InGreek mythology, KingErichthonius (/ərɪkˈθoʊniəs/;Ancient Greek:Ἐριχθόνιος,romanized: Erikhthónios) was a legendary early ruler of ancientAthens. According to somemyths, he wasautochthonous (born of the soil, or Earth) and adopted or raised by the goddessAthena. Early Greek texts do not distinguish between him andErechtheus,[1] his grandson, but by the fourth century BC, during Classical times, they are distinct figures.
Erichthonius of uncertain etymology is possibly related to apre-Greek form *Erektyeu-. The connection of Ἐριχθόνιος with ἐρέχθω, "shake" is a late folk-etymology; other folk-etymologies include ἔριον,erion, "wool" or ἔρις,eris, "strife"+ χθώνchthôn, "earth".[a][3]
According to theBibliotheca, Athena visited the smith-godHephaestus to request some weapons, but Hephaestus, overcome by desire, 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 (ἔριον,erion) and flung it to the earth (χθών,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.[4]
Athena gave the box to the three daughters (Herse,Aglaurus andPandrosus) ofCecrops, the king of Athens, and warned them never to look inside. Pandrosus obeyed, but Herse and Aglaurus, overcome with curiosity, opened the box containing 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 theAcropolis. Other accounts state that the snake killed them.
An alternative version of the story recounts that Athena left the box with the daughters of Cecrops while she went to fetch a limestone mountain fromPallene 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, which becameMount Lycabettus. As in the first version, Herse and Aglaurus went insane and threw themselves to their deaths off a cliff.
When he grew up, Erichthonius drove outAmphictyon, who had usurped the throne fromCranaus twelve years earlier, and became king of Athens. He marriedPraxithea, anaiad, with whom he had a son,Pandion I. During this time, Athena frequently protected him. He founded thePanathenaic Festival in the honor of Athena, and set up a wooden statue of her on the Acropolis. According to theParian Chronicle, he taught his people to yokehorses and use them to pullchariots, to smeltsilver, and to till the earth with aplough.
It was said that Erichthonius was lame of his feet and that he consequently invented thequadriga, or four-horse chariot, to get around more easily. He is said to have competed often as a chariot driver in games.Zeus 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) after his death.
The snake is his symbol, and he is represented in the statue of Athena in theParthenon as the snake hidden behind her shield. The most sacred building on theAcropolis of Athens, theErechtheum, is dedicated to Erichthonius.[dubious –discuss]
Erichthonius was succeeded by his son Pandion I.
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| Preceded by | King of Athens | Succeeded by |
