Erechtheus

Mortal autochthonous king of Athens; father of Creusa of Athens (greek_creusa_athens, whose prose names 'Daughter of Erechtheus ... and Praxithea') and of Oreithyia (greek_oreithyia, the existing mother of the Boread children — Erechtheus is thus the maternal grandfather of Calais, Zetes, Cleopatra Boread, and Chione Boread). His sons Cecrops II, Pandorus, Metion lack corpus entries and are named rather than wired. Distinct from Erichthonius (greek_erichthonius exists as ancestor of Tros), whom some traditions conflate with him.

Children

• Cecrops II
• Creusa of Athens
• Metion
• Oreithyia
• Pandorus
• Procris

Domains

• kingship
• war
• earthquakes

Powers

• Repel the invader through the sacrifice of his daughters
• Persist after death as the earth-shaking Poseidon Erechtheus

Epithets

• Ἐρεχθεὺς ἄναξ Ἀθηνῶν — Erechtheus lord of AthensHom. Il. 2.546-551 (primary)

Relations

• spouse: PraxitheaApollod. 3.15.1; Eur. Erechtheus fr. 360 Kannicht (primary)
• father of: Creusa of AthensCreusa, the surviving youngest daughter, mother of Ion by Apollo.Eur. Ion 10-11, 277-282; Apollod. 3.15.1 (primary)
• father of: OreithyiaOreithyia, carried off by Boreas — mother of the Boread children.Apollod. 3.15.1-2; Hdt. 7.189 (primary)
• enemy: EumolpusThe Thracian-Eleusinian son of Poseidon whom Erechtheus killed in the war for Athens; Poseidon then destroyed Erechtheus in vengeance.Apollod. 3.15.4; Eur. Erechtheus fr. 360-370 Kannicht (primary)

Sources

• existence: Homer Iliad 2.546-551; Herodotus 8.55, 7.189; Apollodorus 3.15.1-5; Euripides Erechtheus fr. 360-370 Kannicht; Pausanias 1.38.3 (primary)
• fatherhood-of-Creusa-and-Oreithyia: Apollodorus 3.15.1; Euripides Ion 10-11, 277-282; Herodotus 7.189 (primary)