[German version]

(Ἐρεχθεύς; Erechtheús). Mythical king of Athens, with an important cult on the Athenian Acropolis. It is difficult to classify E. as a hero or a god: his cult title in the earlier period is Poseidon E. (e.g. IG I³ 873; Eur. Erechtheus fr. 65,93-4), but he was ascribed a human past, and as a phyle hero ( Eponymos) has equal status with the other nine (although in the canonic order of phyles he is listed first). There is much cross-contamination between E. (written Erichtheus on the  Marmor Parium) and  Erichthonius; whether the two were originally identical has not ye…