Athens in mythical times (from c. 1500 to c. 1000 BC)
Athens is a city in Attica in mainland Greece; the natives are called Athenians. The district of Attica was formerly called Acte or Actaea in the time of Actaeus 1, and Cecropia in the times of Cecrops 1, since usually tyrants, who love honours, call many things after themselves. The Athenians do not belong originally to any of the primary families (see Three Main Ancestors), and are mostly called "sons of the soil" (AUTOCHTHONOUS). A descendant of Deucalion 1 (Amphictyon) took over power in Athens for twelve years, but otherwise the "sons of the soil" ruled almost without interruptions until Melanthus 1 became king (see Throne Succession at the end of this article).
First King
Some have mentioned Colaenus as first ruler of Attica, but others say that the first king of Attica was Actaeus 1, and that he reigned before The Flood in the age of
Deucalion 1. His daughter Aglaurus 1 married Cecrops 1, who in this way inherited the throne and became the first king of Athens.
Cecrops 1
King Cecrops 1, who had a body compounded of man and serpent, was a so called "son of the soil", although sometimes he is called son of Gaia. The land which was
formerly called Acte, he named Cecropia after
himself. During his time, the gods competed with
each other to gain the patronage of the cities. In
Athens this competition took place between
Poseidon and
Athena (see these). Because Cecrops 1 witnessed that Athena had been the first
to plant the olive, the twelve gods who had been
appointed as arbiters by
Zeus, decided in her favour. Some say that Cecrops 1 was a pious king because he was the first to acknowledge Zeus as the Supreme God,
and refused to sacrifice anything living, but
instead burnt cakes on the altar. He was a
contemporary of the utterly impious
Lycaon 2, who sacrificed
a human baby on the altar of
Zeus. Cecrops 1 had by Aglaurus 1 one son Erysichthon 1 and three daughters: Aglaurus 2, Herse 2 and Pandrosus. Erysichthon 1 never inherited the kingdom as his father survived him. And he was childless, so Cranaus, another "son of the soil" (see AUTOCHTHONOUS) but in reality the most powerful of the Athenians, came to the throne, and it was during his reign that The Flood in the age of
Deucalion 1 took
place.
Cranaus dethroned by Amphictyon
Cranaus married the Lacedaemonian girl Pedias, who gave birth to Cranae 1, Cranaechme and Atthis. When Atthis died in her youth, Cranaus called the country Atthis after her. Cranaus was dethroned by Amphictyon, something for a son-in-law to do, for Amphictyon was Atthis' husband. However some say that Atthis died a maid. Cranaus fled from Athens to Lamptrae, another location in Attica, and there he died and was buried. Amphictyon was, according to some, a so called "son of the soil" (see AUTOCHTHONOUS), but according to others he was the son of Deucalion 1 and Pyrrha 1. Amphictyon reigned during twelve years, but then he and his seditious rebels were banished by Erichthonius 2.
Erichthonius 2
The parentage of Erichthonius 2 (see also Envy) is uncertain: it has been said that he is the son either of Hephaestus and
Atthis, or of
Hephaestus and
Athena, or of
Hephaestus and
Gaia, and he also has been called a "son of the soil" (see AUTOCHTHONOUS). It is also said that his body's lower part was snake-formed. Erichthonius 2 married the naiad Praxithea 2, and his child by her, Pandion 2, became king of Athens when Erichthonius 2 died.
Pandion 2
It is during the reign of Pandion 2 that both Demeter and
Dionysus 2 came to Attica, the former being welcomed by Celeus 1, king of Eleusis, and
Dionysus 2 by Icarius 2. Under Pandion 2, Athens was at war with Thebes, which at the time was ruled by Labdacus 1 (grandfather of Oedipus), for a matter of boundaries. For the purpose of defeating the Thebans, Pandion 2 asked military assistance from the Thracian king Tereus 1, who helped to bring the war to a successful
close.
The price for military assistance
But Tereus 1, having received from the grateful Pandion 2 one of his daughters as wife, seduced the other, pretending the first was dead: Tereus 1, after marrying Procne, fell in love with her sister Philomela 1. He seduced her, saying that Procne was dead, as he concealed her in the country. So he married Philomela 1, but cruel as he was, he cut out her tongue. Yet, by weaving characters in a garment, she revealed to Procne her own grief. After having found her sister, Procne killed her son Itys 1, boiled him, and served him up for dinner to the unwitting Tereus 1. Having done
this horrible deed, the sisters fled pursued by
Tereus 1. On being overtaken at Daulis in Phocis, the sisters prayed to the gods to be turned into birds, and Procne became a nightingale, and Philomela 1 a swallow. Tereus 1 also was
changed into a bird, turning into a hoopoe.
Erechtheus
At the death of Pandion 2, his sons divided their inheritance, Erechtheus becoming king of Athens, and Butes 2 receiving the priesthood of Athena and
Poseidon. During the reign of Erechtheus, war broke out against the Eleusinians. Erechtheus inquired of the oracle how the Athenians might win victory, and the oracle answered that they would win the war if he would sacrifice one of his daughters. When this had been done, his other daughters killed themselves, as they had taken an oath to perish together. On the Eleusinian side, there was Eumolpus 1, who attacked Athens because, as he put it, that land belonged to his father Poseidon. However he was defeated and killed by Erechtheus along with Eumolpus 1's son Ismarus 2, who commanded the troops. Some say that Poseidon demanded then that Erechtheus' daughter be sacrificed to him, so that Erechtheus would not rejoice at the death of Eumolpus 1. In any case Chthonia 1, Erechtheus' daughter, was sacrificed. And some affirm that Zeus killed Erechtheus with
a thunderbolt at
Poseidon's request.
Cephalus 1 & Procris 2
Apparently not all daughters perished on that
occasion. At least not
Procris 2, with whom King Erechtheus had committed incest. Procris 2 married Cephalus 1, who some call King of Athens. But she let herself be bribed by a golden crown, taking a lover. Having being detected by Cephalus 1, she fled to King Minos 2 of
Crete. But also
Minos 2 fell in love with
her. The case was that if any woman made love to
Minos 2, it was
impossible for her to escape with life, because
Minos 2 had been
bewitched by her wife Queen Pasiphae, and whenever
he took a mistress, he caused her death. But
Minos 2 had a Swift Dog
and a Dart-That-Flew-Straight. Accepting these
wonderful gifts, Procris 2 let herself be bribed again, and became his mistress. However, she took care to make him drink the Circaean root so that he might not harm her. After some time, fearing the queen, she returned to Athens and to her husband Cephalus 1, with whom she was reconciled. But later, while they were hunting she was by accident killed by the above mentioned Dart-That-Flew-Straight.
Cephalus 1 in exile
For this death, Cephalus 1 was tried in the Areopagus, found guilty and banished. Cephalus 1 settled in Thebes and
there he met another exile,
Amphitryon, and together they waged war against the Taphians, who lived in the islands off the coast of Acarnania. The island of Cephallenia is called after this Cephalus 1, father of Arcisius, father of Laertes, father of Odysseus,
king of Ithaca and Cephallenia.
Cecrops 2, Pandion 4 and the sons of Metion 1
Some say that the successor of Erechtheus was Cecrops 2, the eldest of his sons. Cecrops 2 married Metiadusa, daughter of Eupalamus, son of Erechtheus. Cecrops 2 was succeeded by his son Pandion 4, who reigned in Athens until he was expelled by the sons of Metion 1, and having emigrated to Megara, he was later
proclaimed king of that city.
Aegeus 1
The sons of Metion 1 were in turn expelled by Pandion 4's son Aegeus 1, who became king.
Aegeus 1 consorted with Aethra 2, who gave birth to Theseus, and later he
married Medea, by whom he
had a son Medus. During the reign of
Aegeus 1, Athens had to
pay a hard tribute to
Crete (see Aegeus 1,
Theseus,
Crete and
Minotaur). The expedition of Theseus to
Crete liberated Athens
from this subjection, but as
Aegeus 1 thought
Theseus to be dead, he
threw himself into the sea and perished.
Theseus
(See Theseus to read
about his life and deeds. See
Helen to read about the fate of Aethra 2, Theseus' mother.)
Menestheus 1
Because of Theseus'
adventure with Helen, he lost the kingdom and Menestheus 1 became king of Athens, while Theseus, as an exile, went to Scyros where he met his death. Menestheus 1 was son of Peteos. This Peteos was originally an Egyptian, who later obtained Athenian citizenship. Peteos was, nevertheless, pursued during the reign of Aegeus 1 and migrated from Attica to Phocis. However, some say that Peteos' father was Orneus 1, after whom the Orneae (a city west of Mycenae) was called, and that Orneus 1 was son of Erechtheus. Menestheus 1 was one of the SUITORS
OF HELEN, and bound by the oath of
Tyndareus, he became
leader of the Athenians against
Troy. After the sack of
Troy, Menestheus 1 went to Melos and reigned as king, because the king there, Polyanax, had died.
Demophon 1
The throne was then inherited by Demophon 1, son of Theseus and
Phaedra. Demophon 1 also fought in the Trojan
War, and is one of those who hid inside the
WOODEN HORSE. After the war, Demophon 1 asked Agamemnon for the freedom of his grandmother Aethra 2 and Agamemnon granted his
request after receiving
Helen's consent (Aethra 2 had become Helen's slave). Demophon 1 is considered the cause of the suicide of Phyllis 1, daughter of the king of the Thracian Bisaltians, to whom he made love promises. Demophon 1 was himself thrown off by his horse, and fell on his sword and died.
Thymoetes 2 and Melanthus 1
The last of the Athenian kings descended from
Theseus was Thymoetes 2, son of Oxyntes. Thymoetes 2 was deposed by Melanthus 1, who had been expelled from Messenia by the
HERACLIDES Temenus 2 and Cresphontes. Melanthus 1 was son of Andropompus 1, son of Borus 3 (also expelled from Messenia by the
HERACLIDES), son of Penthilus 2, son of Periclymenus 1, son of Neleus, a descendant of
Deucalion 1 and
founder of Pylos.
Colonization of Ionia
After Melanthus 1, Codrus 1 became king of Athens. During his reign the Peloponnesians made an expedition against the city, and in the war that ensued Codrus 1 was killed. His son Medon 11 succeeded him on the throne. Otherwise the sons of Codrus 1 began the Ionian colonization of Asia Minor: Neileus was leader of an expedition; Androclus has been called founder of Ephesus; Cyaretus founded Myus (a city in Caria, southern Asia Minor); Damasichthon 3, one the Ionian leaders, was killed by his brother Promethus, who himself died in Naxos; Andraemon 5 founded Lebedus in Caria; Naoclus, who was a bastard son of Codrus 1, led an Attic contingent of Ionian colonists in Asia Minor. |