Erechtheus- Greek HeroHero"King of Athens"
Also known as: Ἐρεχθεύς
Description
When Eleusis marched on Athens, the oracle demanded the king sacrifice his own daughter. Erechtheus obeyed and won the war, but Poseidon struck him dead with his trident for killing Eumolpus. The earth swallowed the king whole.
Mythology & Lore
Athena's King
Erechtheus was a king of Athens, son of Pandion. In the Iliad, Homer says Athena herself nurtured him and installed him in her temple on the Acropolis, where Athenians honored him with sacrifices of bulls and rams.
The War with Eleusis
Eumolpus, a son of Poseidon, brought the army of Eleusis against Athens. Erechtheus consulted the oracle at Delphi and received a terrible answer: victory required the sacrifice of one of his daughters. In the fragments of Euripides' lost Erechtheus, his wife Praxithea consents. She says she bore her children for the city, not for herself alone.
Erechtheus killed his daughter. Apollodorus adds that her sisters chose to die with her. They had sworn an oath never to survive one another. Athens won the war and Eumolpus fell in battle, but Poseidon struck Erechtheus dead with his trident for killing his son. The earth split open and swallowed the king. Zeus confirmed the sentence with a thunderbolt.
Relationships
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