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(Ἐριχθόνιος; Erichthónios). [German version] [1] Earthborn from Athens Important figure of Athenian mythology; his birth from the earth is said to have taken place on the Acropolis and symbolized the autochthonal nature of Athenians. E.'s relation to the very similar sounding  Erechtheus is problematic; most of the early texts (e.g. Hom. Il. 2,546-51) speak of Erechtheus, not E., as the one born of the earth, and an original cult of E., which would differ from the one of Erechtheus, cannot be detected. …

[German version] (Ἐρυσίχθων; Erysíchthōn: ‘tearing up the earth’ or ‘protector of the country’). Mythical figure whose story is best known through Callimachus' 6th hymn to Demeter. According to it, he was a Thessalian, son of Triopas. He felled a grove that was sacred to Demeter even though the goddess in human form had warned him against it. As punishment for that he was made eternally hungry; he used up all he owned trying to assuage his hunger. Callimachus portrayed him as an unmarried youth; in…

[German version] (Αἰακός; Aiakós). Son of Zeus and  Asopus' daughter Aegina, was regarded as the founding hero of the island of Aegina. The history of the inhabitants or the re-inhabitants of the island is generally associated with him; for his benefit Zeus transformed all the ants into people (Hes. fr. 205 M-W). By his wife Endeis, A. fathered   Peleus and  Telamon; many stories give him a further third son with the name Phocus (seal), whose mother was the  Nereid Psamathe. Phocus lost his life th…

[German version] (Εὐρυσθεύς; Eurystheús). Mythical ruler of Argos. He was the antagonist of  Heracles, and charged him with the twelve labours. The rivalry between the two had been caused by Hera: after Zeus had declared that a son of his blood would be born that very day, and would rule over all that he surveyed, Hera delayed  Alcmene's labour and accelerated that of the wife of Sthenelus, who was a Perseid and therefore a descendant of Zeus (Hom. Il. 19,95-133). In some versions of the myth, at t…

(Χιόνη; Chiónē). [German version] [1] Daughter of Boreas and Oreithyia Daughter of Boreas and Oreithyia; mother of  Eumolpus by Poseidon. To avoid discovery she threw her child into the sea, but it was rescued by Poseidon (Eur. Erechtheus fr. 349 TGF; Apollod. 3,199-201). The name C., from χιών ( chiṓn) ‘snow’, is fitting for a daughter of the north wind; another C., daughter of Arcturus, was said to have been abducted by Boreas and given birth by him to the three Hyperborean priests of Apollo (Hecat. FGrH 264 F 12; Ps-Plut. Fluv. 5,3). Kearns, Emily (Oxford) [German version] [2] Daughter of…

(Βουζύγης; Bouzýgēs). [German version] [1] Athenian heros Athenian hero, original ancestor of the family of  Buzygae; also the title of the priest for Zeus Teleios or ἐπὶ Παλλαδίῳ ( epì Palladíōi), who therefore would have been a member of this family. The hero, whose name literally means ‘he who puts oxen under the yoke’, was the first who put oxen into a yoke for the purpose of ploughing; his plough was kept on the Acropolis as a votive offering, and there was a connection between him and the act of sacred ploughing (schol…

[German version] (Φιλωνίς; Philōnís). Daughter of Deion (or of Eosphorus and Cleoboea), mother of Autolycus [1] by Hermes and of Philammon by Apollo. Perhaps in Hes. fr. 64 M.-W., certainly in Pherecydes FGrH 3 F 120, who places her abode in the region of Parnassus; according to Conon FGrH 26 F 1 and 7, she lived in Attic Thoricus. The reconstruction of her name as a cult recipient in an illegible section of the sacrificial calendar of Thoricus is thus plausible (SEG 33, 44f. no. 147). Hyg. Fab. 65 names P. as the wife of Hesperus or Lucifer, and mother of Ceyx. Kearns, Emily (Oxford)

[German version] (Ἀρρηφόροι; Arrhēphóroi). Title with uncertain etymology which was given to two or four Athenian girls between seven and eleven years of age from a good family who lived for a year on the Acropolis and took part in various activities which were connected with the cult of Athena Polias. Together with the priestess of Athena, they set up the loom on the Chalkeia, on which the new péplos of the goddess was woven, and they also helped with the weaving themselves. The central scene on the Parthenon frieze is often equated with this role and interpreted as the handing over of the péplos…

[German version] (Αἰγεύς; Aigeús). Mythical king of Athens, one of the 10   eponymoi and father of Theseus. The canonical history depicts him as a son of king  Pandium, of Attica, who shared Attica between A. and his brothers Pallas, Lycus and Nisus. A. received the region around Athens. But his appearance there could also have occurred later: Beazley ARV2 259.1 shows the other brothers with Orneus, not with A. As king he was childless for a long time. Upon enquiring from the Delphic Oracle, he was told ‘not to open the tap of the wine skin, until back …

[German version] (Ἀκάμας; Akámas). Son of Theseus, normally closely connected to his brother  Demophon. A similar history is assigned to both brothers. Their mother appears in different forms: Phaedra (Diod. Sic. 4,62; Apollod. epit. 1,18), Ariadne (schol. Od. 11,321) or Antiope (Pind. fr. 175). Although they are not found in the Iliad, according to the Ilioupersis (fr. 6 PEG) they are present in Troy and during the plundering of the city they free their grandmother Aethra from prison. In various sources both brothers are named as lovers of Priam's …

[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; wh…

[German version] (Ἄνακες; Ánakes). Cultic title of the  Dioscuri Castor and Polydeuces. The name, a parallel form of άνακτες ( ánaktes), ‘kings’ or ‘lords’, is a title used frequently in Attica, where the pair were cultically venerated in many demes and in the Anaceaon on the Agora. Because the A. are also attested in Attica, it is assumed that their origin was independent of the Dioscuri [1]; in any case their mythical identification dominated in classical Athens: paintings of the Dioscuri adorned the Agora sanctu…

(Αἴας; Aías, Latin Aiax). Name of two Athenian heroes at Troy. [German version] [1] Greek hero for Troy, son of Telamon A. Τελαμώνιος (Telamonius), son of Telamon from Salamis and Periboea (Eriboea). In the Iliad he is the best fighter of the Achaeans after Achilles (Il. 2,768-9): he is a defensive fighter, carries a gigantic shield, ‘like a tower’. He does not have an aristeia of his own, but comes out on top in the battle with Hector (Il. 7,206-82). His best-known myth is set after the events of the Iliad. After Achilles' death, A. collected the body, while Odysseus held back the Trojans ( Aethio…

[German version] (Εὐρυσάκης; Eurysákēs). In Athenian tradition a son of  Ajax (Soph. Aj. 340; 575). E.'s name (‘broad shield’) reflects an attribute of his father (cf. Astyanax, Neoptolemus, Telemachus). He had a sanctuary in the city deme of Melite, where he is supposed to have settled after he and his brother Philaeus had handed their hereditary homeland of Salamis to the Athenians (Plut. Solon 83d). The story is doubtless a transparent political invention. The circumstance attendant on it was E.'s office as priest in the Salaminioi lineage. Sophocles wrote a tragedy ‘E.’, whi…

[English version] (Αἰγεύς). Mythischer König von Athen, einer der zehn Eponymoi und Vater von Theseus. Die kanonische Gesch. macht ihn zum Sohn von König Pandion, der Attika zw. A. und seinen Brüdern Pallas, Lykos und Nisos teilte. A. erhielt das Gebiet um Athen. Aber seine Erscheinung dort könnte auch später erfolgt sein: Beazley ARV2 259.1 zeigt die anderen Brüder mit Orneus, nicht mit A. Als König blieb er lange Zeit kinderlos. Bei einer Befragung des delph. Orakels wurde ihm gesagt, ›den Fuß des Weinschlauches nicht zu lösen, bevor er zu Hause…

(Χιόνη). [English version] [1] Tochter von Boreas und Oreithyia Tochter von Boreas und Oreithyia, von Poseidon Mutter des Eumolpos. Um eine Entdeckung zu vermeiden, warf sie ihr Kind ins Meer, doch es wurde von Poseidon gerettet (Eur. Erechtheus fr. 349 TGF; Apollod. 3,199-201). Ch. als Name, von χιών ( chiōn) Schnee, paßt zu einer Tochter des Nordwindes; eine andere Ch., Tochter von Arkturos, soll von Boreas entführt worden sein und von ihm Mutter der drei hyperboreischen Apollonpriester (Hekat. FGrH 264 F 12; Ps-Plut. fluv. 5,3) geworden sein. Kearns, Emily (Oxford) …

[English version] (Ἀκάμας). Sohn von Theseus, normalerweise eng verbunden mit seinem Bruder Demophon. Beiden Brüdern werden ähnliche Gesch. zugeordnet. Ihre Mutter erscheint in unterschiedlicher Form: Phaidra (Diod. 4,62; Apollod. epit. 1,18), Ariadne (schol. Od. 11,321) oder Antiope (Pind. fr. 175). Obwohl sie in der Ilias fehlen, sind sie nach der Iliupersis (fr. 6 PEG) in Troia anwesend und befreien bei der Stadtplünderung ihre Großmutter Aithra aus der Gefangenschaft. In verschiedenen Quellen …

[English version] (Ἀρρηφόροι). Titel mit ungewisser Etym., der zwei oder vier athenischen Mädchen aus guter Familie zw. sieben und elf Jahren gegeben wurde, die ein Jahr lang auf der Akropolis lebten und an verschiedenen Aktivitäten teilnahmen, die mit dem Kult der Athena Polias verbunden waren. Mit der Athenapriesterin stellten sie an den Chalkeia den Webstuhl auf, auf welchem der neue Peplos der Göttin gewoben wurde, und halfen selbst beim Weben mit. Mit dieser Rolle wurde oft die zentrale Szene des Parthenonfrieses zusammengestellt und …

[English version] (Αἰακός). Sohn von Zeus und Asopos' Tochter Aigina, wurde als Gründungsheld der Insel Aigina betrachtet. Mit ihm wird allg. die Gesch. der Bevölkerung oder Wiederbevölkerung der Insel verbunden; zu seinen Gunsten verwandelte Zeus alle Ameisen in Menschen (Hes. fr. 205 M-W). Von seiner Gattin Endeïs wurde A. Vater von Peleus und Telamon; manche Erzählungen geben ihm noch einen 3. Sohn mit Namen Phokos (Robbe), dessen Mutter die Nereide Psamathe war. Phokos wurde von seinen Halbbrü…

[English version] (Ἐρεχθεύς). Mythischer König von Athen mit bedeutendem Kult auf der athenischen Akropolis. Es ist schwierig, E. als Heros oder Gott einzuordnen: Sein Kulttitel in der früheren Periode ist Poseidon E. (z.B. IG I3 873; Eur. Erechtheus fr. 65,93-4), ihm wird jedoch eine menschliche Vergangenheit zugeschrieben, und er hat als Phylenheros (Eponymos) den gleichen Stand wie die anderen neun (obwohl er in der kanonischen Ordnung der Phylen als erster aufgeführt ist). Zwischen E. (auf dem Marmor Parium Erichtheus geschr…