus. ix. 35.1; Pollux, Onom. viii. 106)
Horme, the personification of energetic activity, who had an altar dedicated to her at Athens. (Paus. i. 17.1)
Nice (Nike). The goddess of victory, or, as the Romans called her, Victoria, is described as a daughter of Pallas and Styx, and as a sister of Zelus (zeal), Cratos (strength), and Bia (force). At the time when Zeus entered upon the fight against the Titans, and called upon the gods for assistance, Nice and her two sisters were the first that came forward, and Zeus was so pleased with their readiness, that he caused them ever after to live with him in Olympus. (Hes. Theog. 382; Apollod. i. 2.2). Nice had a celebrated temple on the acropolis of Athens, which is still extant and in excellent preservation (Paus. i. 22.4. iii. 15.5). She is often seen represented in ancient works of art, especially together with other divinities, such as Zeus and Athena, and with conquering heroes whose horses she guides. In her appearance she resembles Athena, but has wings, and carries a palm or a wreath, and is engaged in raising a trophy, or in inscribing the victory of the conqueror on a shield (Paus. v. 10. 2. 11.1, 2, .vi. 18.1).
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Apteros, "the wingless," a surname under which Nice (the goddess of victory) had a sanctuary at Athens. This goddess was usually represented with wings, and their absence in this instance was intended to signify that Victory would or could never fly away from Athens. The same idea was expressed at Sparta by a statue of Ares with his feet chained. (Paus. i. 22.4, iii. 15.5.)
Ossa, the personification of rumour or report, the Latin Famna. As it is often impossible to trace a report to its source, it is said to come from Zeus, and hence Ossa is called the messenger of Zeus (Hom. Od. i. 282, ii. 216, xxiv. 412, Il. ii. 93). Sophocles (Oed. Tyr.158) calls her a daughter of Hope, and the poets, both Greek and Latin, have indulged in various imaginary descriptions of Ossa or Fama (Hes. Op. et Dies,705, &c.; Virg. Aen. iv. 174, &c.; Ov. Met. xii. 39, &c.). At Athens she was honoured with an altar. (Paus. i. 17.1.)
Pandora, i. e. the giver of all, or endowed with every thing, is the name of the first woman on earth. When Prometheus had stolen the fire from heaven, Zeus in revenge caused Hephaestus to make a woman out of earth, who by her charms and beauty should bring misery upon the human race (Hes. Theog. 571; Stob. Serin. 1). Aphrodite adorned her with beauty, Hermes gave her boldness and cunning, and the gods called her Pandora, as each of the Olympians had given her some power by which she was to work the ruin of man. Hermes took her to Epimetheus, who forgot the advice of his brother Prometheus, not to accept any gift from Zeus, and from that moment all miseries came down upon men (Hes. Op. et Dies, 50). According to some mythographers, Epimetheus became by her the father of Pyrrha and Deucalion (Hygin. Fub. 142; Apollod. i. 7.2; Procl. ad Hes. Op.; Ov. Met. i. 350); others make Pandora a daughter of Pyrrha and Deucalion (Eustath. ad Hom.). Later writers speak of a vessel of Pandora, containing all the blessings of the gods, which would have been preserved for the human race, had not Pandora opened the vessel, so that the winged blessings escaped irrecoverably. The birth of Pandora was represented on the pedestal of the statue of Athena, in the Parthenon at Athens (Paus. i. 24.7). In the Orphic poems Pandora occurs as an infernal awful divinity, and is associated with Hecate and the Erinnyes (Orph. Argon. 974). Pandora also occurs as a surname of Gaea (Earth), as the giver of all (Schol. ad Aristoph. Av. 970; Philostr. Vit. Apoll. vi. 39; Hesych. s.v.)
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Pudicita (Aidos), a personification of modesty, was worshipped both in Greece and at Rome. At Athens an altar was dedicated to her. (Paus. i. 17.1.) At Rome two sanctuaries were dedicated to her, one under the name of Pudicitia patricia, and the other under that of Pudicitia plebeia. The former was in the forum Boarium near the temple of Hercules. When the patrician Virginia was driven from this sanctuary by the other patrician women, because she had married the plebeian consul L. Volumnius, she built a separate sanctuary to Pdicitia plebeia in the Vicus Longus (Liv. x. 23; Fest.). No woman who had married twice was allowed to touch her statue; and Pudicitia, moreover, was considered by some to be the same as Fortuna Muliebris. She is represented in works of art as a matron in modest attire.
Tychon. A god of chance or accident. was, according to Strabo (ix. D. 408), worshipped at Athens. (Comp. Anthol. Palat. ix. 334.)
Hegemone, that is, the leader or ruler, is the name of one of the Athenian Charites. When the Athenian ephebi took their civic oath, they invoked Hegemone. (Pollux, viii. 106; Paus. ix. 35.1.) Hegemone occurs also as a surname of Artemis at Sparta, and in Arcadia. (Paus. iii. 14.6, viii. 36.7, 47.4; Callim. Hymn. in Dian. 227; Polyaen. viii. 52.)
Automatia, a surname of Tyche or Fortuna, which seems to characterize her as the goddess who manages things according to her own will, without any regard to the merit of man. Under this name Timoleon built to the goddess a sanctuary in his house. (Plut. De Sui Laude; Nepos, Timol. 4.)
AGRYLI (Ancient demos) ATHENS
Agraulos. A daughter of Cecrops and Agraulos, and mother of Alcippe by Ares. This
Agraulos is an important personage in the stories of Attica, and there were three
different legends about her.
1. According to Pausanias (i. 18. § 2) and Hyginus (Fab. 166), Athena gave to
her and her sisters Erichlthonius in a chest, with the express command not to
open it. But Agraulos and Herse could not control their curiosity, land opened
it; where-upon they were seized with madness at the sight of Erichlithonius, and
threw themselves from the steep rock of the Acropolis, or according to Hyginus
into the sea.
2. According to Ovid (Met. ii. 710, &c.), Agraulos and her sister survived their
opening the chest, and the former, who had instigated her sister to open it, was
punished in this manner. Hermes came to Athens during the celebration of the Panathenaea,
and fell in love with Herse. Athena made Agraulos so jealous of her sister, that
she even attempted to prevent the god entering the house of Herse. But, indignant
at such presumption, he changed Agraulos into a stone.
3. The third legend represents Agraulos in a totally different light. Athens was
at one time involved in a long-protracted war, and an oracle declared that it
would cease, if some one would sacrifice himself for the good of his country.
Agraulos came forward and threw herself down 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 armour,
to take an oath that they would always defend their country to the last. (Suid.
and Hesych. s. v. Agraulos; Ulpian, ad Demosth. de fals. leg.; Herod. viii. 53;
Plut. Alcib. 15; Philochorus, Fragm.) One of the Attic demoi (Agraule) derived
its name from this heroine, and a festival and mysteries were celebrated at Athens
in honour of her (Steph. Byz. s. v. Agraule). According to Porphyry (De Abstin.
ab animal. i. 2), she was also worshipped in Cyprus, where human sacrifices were
offered to her down to a very late time.
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AKADIMIA PLATONOS (City quarter) ATHENS
Academus (Akademos), an Attic hero, who, when Castor and Polydeuces invaded Attica
to liberate their sister Helen, betrayed to them that she was kept concealed at
Aphidnae. For this reason the Tyndarids always showed him much gratitude, and
whenever the Lacedaemonians invaded Attica, they always spared the land belonging
to Academus which lay on the Cephissus, six stadia from Athens. (Plut. Thes. 32;
Diog. Laert. iii. 1.9.) This piece of land was subsequently adorned with plane
and olive plantations (Plut. Cim. 13), and was called Academia from its original
owner.
DIOMIA (Ancient demos) ATHENS
Heracles was worshipped partly as a hero, to whom men brought the ordinary libations and offerings, and partly as an Olympian deity, an immortal among the immortals. Immediately after his apotheosis his friends offered sacrifice to him at the place of burning, and his worship spread from thence through all the tribes of Hellas. Diomus the son of Colyttus, an Athenian, is said to have been the first who paid him the honours of an immortal. It was he who founded the gymnasium called Cynosarges, near the city. This gymnasium, the sanctuary at Marathon, and the temple at Athens were the three most venerable shrines of Heracles in Attica. Diomus gave his name to the Diomeia, a merry festival held in Athens in honour of Heracles.
VOUTADE (Ancient demos) ATHENS
Boutes (Butes). Son of the Athenian Pandion and Zeuxippe. A tiller of the soil,
and a neat-herd, he was a priest of Athene, the goddess of the stronghold, and
of Poseidon Erechthens, and thus ancestor of the priestly caste of the Butadae
and Eteobutadae. He shared an altar in the Erechtheum with Poseidon and Hephaestus.
The later story represented him as the son of Teleon and Zeuxippe, and as taking
part in the expedition of the Argonauts.
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Butes. A son of Teleon and Zeuxippe. Others call his father Pandion or Amycus.
He is renowned as an Athenian shepherd, ploughman, warrior, and an Argonaut (Apollod.
i. 9.16, 25, iii. 14.8, 15.1). After the death of Pandion, he obtained the office
of priest of Athena and the Erechtheian Poseidon. The Attic family of the Butadae
or Eteobutadae derived their origin from him, and in the Erechtheum on the Acropolis
there was an altar dedicated to Butes, and the walls were decorated with paintings
representing scenes from the history of the family of the Butadae (Paus. i. 26.6;
Harpocrat., Etym. M., Hesych. s. v.; Orph. Arg. 138; Val. Flacc. i. 394; Hygin.
Fab. 14). The Argonaut Butes is also called a son of Poseidon (Eustath. ad Hom.
xiii. 43); and it is said, that when the Argonauts passed by the Sirens, Orpheus
commenced a song to counteract the influence of the Sirens, but that Butes alone
leaped into the sea. Aphrodite, however, saved him, and carried him to Lilybaeum,
where she became by him the mother of Eryx (Apollod. i. 9.25; Serv. ad Aen. i.
574, v. 24). Diodorus (iv. 83), on the other hand, regards this Butes as one of
the native kings of Sicily.
There are at least four more mythical persons of this name, respecting
whom nothing of interest can be said. (Ov. Met. vii. 500; Diod. v. 59; Virg. Aen.
xi. 690, &c., ix. 646. &c.)
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ATHENS (Ancient city) GREECE
Son of Theseus and Phaedra, flies from Athens, attacks Argives in Attica, tried at court of Palladium, goes to Troy and leads away Aethra, goes to the land of the Thracian Bisaltians, and marries Phyllis, the king's daughter, goes to Cyprus, and being cursed by the deserted Phyllis he falls on his sword.
Demophon. A son of Theseus and Phaedra, and brother of Acamas (Diod. iv. 62; Hygin. Fab. 48). According to Pindar (ap. Plut. Thes. 28), he was the son of Theseus by Antiope. He accompanied the Grecks against Troy (Homer, however, does not mention him), and there effected the liberation of his grandmother Aethra, who was with Helena as a slave (Paus. x. 25.2). According to Plutarch he was beloved by Laodice, who became by him the mother of Munychus or Munytus whom Aethra brought up in secret at Ilium. On Demophon's return from Troy, Phyllis, the daughter of the Thracian king Sithon, fell in love with him, and he consented to marry her. But, before the nuptials were celebrated, he went to Attica to settle his affairs at home, and as he tarried longer than Phyllis had expected, she began to think that she was forgotten, and put an end to her life. She was, however, metamorphosed into a tree, and Demophon, when he at last returned and saw what had happened, embraced the tree and pressed it to his bosom, whereupon buds and leaves immediately came forth (Ov. Ar. Am. iii. 38, Heroid. 2; Serv. ad Virg. Eclog v. 10; comp. Hygin. Fab. 59). Afterwards, when Diomedes on his return from Troy was thrown on the coast of Attica, and without knowing the country began to ravage it, Demophon marched out against the invaders: he took the Palladium from them, but had the misfortune to kill an Athenian in the struggle. For this murder he was summoned by the people of Athens before the court epi Palladioi--the first time that a man was tried by that court (Paus. i. 28.9). According to Antoninus Liberalis (33) Demophon assisted the Heracleidae against Eurystheus, who fell in battle, and the Heracleidae received from Demophon settlements in Attica, which were called the tetrapolis. Orestes too came to Athens to seek the protection of Demophon. He arrived during the celebration of the Anthesteria, and was kindly received; but the precautions which were taken that he might not pollute the sacred rights, gave rise to the second day of the festival, which was called choes (Athen. x; Plut. Syrmpos. ii). Demophon was painted in the Lesche at Delphi together with Helena and Aethra, meditating how he might liberate Aethra (Paus. i. 28.9).
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Descendants of Cephalus.
Athenian herald murdered by Megarians, his tomb.
Daughter of Erechtheus, king of Athens, and of Praxithea, who
was seized by Boreas, and carried off to Thrace, where she became the mother of
Cleopatra, Chione, Zetes, and Calais.
Orithyia : Perseus Encyclopedia
Orithyia, Oreithyia : Perseus Project Index
Daughter of Erechtheus, loved by Apollo, mother of Achaeus and Ion, married to Xuthus.
Aegleis (Aigleis), a daughter of Hyacinthus who had emigrated from Lacedaemon to Athens. During the siege of Athens by Minos, in the reign of Aegeus, she together with her sisters Antheis, Lytaea, and Orthaea, were sacrificed on the tomb of Geraestus the Cyclop, for the purpose of averting a pestilence then raging at Athens. (Apollod. iii. 15.8.)
In his time (Cecrops was king of Attica), they say, the gods resolved to take
possession of cities in which each of them should receive his own peculiar worship.
So Poseidon was the first that came to Attica, and with a blow of his trident
on the middle of the acropolis, he produced a sea which they now call Erechtheis.
After him came Athena, and, having called on Cecrops to witness her act of taking
possession, she planted an olive tree, which is still shown in the Pandrosium.
But when the two strove for possession of the country, Zeus parted them and appointed
arbiters, not, as some have affirmed, Cecrops and Cranaus, nor yet Erysichthon,
but the twelve gods. And in accordance with their verdict the country was adjudged
to Athena, because Cecrops bore witness that she had been the first to plant the
olive. Athena, therefore, called the city Athens after herself, and Poseidon in
hot anger flooded the Thriasian plain and laid Attica under the sea.
Commentary:
As to the contest between Poseidon and Athena for possession of Attica,
see Hdt. 8.55; Plut. Them. 19; Paus. 1.24.5; Paus. 1.26.5; Ov. Met. 6.70ff.; Hyginus,
Fab. 164; Serv. Verg. G. 1.12; Lactantius Placidus on Statius, Theb. vii.185;
Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. Bode, i. pp. 1, 115 (First Vatican Mythographer
2; Second Vatican Mythographer 119). A rationalistic explanation of the fable
was propounded by the eminent Roman antiquary Varro. According to him, the olive-tree
suddenly appeared in Attica, and at the same time there was an eruption of water
in another part of the country. So king Cecrops sent to inquire of Apollo at Delphi
what these portents might signify. The oracle answered that the olive and the
water were the symbols of Athena and Poseidon respectively, and that the people
of Attica were free to choose which of these deities they would worship. Accordingly
the question was submitted to a general assembly of the citizens and citizenesses;
for in these days women had the vote as well as men. All the men voted for the
god, and all the women voted for the goddess; and as there was one more woman
than there were men, the goddess appeared at the head of the poll. Chagrined at
the loss of the election, the male candidate flooded the country with the water
of the sea, and to appease his wrath it was decided to deprive women of the vote
and to forbid children to bear their mother's names for the future. See Augustine,
De civitate Dei xviii.9. The print of Poseidon's trident on the rock of the acropolis
at Athens was shown down to late times. See Strab. 9.1.16; Paus. 1.26.5. The "sea,"
which the god was supposed to have produced as evidence of his right to the country
was also to be seen within the Erechtheum on the acropolis; Pausanias calls it
a well of sea water, and says that, when the south wind blew, the well gave forth
a sound of waves. See Hdt. 8.55; Paus. 1.26.5; Paus. 8.10.4. According to the
late Latin mythographers (see the references above), Poseidon produced a horse
from the rock in support of his claim, and this version of the story seems to
have been accepted by Virgil (Geo. i.12ff.), but it is not countenanced by Greek
writers. The Athenians said that the contest between Poseidon and Athena took
place on the second of the month Boedromion, and hence they omitted that day from
the calendar. See Plut. De fraterno amore 11; Plut. Quaest. Conviv. ix.6. The
unlucky Poseidon also contested the possession of Argos with Hera, and when the
judges gave a verdict against him and in favour of the goddess, he took his revenge,
as in Attica, by flooding the country. See Paus. 2.22.4; compare Paus. 2.15.5;
Polemo, Greek History, cited by the Scholiast on Aristides, vol. iii. p. 322,
ed. Dindorf.
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From the book:
Old Greek Stories by James Baldwin
Bringing Yesterday's Classics to Today's Children
Actaeus Aktaios). A son of Erisichthon, and according to Pausanias (i. 2. § 5), the earliest king of Attica. He had three daughters, Agraulos, Herse, and Pandrosus, and was succeeded by Cecrops, who married Agraulos. According to Apollodorus (iii. 14. 1.) on the other hand, Cecrops was the first king of Attica.
Cecrops, a son of Gea (autocthon), King of Athens & Attica after Actaeus. Acte, the old name of Attica, renamed Cecropia, after him (see more at Cecropis )
When Cecrops died, Cranaus came to the throne; he was a son of the soil, and it was in his time that the flood in the age of Deucalion is said to have taken place. He married a Lacedaemonian wife, Pedias, daughter of Mynes, and begat Cranae, Menaechme, and Atthis; and when Atthis died a maid, Cranaus called the country Atthis. (Apollod. 3.14.5)
Cranaus (Kranaos), an autochthon and king of Attica, who reigned at the time of the flood of Deucalion. He was married to Pedias, by whom he became the father of Cranae, Cranaechme, and Atthis, from the last of whom Attica was believed to have derived its name. He was deprived of his kingdom by Amphictyon, his son-in-law, and after his death he was buried in the demos of Lamprae, where his tomb was shewn as late as the time of Pausanias. (Apollod. iii. 14.5, &c.; Paus. i. 2.5, 31.2.)
They say that Cranaus had daughters, and among them Atthis; and from her they call the country Attica, which before was named Actaea. And Amphictyon, rising up against Cranaus, although he had his daughter to wife, deposed him from power. Afterwards he himself was banished by Erichthonius and his fellow rebels.(Paus. 1.2.6)
Amphictyon (Amphiktuon), a son of Deucalion and Pyrrha (Apollod. i. 7.2), or according to others an autochthon, who after having married Cranae, the daughter of Cranaus, king of Attica, expelled his father-in-law from his kingdom and usurped his throne. He ruled for twelve years, and was then in turn expelled by Erichthonius (Apollod. iii. 14.5; Paus. i. 2.5). According to Eustathius (ad Hom. p. 277), he was married to Chthonopatra, by whom he had a son, Physcus, the father of Locrus. According to Stephanus Byzantius (s. v. Phuskos), however, Aetolus was a son and Physcus a grandson of Amphictyon. He was believed to have been the first who introduced the custom of mixing wine with water, and to have dedicated two altars to Dionysus Orthos and the nymphs (Eustath. ad Hom.). Dionysius of Halicarnassus (iv. 25), who calls him a son of Hellen, Pausanias (x. 8.1), and others, regard Amphictyon as the founder of the amphictyony of Thermopylae, and in consequence of this belief a sanctuary of Amphictyon was built in the village of Anthela on the Asopus, which was the most ancient place of meeting of this amphictyony (Herod. vii. 200). But this belief is without any foundation, and arose from the ancients assigning the establishment of their institutions to some mythical hero.
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Atthis or Attis, a daughter of Cranaus, from whom Attica, which was before called Actaea, was believed to have derived its name. (Paus. i. 2. § 5.) The two birds into which Philomele and her sister Procne were metamorphosed, were likewise called Attis. (Martial, i. 54. 9, v. 67. 2.)
Son of Cecrops (the elder), king of Athens, a legendary Athenian, father of Lycus the hero of the Lycians, expelled by Metionids, goes to Megara, marries the king's daughter, and becomes king of Megara, father of Cecrops, of Lycus, of Oeneus, of Nisus, of Aegeus, Pallas and Lycus, his sons march against Athens and expel the Metionids, unhappy in his daughters, one of his daughters marries Sciron, his tomb near Megara, worshipped at Megara, his shrine, statues at Athens and Delphi.
Pandion: Son of Cecrops and Metiadusa, grandson of Erechtheus, king of Athens. Driven into exile by the sons of his brother Metion, he went to Megara, where he married Pylia, the daughter of King Pylas, and inherited the kingdom. His sons, Aegeus, Lycus , Pallas, and Nisus (known as the Pandionidae), regained Attica from the Metionidae, and the first three shared it among themselves, while Nisus received Megara.
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Son of Erichthonius by Praxithea, king of Athens, in his time Demeter and Dionysus come to Attica, marries his mother's sister, father of Procne and Philomela, at war with Labdacus, calls in the help of Tereus, gives Procne in marriage to Tereus, succeeded by his sons Erechtheus and Butes, two kings of Athens called Pandion, one of them the son of Erichthonius, the other the son of Cecrops II, one of them eponymous hero of Athenian tribe.
Pandion. A son of Erichthonius, the king of Athens, by the Naiad Pasithea, was married to Zeuxippe, by whom he became the father of Procne and Philomela, and of the twins Erechtheus and Butes. In a war against Labdacus, king of Thebes, he called upon Tereus of Daulis in Phocis, for assistance, and afterwards rewarded him by giving him his daughter Procne in marriage. It was in his reign that Dionysus and Demeter were said to have come to Attica. (Apollod. iii. 14.6; Pans. i. 5.3; Thucyd. ii. 29.)
Zeuxippe). A sister of Pasithea or Praxithea, was a Naiad and married to Pandion, by whom she became the mother of Procne, Philomela, Erechtheus and Butes. (Apollod. iii. 14.8)
Son of Oxyntes, last Athenian king of house of Theseus
More on this article see
Ancient Deme of Themoetadae
Son of Andropompus, expelled from Messenia by Heraclids, becomes king of Athens, descended from Messenians of Pylus, father of Codrus, ancestor of Medontids.
Perseus Encyclopedia
Mythical king of Athens who was one of the Neleids, descendants of
king Neleus of Pylos on the
west coast of the Peloponnese.
While Codros was king the Peloponnesians attacked Athens. They had
been told by an oracle that they would win if the king was spared. Codros then
dressed as a common soldier and was killed on the battlefield.
Because the Athenians could not find a worthy successor the monarchy
was abolished. This explained why Athens during historical time was not ruled
by kings.
Codros was worshipped as a hero in Athens, and his sons emigrated
to Asia Minor where they
founded the Ionian cities. One of them, Neleus, founded Miletus.
This text is cited Sept 2003 from the In2Greece URL below.
Codrus. The last king of Athens. He received the sceptre from
his father Melanthus, and was far advanced in years when some of the Dorian States
united their forces for the invasion of Attica. The Dorian army marched to Athens
and lay encamped under its walls; and the oracle at Delphi had assured them of
success, provided they spared the life of the Athenian king. A friendly Delphian,
named Cleomantis, disclosed the answer of the oracle to the Athenians, and Codrus
resolved to devote himself for his country in a manner not unlike that which immortalized
among the Romans, at a later date, the name of the Decii. He went out at the gate
disguised in a woodman's garb, and falling in with two Dorians, killed one with
his bill, and was killed by the other. The Athenians thereupon sent a herald to
claim the body of their king, and the Dorian chiefs, deeming the war hopeless,
withdrew their forces from Attica.
After the death of Codrus, the nobles, taking advantage, perhaps,
of the opportunity afforded by a dispute between his sons, are said to have abolished
the title of King, and to have substituted for it that of Archon. This new office
was to be held for life, and then transmitted to the son of the deceased. The
first of these hereditary archons was Medon, son of Codrus, from whom the thirteen
following archons were called Medontidae, as being his lineal descendants.
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Codrus, Kodros: Perseus Project Index
Alcon. A son of Erechtheus, king of Athens, and father of Phalerus the Argonaut. (Apollon. Rhod. i. 97; Hygin. Fab. 14.) Valerius Flaccus (i. 399, &c.) represents him as such a skilful archer, that once, when a serpent had entwined his son, he shot the serpent without hurtinn his chlid. Virgil (Eclog. v. 11) mentions an Alcon, whom Servius calls a Cretan, and of whom he relates almost the same story as that which Valerius Flaccus ascribes to Alcon, the son of Erechtheus.
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