Athens
Location of Athens in Attica
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, as it is usual that tyrants, who are lovers of honours, call many things after themselves. The Athenians do not belong originally to any of the primary families and are mostly called "sons of the soil". A descendant of Deucalion 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].
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First King. |
The first king of Attica was Actaeus 1, before ="FloodThe Flood in the age of ="Deucalion1Deucalion 1. His daughter Aglaurus 1 married Cecrops 1, who in this way inherited the throne and became the first king of Athens. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cecrops 1. |
King Cecrops 1, who had a body compounded of man and serpent, was a so called "son of the soil" and sometimes he is called son of ="GaiaGaia. 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 ="PoseidonPoseidon and ="AthenaAthena [see these]. Because Cecrops 1 witnessed that ="AthenaAthena had been the first to plant the olive, the twelve gods who had been appointed as arbiters by ="ZeusZeus, decided in her favour. Some say Cecrops 1 was a pious king because he was the first to acknowledge ="ZeusZeus 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 ="Lycaon2Lycaon 2, who sacrificed a human baby on the altar of ="ZeusZeus. 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. He was besides childless, so Cranaus, another "son of the soil" [see ="AUTOCHTHONOUSAUTOCHTHONOUS] but in reality the most powerful of the Athenians, came to the throne and it was during his reign that ="FloodThe Flood in the age of ="Deucalion1Deucalion 1 took place. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cranaus dethroned by Amphictyon. |
Cranaus married the Lacedaemonian girl Pedias who gave birth to Cranae 1, Cranaechme and Atthis. When Atthis died young 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 ="AUTOCHTHONOUSAUTOCHTHONOUS] but according to others he was the son of ="Deucalion1Deucalion 1 & Pyrrha 1. Amphictyon reigned during twelve years but then he and his seditious rebels were banished by Erichthonius 2. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Erichthonius 2. |
The parentage of Erichthonius 2 [see also="Envy Envy] is uncertain: it has been said that he is the son of ="HephaestusHephaestus & Atthis, of ="HephaestusHephaestus & ="AthenaAthena, of ="HephaestusHephaestus & ="GaiaGaia, and he also has been called a "son of the soil" [see ="AUTOCHTHONOUSAUTOCHTHONOUS]. 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. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pandion 2. |
It is during the reign of Pandion 2 that both ="DemeterDemeter and ="Dionysus2Dionysus 2 came to Attica, and ="DemeterDemeter was welcomed by Celeus 1, king of ="EleusisEleusis, and ="Dionysus2Dionysus 2 by Icarius 2. The Athens of Pandion 2 was at war with ="TSThebesThebes, which at the time was ruled by Labdacus 1, grandfather of ="OedipusOedipus, for a matter of boundaries. For the purpose of defeating the Thebans Pandion 2 asked military assistance from ="Tereus1Tereus 1, a Thracian king, who helped to bring the war to a successful close. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The price for military assistance. |
But ="Tereus1Tereus 1, having received from the grateful Pandion 2 one of his daughters as wife, seduced the other, pretending the first was dead: ="Tereus1Tereus 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. But 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 ="Tereus1Tereus 1. Having done this horrible deed the sisters fled pursued by ="Tereus1Tereus 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. ="Tereus1Tereus 1 also was changed into a bird and became a hoopoe. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Erechtheus. |
At the death of Pandion 2 his sons divided their inheritance, Erechtheus becoming king of Athens and Butes 2 receiving the priesthood of ="AthenaAthena and ="PoseidonPoseidon. During the reign of Erechtheus war broke out against the Eleusinians and Erechtheus inquired of the oracle how the Athenians might win victory. 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 ="PoseidonPoseidon. However he was defeated and killed by Erechtheus along with Eumolpus 1's son Ismarus 2, who commanded the troops. Some say that then ="PoseidonPoseidon demanded 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 say that ="ZeusZeus killed Erechtheus with a thunderbolt at ="PoseidonPoseidon's request. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cephalus 1 & ="Procris2Procris 2. |
Apparently not all daughters perished in that occasion. At least not ="Procris2Procris 2, with whom King Erechtheus had committed incest. ="Procris2Procris 2 married Cephalus 1, who some call King of Athens. But she let herself be bribed by a golden crown taking a lover, and having being detected by Cephalus 1, she fled to King ="Minos2Minos 2 of ="CreteCrete. But ="Minos2Minos 2 also fell in love with her. The case was that if any woman made love to ="Minos2Minos 2, it was impossible for her to escape with life, because ="Minos2Minos 2 had been bewitched by her wife Queen Pasiphae, and whenever he took a mistress, he caused her death. But ="Minos2Minos 2 had a Swift Dog and a Dart-That-Flew-Straight. Accepting these wonderful gifts ="Procris2Procris 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 came back to Athens and to her husband Cephalus 1, with whom she reconciled. But later, while they were hunting she was, as they say, by accident killed by the above mentioned Dart-That-Flew-Straight. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cephalus 1 in exile. |
For this death Cephalus 1 was tried in the Areopagus, found guilty and banished. Cephalus 1 settled in ="TSThebesThebes and there he met another exile, ="AmphitryonAmphitryon, 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 ="OdysseusOdysseus, king of Ithaca and Cephallenia. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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 ="MegaraMegara, he was later proclaimed king of that city. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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="Aegeus1Aegeus 1. |
The sons of Metion 1 were in turn expelled by Pandion 4's son ="Aegeus1Aegeus 1 who became king. ="Aegeus1Aegeus 1 married Aethra 2 who gave birth to ="TheseusTheseus, and later he married ="MedeaMedea, by whom he had a son Medus. During the reign of ="Aegeus1Aegeus 1, Athens had to pay a hard tribute to ="CreteCrete [for more details see ="TheseusTheseus, ="CreteCrete and ="MinotaurMinotaur]. The expedition of ="TheseusTheseus to ="CreteCrete liberated Athens from this subjection, but as ="Aegeus1Aegeus 1 thought ="TheseusTheseus to be dead he threw himself into the sea and perished. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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="TheseusTheseus. |
See ="TheseusTheseus to read about his life and deeds. See ="HelenHelen to read about the fate of Aethra 2, ="TheseusTheseus' mother. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Menestheus 1. |
Because of ="TheseusTheseus' adventure with ="HelenHelen he lost the kingdom and Menestheus 1 became king of Athens, while ="TheseusTheseus, 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 ="Aegeus1Aegeus 1 and migrated from Attica to Phocis. However some say that Peteos' father was Orneus 1, after whom the Orneae (a city west of ="MycenaeMycenae) was called, and that Orneus 1 was son of Erechtheus. Menestheus 1 was one of the ="SUITORSHELENSUITORS OF HELEN, and bound by the oath of Tyndareus, became leader of the Athenians against ="TroyTroy. After the sack of ="TroyTroy, Menestheus 1 went to Melos and reigned as king, because the king there, Polyanax, had died. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Demophon 1. |
The throne was then taken by Demophon 1, son of ="TheseusTheseus & ="PhaedraPhaedra. Demophon 1 also fought in the ="TrojanWarTrojan War and is one of those who were inside the ="WOODENHORSEWOODEN HORSE. After the war Demophon 1 asked ="AgamemnonAgamemnon for the freedom of his grandmother Aethra 2 and ="AgamemnonAgamemnon granted his request after receiving ="HelenHelen's consent (Aethra 2 had become ="HelenHelen'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 by his horse and fell on his sword and died. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Thymoetes 2 and Melanthus 1. |
The last of the Athenian kings descended from ="TheseusTheseus was Thymoetes 2, son of Oxyntes. Thymoetes 2 was deposed by Melanthus 1, who had been expelled from ="MesseniaMessenia by the ="HERACLIDESHERACLIDES Temenus 2 and Cresphontes. Melanthus 1 was son of Andropompus 1, son of Borus 3 (also expelled from ="MesseniaMessenia by the ="HERACLIDESHERACLIDES), son of Penthilus 2, son of Periclymenus 1, son of ="NeleusNeleus, a descendant of ="Deucalion1Deucalion 1 and founder of ="PylosPylos. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Colonization of ="IoniaIonia. |
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 in 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. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Throne Succesion in Athens
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