Erichthonios (Attica)

The birth of Erichthonios: Athena takes from the hands of Earth Mother Gaia to Erichthonius in reception, Attic red-figure stamnos , 470 - 460V. BC , State Collections of Antiquities (Inv. 2413)

The discovery of Erichthonios by the daughters of Kekrops. Painting by Willem van Herp (around 1650).

Erichthonios ( Greek Ἐριχθόνιος ), also Erechtheus I , is a figure in Greek mythology .

The son of Hephaestus and Gaia was king of Attica . According to the library of Apollodorus , his mother was not Gaia, but Atthis, the daughter of Kranaos . Homer calls him Erechtheus in the Iliad , which is why he is also referred to as Erechtheus I (in contrast to Erechtheus ). Herodotus calls him the earthborn (son of Gaia ) Erechtheus. Ovid calls him prolem sine matre creatam , meaning “offspring conceived without a mother”.

Athene put Erichthonios entrusted to her by Gaia in a box and handed him over to Pandrosus , a daughter of Kekrops I , and her sisters Herse and Aglauros , with the command not to open the box. The sisters of the Pandrosos opened them out of curiosity and found the child in the shape of a snake (or with snakelegs or surrounded by snakes), whereupon Athena took care of the care herself.

Growing up, Erichthonios gained royal power over Athens after he had driven out the Amphictyon . According to the Medea of Euripides , the ancient Athenians proudly called themselves the sons of Erichthonios . He married the nymph Praxithea and fathered Pandion .

Erichthonios is said to have set up the Panathenaic Games in Athens and, since he had no legs to walk because of his snake lower body, invented the wheel (for a chariot that was pulling him). He was killed by Poseidon and was transferred to the sky as the constellation Carter . After his death he found his final resting place in the sanctuary of Athena on the Acropolis , which was then called Erechtheion .

He was succeeded by his son Pandion.

swell

^ Pausanias , Journeys in Greece , 1, 2, 6.
↑ Libraries of Apollodorus , 3, 187.
↑ ^a ^b Herodotus , Historien , 8, 55.
^ Ovid, Metamorphoses 2, 553 and 756
↑ Libraries of Apollodorus , 3, 190.
↑ Libraries of Apollodorus , 3, 191.

literature

Richard Engelmann : Erichthonios . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 1,1, Leipzig 1886, Sp. 1303-1308 ( digitized version ).
Apollodor: The Greek world of legends, Apollodors Mythological Library , Parkland Verlag, Cologne, 1997, ISBN 3-88059-932-7 . Apollodurus: The Library II . Loeb Classical Library , Book III, XIV , pp. 88–95, online at archive.org .
Pausanias , Travels in Greece , Artemis Verlag, Zurich and Munich, 1987, ISBN 3-7608-3678-X .

Web links

Commons : Erichthonios - collection of images, videos and audio files

Erechthonios in the Greek Myth Index (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
Amphictyon	King of Attica	Pandion

[Pausanias-1] Pausanias , Journeys in Greece , 1, 2, 6.

[Apollodor-2] Libraries of Apollodorus , 3, 187.

[Herodot-3] Herodotus , Historien , 8, 55.

[4] Ovid, Metamorphoses 2, 553 and 756

[Apollodor2-5] Libraries of Apollodorus , 3, 190.

[Apollodor3-6] Libraries of Apollodorus , 3, 191.