Editing Cecrops I

{{Short description|King of Attica in Greek mythology}}
{{Other uses|Cecrops}}
[[File:Cecrops I.jpg|thumb|Cecrops I from ''[[Promptuarium Iconum Insigniorum|Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum]]'']]
'''Cecrops''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|iː|k|r|ɒ|p|s}}; {{transl-grc|{{Wikt-lang|grc|Κέκροψ}}|}}; {{smallcaps|[[genitive case|gen]]}} {{Wikt-lang|grc|Κέκροπος}}, {{grc-transl|Κέκροπος}}) was a legendary king of [[Attica]] which derived from him its name Cecropia, according to the [[Parian Chronicle]] having previously borne the name of Acte or Actice (from [[Actaeus]]). He was the founder and the first king of [[Athens]] itself though preceded in the region by the earth-born king [[Actaeus]] of Attica.<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+3.14.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Cecrops 3.14.1]; [[John Tzetzes|Tzetzes]], ''Chiliades'' [http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html 5.638 ff]; [[Parian Chronicle]], ''Marmor Parium'' 2–4 as cited in Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+3.14.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Cecrops 3.14.1], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+3.14.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Cecrops f.n.1]</ref> Cecrops was a [[culture hero]], teaching the Athenians [[marriage]], [[Reading (process)|reading]] and [[writing]], and [[ceremonial burial]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cecrops {{!}} King of Athens, Founder, Mythical Creature {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cecrops |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], 8.2.1; [[Strabo]], 9 p. 397; [[Eustathius of Thessalonica|Eustathius]] ad [[Homer]], p. 1156</ref>

== Etymology and form ==
According to [[Strabo]], the name of Cecrops is not of [[Greeks|Greek]] origin.<ref>[[Strabo]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+7.7.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Cecrops 7.7.1] "Moreover, the barbarian origin of some is indicated by their names—Cecrops, Codrus..."</ref> It was said that he was born from the earth itself (an [[Autochthon (ancient Greece)|autochthon]]) and was accordingly called a γηγενής (''gēgenḗs'' "native"), and described as having his top half shaped like a man and the bottom half in serpent or fish-tail form. Hence he was called διφυής (''diphuḗs'', "of two natures").<ref>[[Euripides]], ''[[Ion (play)|Ion]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Eur.+Ion+1163&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0110:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Cecrops 1163 ff.]; [[Aristophanes]], ''[[The Wasps]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Aristoph.+Wasps+438&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0044:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Cecrops 438]; [[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Ov.+Met.+2.555&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0028:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Cecrops 2.555]; [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#48 48]; [[Antoninus Liberalis]], [https://topostext.org/work/216#6 6]; [[John Tzetzes|Tzetzes]] ad [[Lycophron]], [https://topostext.org/work/860#111 111]</ref>{{AI-generated source|date=November 2024}} [[Diodorus Siculus|Diodorus]] rationalized that his double form was because of his double citizenship, Greek and barbarian.<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/1A*.html#28.7 1.28.7]</ref> Some ancients referred the epithet διφυής to marriage, of which tradition made him the founder.

== Family ==
Apparently Cecrops married [[Aglaurus]], the daughter of Actaeus, former king of the region of Attica, whom he succeeded on the throne. {{citation needed|date=January 2019}} It is disputed that this woman was the mother of Cecrops's son [[Erysichthon of Attica|Erysichthon]]. {{citation needed|date=January 2019}} Erysichthon predeceased him, and he was succeeded by [[Cranaus]], who is said to have been one of the wealthiest citizens of Athens at that time. {{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

Cecrops was the father of three daughters: [[Herse of Athens|Herse]], [[Pandrosus]] and [[Aglaurus, daughter of Cecrops|Aglaurus]]. To them was given a box or jar containing the infant [[Erichthonius of Athens|Erichthonius]] to guard unseen. They looked and, terrified by the two serpents [[Athena]] had set within to guard the child, they fled in terror and leapt from the Acropolis to their deaths. Some accounts say one of the sisters was turned to stone instead.<ref>Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+3.14.2&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Cecrops 3.14.2]; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], 1.2.5</ref>

==Mythology==
[[File:Cécrops Meyers.png|thumb|Representation of Cecrops I]]

=== Culture hero ===
Cecrops was represented in the Attic legends as the author of the first elements of civilized life such as marriage, the political division of Attica into twelve communities, and also as the introducer of a new mode of worship. He was said to have been the first who deified Zeus, and ordained sacrifices to be offered to him as the supreme Deity. Cecrops was likewise affirmed to have been the first who built altars and statues of the gods, offered sacrifices, and instituted marriage among the Athenians, who, before his time, it seems, lived promiscuously. Pausanias tells us that he forbade the sacrificing of any living creatures to the gods, as well as any sort of other offering, only allowing cakes (πέλανοι) formed into the shape of an ox with horns, called by the Athenians Pelanous, which signifies an ox. He is likewise said to have taught his subjects the art of navigation; and, for the better administration of justice and intercourse among them, to have divided them into the four tribes called Cecropis, Autochthon, Actea, and Paralia. Some likewise make him the founder of the [[areopagus]].<ref>Pausanias, 8.2.1; Eustathius ad Homer, p. 1156</ref><ref>as cited in [[Strabo]], p. 397: f.n. 49, "Thus only eleven names are given in the most important MSS., though "Phalerus" appears after "Cephisia" in some (see critical note on opposite page). But it seems best to assume that Strabo either actually included Athens in his list or left us to infer that he meant Athens as one of the twelve."</ref>

The Acropolis was also known as the Cecropia in his honor. The Athenians are said to have called themselves Cecropidæ, during the reigns of the five following kings, in his honor.

=== Patronage of Athens ===
During his reign which lasted for 50 years,<ref>[[Eusebius]], ''[[Chronography]]''</ref>  the gods resolved to take possession of cities in which each of them should receive their own peculiar worship. [[Athena]] became the patron goddess of the city of Athens in a competition with [[Poseidon]], as judged by Cecrops. The two raced ferociously towards the [[Acropolis]] and it was a very close race. Poseidon was the first to reach Attica and struck the acropolis with his trident and thereby created a salt sea which was known in later times by the name of the Erechthean well, from its being enclosed in the temple of [[Erechtheus]].<ref>[[Herodotus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+8.55.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Erechtheus 8.55.1]; Pausanias, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.%201.24.5&lang=original 1.24.5] & [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.26.5&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Erechtheus 1.26.5]; Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Ov.+Met.+6.70&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0028:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Cecrops 6.70 ff.]; Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#164 164]; [[Lactantius Placidus]] ad [[Statius]], ''[[Thebaid (Latin poem)|Thebaid]]'' 7.185</ref><ref>''Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. Bode, i. pp. 1, 115 (First Vatican Mythographer 2; Second Vatican Mythographer 119)''</ref> After him, Athena arrived and called on Cecrops to witness her act of taking possession. She planted an olive tree on the hill of the acropolis, which continued to be shown in the Pandrosium down to the latest times. But when the two gods continued to strive for possession of the country, Zeus parted them and appointed arbiters - not, as some{{Who|date=January 2025}} have affirmed, Cecrops and Cranaus, nor Erysichthon, but the twelve gods. And in accordance with their verdict the country was adjudged to Athena, because Cecrops bore witness that she had been the first to plant the olive. Athena, therefore, called the city Athens after herself. Poseidon in hot anger flooded the [[Thriasian Plain|Thriasian plain]] and laid Attica under the sea.<ref>Strabo, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.%209.1.6&lang=original 9.1.6] & [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+9.1.13&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Thriasian 13]</ref>

A rationalistic explanation of the fable was propounded by the eminent [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] antiquary [[Marcus Terentius Varro|Varro]]. According to him, the olive-tree suddenly appeared in Attica, and at the same time there was an eruption of water in another part of the country. So king Cecrops sent to inquire of Apollo at Delphi what these portents might signify. The oracle answered that the olive and the water were the symbols of Athena and Poseidon respectively, and that the people of Attica were free to choose which of these deities they would worship. Accordingly, the question was submitted to a general assembly of the citizens and citizenesses; for in these days women had the vote as well as men. All the men voted for the god, and all the women voted for the goddess; and as there was one more woman than there were men, the goddess appeared at the head of the poll. Chagrined at the loss of the election, Poseidon flooded the country with the water of the sea, and to appease his wrath it was decided to deprive women of the vote and to forbid children to bear their mother's names for the future.<ref>[[Marcus Terentius Varro|Varro]] in ''Augustine, De civitate Dei'' 18.9 as cited in Apollodorus, 3.14.1: f.n. 2</ref>

The Athenians said that the contest between Poseidon and Athena took place on the second of the month [[Attic calendar|Boedromion]], and hence they omitted that day from the calendar.<ref>Plutarch, ''De fraterno amore'' 11 & ''Quaest. Conviv''. ix.6.</ref>{{s-start}}
{{s-reg}}
{{succession box
| title = [[King of Athens]]
| years = 
| before = [[Actaeus]]
| after = [[Cranaus]]
}}
{{s-end}}

== Multiple Cecrops ==
The name of Cecrops occurs also in other parts of Greece, especially where there existed a town named Athenae, such as in [[Boeotia]], where he is said to have founded the ancient towns of Athenae and [[Eleusis]] on the [[Triton River]], and where he had a [[heroön]] at [[Haliartus]]. Tradition there called him a son of [[Pandion I|Pandion]].<ref>Pausanias, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+9.33.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Cecrops 9.33.1]; Strabo, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+9.2.18&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Cecrops 9.2.18 p. 407]</ref> In [[Euboea]], which also had a town named Athenae, Cecrops was called a son of Erechtheus and [[Praxithea]], and a grandson of Pandion.<ref>Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+3.15.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Cecrops 3.15.1]; Pausanias, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.5.3&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Cecrops 1.5.3]</ref> From these traditions it appears, that Cecrops must be regarded as a hero of the Pelasgian race; and Müller remarks that the different mythical personages of this name connected with the towns in Boeotia and Euboea are only multiplications of the one original hero, whose name and story were transplanted from Attica to other places. The later Greek writers describe Cecrops as having immigrated into Greece with a band of colonists from [[Sais, Egypt|Sais]] in [[Egypt]].<ref>Diodorus Siculus, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/1A*.html#29.1 1.29.1]; Scholia ad Aristophanes, ''Plutus'' 773</ref> But this account is not only rejected by some of the ancients themselves and modern critics.<ref>Müller, ''Orchom''. p. 123; Thirlwall, ''Greece'' i. p. 66</ref><ref>[[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith, William]]; ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'', London (1873). [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DC%3Aentry+group%3D15%3Aentry%3Dcecrops-bio-1 "Cecrops"]  ''{{PD-notice}}''</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Ancient Greece|Myths|}}
* [[Cecropia]]
* [[Fuxi]]
* [[Nüwa]]
* [[Phrygia (name)|Phrygia]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==

* [[Antoninus Liberalis]], ''The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis'' translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992). [https://topostext.org/work/216 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
*[[Walter Burkert|Burkert, W.]] ''Structure and History in Greek Mythology and Ritual'' (Baltimore, 1993)
*[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''The Library of History'' translated by [[Charles Henry Oldfather]]. Twelve volumes. [[Loeb Classical Library]]. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59&ndash;8. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site]
*Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2''. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888–1890. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0540 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
*[[Euripides]], ''The Complete Greek Drama'', edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill, Jr. in two volumes. 1. Ion, translated by Robert Potter. New York. Random House. 1938. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0110 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
*Euripides, ''Euripidis Fabulae.'' ''vol. 2''. Gilbert Murray. Oxford. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1913. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0109 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
*[[Gaius Julius Hyginus]], ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
*[[Herodotus]], ''The Histories'' with an English translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920. [https://topostext.org/work/22 Online version at the Topos Text Project.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0125 Greek text available at Perseus Digital Library].
*[[John Tzetzes]], ''Book of Histories,'' Book V-VI translated by Konstantinos Ramiotis from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826.  [http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html Online version at theio.com.]
*[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.1.1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]  Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.  [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
*[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Pseudo-Apollodorus]], ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].
*[[Ovid|Publius Ovidius Naso]], ''Metamorphoses'' translated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0028 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]  Publius Ovidius Naso, ''Metamorphoses.'' Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0029 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
*[[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith, William]]; ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'', London (1873). [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DC%3Aentry+group%3D15%3Aentry%3Dcecrops-bio-1 "Cecrops"]
*[[Strabo]], ''The Geography of Strabo.'' Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198%3Abook%3D6%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
*Strabo, ''Geographica'' edited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0197 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.]

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