Erectheus

In Greek mythology, Erectheus was an early king of Athens. Early writers often identified him with either Erichthonius, who later became known as his grandfather, or with the god Poseidon, whose attributes he often shares, and whose rites on the Acropolis were similar to his. Erectheus was called 'earth-born' in the Iliad, which also states that he was raised by Athena. Other later authors make him the son of Pandion and Zeuxippe. Erectheus married Praxithea, the daughter of Phrasimus and Diogenia. Among his many children were Cecrops, Pandorus, Metion, Procris, Oreithyia, Chthonia, and Creusa.

While Erectheus was king of Athens, a war broke out with the nearby city of Eleusis. The Eleusians asked a Thrace, Eumolpus, for aid. Erectheus received an oracle which told him that only the sacrifice of one of his daughters would assure his victory. He killed one daughter, possibly Chthonia, causing many others to kill themselves. Some authors write that the daughters had made a pact to die together. Demosthenes, however, writes that Erectheus sacrificed several of his daughters. Creusa, Procris, and Oreithyia survived.

Erectheus won the battle and killed Eumolpus. Pausanias writes that he died in the battle. However, other authors say that he was soon killed by either Zeus or Poseidon, when Poseidon avenged his son Eumolpus' death by driving him into the earth with blows of his trident, [Euripides, "Ion,281".] or asked Zeus to kill him with a thunderbolt. In the Athebnian king-list, Xuthus, the son-in-law of Erectheus, was asked to choose his successor from among his many sons, and chose Cecrops II, named for the mythic founder-king Cecrops.

Notes

References

*Burkert, Walter, (Peter Bing, tr.) (1972) 1983. "Homo Necans" (Berkeley: University of California Press) 19
*Kerenyi, Karl, 1959. "The Heroes of the Greeks" (London and New York: Thames & Hudson).
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