Erichthonius of Athens
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| - | :''[[Greek mythology]]'' | ||
| - | The [[goddess]] of [[wisdom]], especially [[strategic]] warfare, the arts, and especially crafts, in particular, [[weaving]]; daughter of [[Zeus]] and [[Hera]] | + | King '''Erichthonius''' (also written '''Erichthonios''', [[Ancient Greek]]: {{Polytonic|Ἐριχθόνιος}}) was a mythological early ruler of ancient [[Athens]], [[Greece]]. He was, according to some [[Greek mythology|legends]], autochthonous (born of the soil, or Earth) and raised by the goddess [[Athena]]. Early Greek histories do not distinguish between him and [[Erectheus]], his grandson, but by the [[fourth century BCE]] during Classical times, they are entirely distinct figures. |
| - | ===''Athena Parthenos'': Virgin Athena=== | + | |
| - | <!-- Commented out because image was deleted: [[Image:RiddleAthena.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The modern ''Athena Parthenos'', a replica of the statue that stood in her temple on the [[Acropolis]], including the Nike in her hand and the serpent, Erichthonius, behind her shield which stands in the replicated [[Parthenon]] in [[Centennial Park (Nashville)|Centennial Park]], [[Nashville]] [[Tennessee]]]] --> | + | |
| - | Athena never had a consort or lover and thus, also was known as ''[[Athena Parthenos]]'', "Virgin Athena". Her most famous temple, the [[Parthenon]], on the [[Acropolis, Athens|Acropolis]] in [[Athens]] takes its name from this title. It was not merely an observation of her virginity, but a recognition of her role as enforcer of rules of sexual modesty and ritual mystery. This role is expressed in a number of stories about Athena. [[Marinus]] reports that when Christians removed the statue of the Goddess from the [[Parthenon]], a beautiful woman appeared in a dream to [[Proclus]], a devotee of Athena, and announced that the ''"Athenian Lady"'' wished to dwell with him. | + | According to [[Apollodorus]], Athena visited the smith-god [[Hephaestus]] to request some weapons, but Hephaestus was so overcome by desire that he tried to seduce her in his workshop. Determined to maintain her virginity, Athena fled, pursued by Hephaestus. Despite Hephaestus' lameness, 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. She cast the wool on the ground, impregnating [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]] ("Earth"). Gaia gave birth to a son. She brought the infant boy to Athena, who named him Erichthonius, from ''chthon'' "earth", and placed him in a small box. |
| - | ====Erichthonius==== | + | Athena gave the box to the three daughters of [[Cecrops]], the king of Athens ([[Herse]], [[Pandrosus]] and [[Aglaurus]]), and warned them never to open it. Overcome with curiosity, Aglaurus and Herse opened the box, which contained the infant and future-king, Erichthonius ("troubles born from the earth"). (Sources are unclear whether only one sister or all three 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-man and half-serpent. They went insane and threw themselves off the [[Acropolis, Athens|Acropolis]]. Other accounts state that they were killed by the snake. |
| - | [[Hephaestus]] attempted to [[rape]] Athena, but she eluded him. His [[semen]] fell on the ground, and [[Erichthonius of Athens|Erichthonius]] was born from the Earth, [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]]. Athena then raised the baby as a foster mother. | + | |
| - | Athena put the infant Erichthonius in a small box (''cista'') which she entrusted to the care of three sisters, [[Herse]], [[Pandrosus]], and [[Aglaulus]] of Athens. The goddess did not tell them what the box contained, but warned them not to open it until she returned. One or two sisters opened the ''cista'' to reveal Erichthonius, in the form (or embrace) of a [[serpent (symbolism)|serpent]]. The serpent, or insanity induced by the sight, drove Herse and Pandrosus to throw themselves off the [[Acropolis, Athens|Acropolis]]. Jane Harrison (''Prolegomena'') finds this to be a simple cautionary tale directed at young girls carrying the ''cista'' in the [[Thesmophoria]] rituals, to discourage them from opening it outside the proper context. | + | An alternative version of the story is that Athena left the box with the daughters of Cecrops while she went to fetch a mountain from [[Pallene]] 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 (now [[Mt. Lykabettos]]). As in the first version, Herse and Aglaurus went insane and threw themselves to their deaths off a cliff. |
| - | <!-- Her role as the virgin mother of [[Erichthonius]] was a relic of an archaic myth of the patron goddess of ''Athenai'' that preceded her placement among the Olympian pantheon. --> | + | When he grew up, Ericthonius drove out [[Amphictyon]], who had usurped the throne from [[Cranaus]] twelve years earlier, and became king of Athens. He married [[Praxithea]], a [[naiad]], and had a son, [[Pandion I]]. During this time, Athena frequently protected him. He founded the [[Panathenaic Games|Panathenaic Festival]] in the honor of Athena, and set up a wooden statue of her on the Acropolis. According to the [[Parian marble]], he taught his people to yoke [[horse]]s and use them to pull [[chariot]]s, to smelt [[silver]], and to till the earth with a [[plough]]. It was said that Erichthonius invented the [[quadriga]], or four-horse chariot. |
| - | Another version of the myth of the Athenian maidens is told in ''[[Metamorphoses (poem)|Metamorphoses]]'' by the Roman poet [[Ovid]] (43 BC – 17 AD); in this late variant [[Hermes]] falls in love with Herse. Herse, Aglaulus, and Pandrosus go to the temple to offer sacrifices to Athena. Hermes demands help from Aglaulus to seduce Herse. Aglaulus demands money in exchange. Hermes gives her the money the sisters had already offered to Athena. As punishment for Aglaulus's greed, Athena asks the goddess Envy to make Aglaulus jealous of Herse. When Hermes arrives to seduce Herse, Aglaulus stands in his way instead of helping him as she had agreed. He turns her to stone. | + | |
| - | With this mythic origin, Erichthonius became the founder-[[king of Athens]], where many beneficial changes to Athenian culture were ascribed to him. During this time, Athena frequently protected him. | + | Ericthonius was succeeded by his son Pandion I. The snake is his symbol, and he is represented in the statue of Athena in the [[Parthenon]] as the snake hidden behind her shield. |
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| - | ====Medusa and Tiresias==== | + | |
| - | In a late myth, [[Medusa]], unlike her two sister-Gorgons, came to be thought of by the Classical Greeks during the fifth century as mortal and extremely beautiful, but she had sex with —or was raped by— Poseidon in a temple of Athena. Upon discovering the desecration of her temple, Athena changed Medusa's form to match that of her sister Gorgons as punishment. Medusa's hair turned into snakes, her lower body was transformed also, and meeting her gaze would turn any living creature to stone. In the earliest of myths there is but one [[Gorgon]] and the only snakes were two wrapped around her waist as a belt. | + | |
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| - | In one version of the [[Tiresias]] myth, Tiresias stumbled upon Athena bathing, and was blinded by her nakedness. To compensate him for his loss, she sent serpents to lick his ears, which gave him the gift of prophecy. | + | |
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King Erichthonius (also written Erichthonios, Ancient Greek: Template:Polytonic) was a mythological early ruler of ancient Athens, Greece. He was, according to some legends, autochthonous (born of the soil, or Earth) and raised by the goddess Athena. Early Greek histories do not distinguish between him and Erectheus, his grandson, but by the fourth century BCE during Classical times, they are entirely distinct figures.
According to Apollodorus, Athena visited the smith-god Hephaestus to request some weapons, but Hephaestus was so overcome by desire that he tried to seduce her in his workshop. Determined to maintain her virginity, Athena fled, pursued by Hephaestus. Despite Hephaestus' lameness, 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. She cast the wool on the ground, impregnating Gaia ("Earth"). Gaia gave birth to a son. She brought the infant boy to Athena, who named him Erichthonius, from chthon "earth", and placed him in a small box.
Athena gave the box to the three daughters of Cecrops, the king of Athens (Herse, Pandrosus and Aglaurus), and warned them never to open it. Overcome with curiosity, Aglaurus and Herse opened the box, which contained the infant and future-king, Erichthonius ("troubles born from the earth"). (Sources are unclear whether only one sister or all three 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-man and half-serpent. They went insane and threw themselves off the Acropolis. Other accounts state that they were killed by the snake.
An alternative version of the story is that Athena left the box with the daughters of Cecrops while she went to fetch a mountain from Pallene 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 (now Mt. Lykabettos). As in the first version, Herse and Aglaurus went insane and threw themselves to their deaths off a cliff.
When he grew up, Ericthonius drove out Amphictyon, who had usurped the throne from Cranaus twelve years earlier, and became king of Athens. He married Praxithea, a naiad, and had a son, Pandion I. During this time, Athena frequently protected him. He founded the Panathenaic Festival in the honor of Athena, and set up a wooden statue of her on the Acropolis. According to the Parian marble, he taught his people to yoke horses and use them to pull chariots, to smelt silver, and to till the earth with a plough. It was said that Erichthonius invented the quadriga, or four-horse chariot.
Ericthonius was succeeded by his son Pandion I. The snake is his symbol, and he is represented in the statue of Athena in the Parthenon as the snake hidden behind her shield.
