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This Institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copy order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of the copyright law. AUTHOR: POWELL, BENJAMIN TITLE: ERICHTHONIUS AND THE THREE PLACE: ITHACA DATE: 1906 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES PRESERVATION DEPARTMENT BIBLIOGRAPHIC MTCRnFORM TARCFT Master Negative # Restrictions on Use: Original Material as Filmed - Existing Bibliographic Record 085 Z8 ' !■'* Olsseftatlon V.3 Powell, Benjamin Erichthonius and the three daughters of Cecrops Cornell 1906 I TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA REDUCTION RATIO: //^ FILM SIZE: Jl^^ff. IMAGE PLACEMENT: lA ( iLO IB IIB DATE FILMED: ^:W^23. INITIALS HLMEDBY: RESEARCH PU BLIC ATIONq , T NC WOODBRmng ^rT' / c Association for Information and image Management 1100 Wayne Avenue, Suite 1100 Silver Spring. Maryland 20910 301/587-8202 Centimeter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 iiiiIiiiiIiiiiIiiiiIiiiiIiiiiIiiiiIiimIiiiiIiiiiIiiiiIiiiiIiiiiIiiiiIiiiiIiiiiIi iiu wm 9 10 11 12 13 14 iiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiii 15 mm Ull 11^ I I Inches TTT 1 ITT 1.0 |£ 1 2.8 u 1.4 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.6 I.I 1.25 TTl^TTT 5 MRNUFfiCTURED TO fillM STfiNDflROS BY fiPPLIED IMfiGE. INC. \ ppPmsp" 7 7>« • 10 ERICHTHONIUS AND THE THREE DAUGHTERS OF CECROPS BY r Benjamin Powell, A.B., A.M. A Thesis presented to the University Faculty of Cornell University for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, June, 1904. ITHACA, N. Y. AMDRUS & CHURCH 1906. ■■4 t^l ■I— iWlliilJllli / 4 EDITORS' PREFACE. Copyright 1906 By Cornei,l University. AI,L RIGHTS RESERVED The premature death of Benjamin Powell in June, 1905, sev- eral days before the Commencement at which he would have received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from Cornell Uni- versity, made it impossible for him to superintend the publica- tion of his Doctor's Thesis. The task, therefore, of reading and correcting the proof has devolved entirely on the Editors of the Cornell Studies. They have been greatly aided in this task by Dr. 1,. h. Forman, of Cornell University. It is hoped that the result is such as would meet with the approval of Dr. Powell. i PREFACE. In this treatment of Erichthonius and the Three Daughters of Cecrops but little is required by way of introduction. I think the body of the work may speak for itself. Even a short sketch of the work done by me in the study of religion, myth, and ritual would be of little practical value to my readers. My plan has been to study the sources for this particular myth as fully as possible, and to adapt to my use the information thus gained from the classical writers. It seemed to me wise to treat the subject broadly, rather than to hew to one hard and fast line and try to make everything conform to a preconceived view. So many changes and influences come into the history of a myth that a great deal of allowance has to be made for peculiar features which do not belong to it originally. I have tried to arrive at the truth and to present it, although at one time I may adopt a suggestion from one author and at another time discover the truth in an author whose ideas are opposed to those of the first. However for a complete survey, one must take many points into consideration, the etymology of names, whether the divine personage in question was a personifi- cation of some natural phenomenon, or a beast, bird, reptile or insect, a totem, a spirit of the crops, or an historical personage. This I have endeavored to do and my results are hereinafter set down. The writers whose works are used in my text are carefully credited with each reference. The work of Miss J. E. Harrison, who has discussed this myth more than any other writer, has been especially helpful. The literary sources are put in a body at the end. The myth, which must be one of the most ancient at Athens, was not written down until somewhat late in her history, so that the classical evidence, although appearing somewhat bulky, is not always satisfactory and is often but a repetition of some previous account. I have begun the discussion with the different classical accounts of the myth and have then passed on to an attempted explanation of its meaning and that of the ritual con- nected with it. As will be seen, anthropology has entered largely into the discussion throughout. ■NM i ERICHTHONIUS AND THE THREE DAUGHTERS OF CECROPS. Antigonus Carystius (Historiae Mirabiles, xii)' quotes Amele- sagoras, the Athenian, who is telling the reason why no crow flies over the Acropolis, and why no one could say that he had ever seen one. He gives a mythological cause. " The goddess Athena was given as a wife to Hephaestus, but when she had lam down with him, she disappeared and Hephaestus, falling to the ground, spent his seed. The earth afterwards gave birth to Enchthonius, whom Athena nourished and shut up in a chest This chest she gave into the keeping of the daughters of Cecrops, Agraulus, Pandrosus and Herse and enjoined upon them not to open the chest until she returned. She then went away to Pellene' to bring a mass of rock, that she might fortify the Acropolis. Two of the daughters of Cecrops, Agraulus and Pandrosus, opened the chest and saw two serpents coiled about Erichthonius. It is said that a crow met Athena as she was returning with her load and told her that Erichthonius was ex- posed. When the goddess heard this, she threw down the mass of rock, which is now Mount Lycabettus, and hurried to the Acropolis. On account of this evil message, she told the crow that it would be unlawful for it to approach the Acropolis." Euripides in the Ion (1. 23)' refers to the story and writes that Athena placed two serpents as guards over Erichthonius. She then gave him to the Aglauridian maidens (™p0^o.s 'AyXavpurt) to keep. Again in the Ion (1. 272 ffl.)», he refers to the fate of the maidens. They broke the command of the goddess and at their death stained the rocks with blood (i. e., threw themselves over the edge of the Acropolis). •Moamsen (Feste der Stadt Athen, p. 498. N.) thinks this was the Tnracian Pallene. ' A Erichthonius and the TJiree Daughters of Cecrops. ApoUodorus tells the story in detail (iii, 14, 6)* : "Some say- that Erichthonius was the son of Hephaestus and Atthis, the daughter of Cranaus, but others say of Hephaestus and Athena, as follows : Athena visited Hephaestus to see about the prepara- fitti of her armor. He, being deserted by Aphrodite, was over- come with desire of Athena and tried to assault her, but she, being a virgin, did not permit it. He spent his seed on the thigh of the goddess and she, having wiped it off with a piece of wool, threw it on the ground, whence Erichthonius was born. Athena brought up Erichthonius without the knowledge of the other gods, wishing to make him immortal. She put him in a chest and gave it to Pandrosus, the daughter of Cecrops, telling her not to open it. The sisters of Pandrosus, however, opened it through curiosity and saw the infant enfolded by a snake. Some say they were caught by the snake, and some say they went mad on account of the rage of Athena, and threw themselves down from the Acropolis. Erichthonius was brought up in the sanct- uary of the goddess and afterwards dethroned Amphictyon, and ruled as king at Athens. On the Acropolis he set up a wooden image of Athena ; he instituted the festival of the Panathenaea and married the nymph Praxithea ; by her he had a son Pandion.** • The scholiast on the Iliad, B 547*, tells this story, in part word for word as ApoUodorus does ; he derives the name of Erichthonius from Ipiov, the wool used by Athena, and from x^^^^i the earth from which the child was born. Ovid refers to the myth (Metamorphoses, ii, 552 ffl.)' and Speaks of Erichthonius as created without a mother. He was shut up in a chest and this was given to the three maidens to keep unopened. Pandrosus and Herse obeyed, but Aglaurus opened the box and saw the child and snake inside. Again in the second book of the Metamorphoses (1. 749)', Ovid says that Aglaurus disclosed the secret. Hyginus in his Fabulae (166)® tells the story, saying that Vulcan had made golden chairs of adamant* for Jupiter and ^ Solia aurea ex adamante. Erichthonius and the Three Daughters of Cecrops. 3 the other gods. When Juno sat down, she was unable to rise. Vulcan was sent for to loose his mother, but he denied that he had any mother, being angry because he had been thrown out of heaven. Bacchus, however, made him drunk and brought him into the council of the gods, where he loosed Juno and was given by Jupiter the right to ask for whatever he wished as a reward. Neptune was angry at Minerva and incited Vulcan to demand her in marriage. Vulcan did so and his request was granted, but Minerva repulsed the god and Erichthonius was born from the earth in accordance with the usual story. He was of the form of a serpent in the lower part of his body. His name came from Ipts, ' ' strife " , and x^^v, ' ' earth ' ' . Minerva nurtured him secretly and gave him in a chest to Aglaurus, Pandrosus, and Herse, so that they might guard him. When the maidens opened the chest, a crow made it known to Minerva, and the maidens, seized with madness, threw themselves into the sea. In his Astronomica (ii, 13)', Hyginus* tells the myth in connection with his account of the constellation, Heniochus, the Charioteer, or in Latin, Auriga. Hyginus says that Eratos- thenes, the Alexandrian scientist, calls this constellation *' Erich- thonius ", " because Jupiter, when he saw that Erichthonius was the first man to yoke horses four abreast admired his ingenuity, since he was doing just as Sol did, who first employed quadrigae among the gods. Besides quadrigae, Erichthonius introduced also sacrifices to Athena and built a temple on the Athenian acropolis." In the story of Erichthonius' birth, Hyginus, quoting Euripides as an authority, merely notes that Vulcan was carried away by Minerva's beauty and asked for her favors. He was refused and then tried to assault her, with the before-mentioned result. Minerva covered the seed with dust and Erichthonius » Schanz declares that it can be proved that the Fabulae and the Poetica Astronomica were written by one and the same Hyginus (see his Geschichte d. rom. UteraturMn I. Miiller's Handbuch, viii, 2, 331.) Some later au- thorities refer the Fabulae and Astronomica to different authors. ! 4 Erichthonius and the Three Daughters of Cecrops. was bom (Hyginus gives his etymology), concealed in the chest, and given to the daughters of Erechtheus (w). ** They, out of curiosity, opened the box and saw a snake, became mad, and threw themselves down from the citadel at Athens. The snake fled to the shield of Minerva and was brought up by her. Some say that Erichthonius had limbs like a snake. He, while a youth, instituted the Panathenaic games and he himself raced in the quadriga, for all of which he was placed among the stars.*' Pausanias writes (i, i8, 2)'" that Athena put Erichthonius in a box and gave him to the three sisters, telling them not to pry into the box. Pandrosus obeyed, but the other two opened it, went mad and threw themselves down from the Acropolis where it was precipitous. Tertullian in commenting on Vergil, writes (De Spectaculis, 9)" that Erichthonius, bom of lust, was not a snake, but was the devil himself. Philostratus (Apoll. Epist. vii, 24)" mentions the fact that Athena, the goddess of the Athenians, at one time gave birth to a serpent. He does not mention Erichthonius by name, nor the three sisters. I^actantius tells the story (Divin. Instit. i, 17)" just as Hyginus does in his Fables, with this variant only, which ApoUodoms also implies, namely, that Vulcan made arms for the gods and so was granted a wish by Jupiter. Lactantius, continu- ing the story, writes that Minerva shut the child up in a box with a snake. He holds up the morals of the pagan divinities to ridicule and in his Epitome (9, 2)'* he again mentions Erich- thonius as springing like a fungus out of the earth. Probus, Servius, and Philargyrius, commenting on Vergil (Georg. iii, 1 13)»^ write that Erichthonius was a child of Electra and Jupiter, but in their time that was not mentioned. He was said to be a son of Vulcan and the Earth. The story of Vulcan and Minerva is told and the etymology of Hyginus is given. Then Servius says, '* moreover, he is said to be the first who employed quadrigae, so that he might the more BiiipPtly conceal his snake-feet.** Erichthonius and the Three Daughters of Cecrops, 5 Augustine writes (De civ. dei, xviii, I2)'« that Erichthonius was the child of Vulcan and Minerva, but because the ancients wished Minerva to retain her virginity, the story of the stmggle with Vulcan was told and the birth of Erichthonius was said to be from the earth, the name coming from '* strife " and *' earth '*. He furthermore adds that Vulcan and Minerva had a temple in common at Athens, where there was exposed to view a boy en- circled by a snake. Since he was in this temple, common to Minerva and Vulcan (Pans. i. 14, 6)", and since his parents were unknown, the child was said to be the son of these two divinities. Augustine concludes, **the former myth tells the origin of his name better than this latter account.*' Lactantius Placidus, the scholiast, in his Nar. Fab. (ii, 12)'' records that at Athens the maidens carried color materials (pigmenta)' in baskets in a sacred rite in honor of Minerva. Among these, distinguished by her striking appearance, Herse, the daughter of Cecrops, was seen by Mercury. Accordingly he approached her sister, Aglaurus, and begged her to bring him to Herse. But Aglaurus demanded gold for her service and Minerva was greatly offended at her avarice, on account of which she had also opened the little box entrusted to the care of her sisters and, moreover, had done this against the express command of the goddess. So Minerva, having tortured her, turned her into a rock. Placidus is evidently mixing narratives and is either writing from memory or from a distorted version of the original story of the chest and the fall from the rock of the Acropolis. Fulgentius in his Mythologiae (ii, i^y says that Jupiter granted a wish to Vulcan in return for services rendered in making thunderbolts. He gives the account of the struggle with Minerva. Erichthonius was born and, with a snake as guardian, was put in a box and given to Aglaurus and Pandora («V), Erichthonius first invented the chariot. *I have given reasons later why it seems better to emend this "pig- menta " to " figmenta." 1 6 Erichthonius and the Three Daughters of Cecrops, The Scholia Bernensia on Vergil's Georgics (iii, 113)^ record that Gaudentius said that the boy, conceived in lust, was born with lower limbs like a snake and that he employed a chariot in order to conceal the hideousness of his body. The Etymologicum Magnum tells us that Erechtheus was also called Erichthonius (s. v. 'Epcx^cvs)". The story runs that Hephaestus was called in to assist Zeus at the birth of Athena, by splitting his head with an axe. Athena sprang forth and Hephaestus pursued her, but was repulsed by the goddess. The etymology of the snake-limbed Erichthonius is given as Apollo- dorus gives it, that is from Iptov, the wool used by Athena in cleansing herself, and from x^^v, earth. The scholiast on Plato's Timaeus (426)" and also the account given in the Mythographi Graeci (ed. Westermann, pp. 359- 360) '^ follow the Etymologicum Magnum. Eudocia, the Byzan- tine writer, in her Violarium, gives the story in three different places, all of which agree in substance, namely, I" (p. 7)" con- cerning Athena ; CCCL, (p. isi)"*, where it is told of the birth of Erechtheus ; and CCCLV, (p. i59)», where it is connected with Erichthonius as usual. A summary shows the story as follows : Hephaestus, for some reason (as a reward from Zeus or simply carried away by her beauty), attempts a union with Athena, the maiden- goddess. In a struggle he is repulsed, loses his seed, and as a result, Erich- thonius is bom from the earth, without a mother. A variant story is indicated when Apollodorus (iii, 14, 16) records that he was said by some to be the son of Atthis, Cranaus' daughter^ and of Hephaestus, and Servius recalls that he was once regarded as the son of Electra and Jupiter. Erichthonius was in the shape of a man-child, according to Amelesagoras, Euripides, Apollodorus, Ovid, Pausanias, I^actan- tius, Augustine, and Fulgentius ; but according to Hyginus, Servius, the Scholia Bernensia, the Etymologicum Magnum, and » Miss Harrison (Mythology and Monuments, p. xxvi) makes the mistake of saying, " son of Atthis and Cranaus." Erichthonius and the Three Daughters of Cecrops. 7 Eudocia, he was half man and half serpent. Philostratus and Tertullian seem to imply that he was all serpent. Erichthonius is protected by Athena secretly, concealed in a box, and given into the charge of the three daughters of Cecrops, Aglaurus, Pandrosus, and Herse, who break their trust and open the box against the orders of Athena. Euripides and Hyginus state that all the sisters were blame- worthy. Amelesagoras, Fulgentius (?), and Athenagoras (I^egat. pro Christ, i)" say that Aglaurus and Pandrosus were guilty ; Apollodorus and Pausanias say Aglaurus and Herse, and Ovid says Aglaurus alone was guilty. Aglaurus is implicated in all cases and so may be regarded as the guilty one, while Pandrosus is innocent. Amelesagoras and Euripides speak of two snakes, and a vase in the British Museum (Cat. E 418 ; Roscher, Lex., vol. i, p. 1307) shows two (see Fig. 8). Ovid, Apollodorus, Hyginus (Astr.) Lactantius, Augustine and Fulgentius, also a vase by Brygus (Robert, Bild und Lied, p. 88) know of only one snake (see Fig. 9). Euripides, Apollodorus, Pausanias, and Hyginus say that the girls went mad and threw themselves from the Acropolis, but Apollodorus also gives another version, according to which they were said to have been killed by the snake. Erichthonius grew up, became ruler of Athens, had a son Pandion, invented quadrigae (Vergil, Georg. iii, 113), instituted games in honor of Athena, and built a temple for her. He was finally placed among the stars as the constellation Auriga. The history of the three sisters is short. It will be necessary to study briefly the history of each sister separately. The evi- dence may be found also in Roscher' s Ausfiihrliches Lexicon in the articles, Aglaurus by Roscher, Pandrosus by H. Lewy, and Herse by Seeliger. Aglaurus is treated by Toepffer also in the Pauly-Wissowa Real-Encyclopadie. Aglaurus, Pandrosus, and Herse were the daughters of Cecrops and Aglaurus. Cecrops was said to be an early king of Athens . he was an emigrant from Egypt or Phoenicia and his wife 8 Erichthonius and the Three Dmighters of Cecrops. Aglaurus was the daughter of Actaeus, first king of Athens. Besides the three daughters, they had one son, Erysichthon (Apollodorusiii, 14, 2^; Pausaniasi. 2, 6»; Euripides, Ion492)*'. The daughter Aglaurus is called by Suidas (s. v. ^chvix. ypa/t*/*. )»» the daughter of Actaeon, as are also Pandrosus and Herse. In this account there is a probable confusion with the mother Aglaurus, who was the daughter of Actaeus. Aglaurus was be- loved of Ares and had by him a daughter Alcippe ; this daughter was violated by Halirrothius, the son of Poseidon, and, in conse- quence, he was killed by Ares. Aglaurus seems to have been blameworthy in opening the chest and was either killed by the snake or threw herself from the Acropolis. According to the story told by Ovid (Metamorph. ii, 710-835)', Hermes fell in love with Herse at the Panathenaic festival (ac- cording to Ptolemaeus in Schol. II. A 334»» Pandrosus is the bndeof Hermes), and asked Aglaurus to further his suit with her sister. Athena, however, remembering Aglaurus's former disobedience, filled her with envy of Herse and Aglaurus refused to permit Hermes to visit Herse ; she was, in consequence, turned into a stone. Uctantius Placidus also refers to this version. Pandrosus was the sister of Aglaurus and Herse, or, according to Scamon (Suidas, ^otnK. y/»a;.^.)'\ sister of Phoenice and daughter of Actaeon. Pandrosus, if we follow the common story alone obeyed the command of Athena. She appears as the mother of Ceryx by Hermes (Pollux, viii, io3» ; Schol. II. A 334" ; Schol. Aeschines, i, 2o)»* ; according to others Aglau^ rus was the mother of Ceryx (Pausanias, i, 38, 3)'^. This Ceryx was the tribe father of the family of the Ceryces in the Eleusinian service ; by Hesychius^ Suidas. and Harpocration (s. V. Kif^Kts^Y he is merely said to be the son of Hermes ; no mother is mentioned. Herse, the third sister, was the beloved of Hermes (ApoUod iii, 14, 3« ; Ovid ii, 710-835' ; Uct. Plac, Fab., ii, i2)^«, and by him she bore Cephalus. According to the Regilla inscription (C. I. G. 6280)", Ceryx was the son of Hermes and Herse. Erichthonius and the Three Daughters of Cecrops, 9 Ceryx is thus seen to be assigned as a son to each of the three sisters in turn. This is to be explained (Toepffer, Attische Genealogie, p. 83*; Gruppe, Griech, Myth. p. 52) by the fact that later, when Athens and Eleusis had formed a close political union, there came to be an identification or parallelization of the three daughters of Cecrops with the Charites or Horae, Auxo, Thallo, and Carpo, who were closely associated with Hermes at Eleusis (C. I. A. i, 5*°; also s. v. Aglaurus, Pauly-Wissowa). Other relationship with Attica is shown by the fact that Cephalus was said to be the son of Hermes and Herse, and the Cephalids of Thoricus were related to the Ceryces of Eleusis (Gruppe, Griechische Mythologie, p. 51).'' This connection is mentioned later in the discussion of the origin of Herse and was noticed by C. Robert (De Gratiis Atticis in Comment. Mommsen, p. 143 ffl.). These triads of Aglaurides and Charites or Horae are possibly related also to the four Ionian nymphs (Itow'Scs viJ/u^at), mentioned by Pausanias (vi, 22, 7)" and Strabo (viii, 356)". Pausanias records that there was a sanctuary of these nymphs near a spring at Heraclea, a village not far from Olympia. Their names were Calliphaea, Synallaxis, Pegaea, and lasis. Persons who bathed in this spring were cured of bodily pains. Pausanias adds that the nymphs were called Ionian from Ion of Gargettus, who emi- grated hither from Athens. This then would establish a close relationship between the Aglaurid maidens of Euripides' s Ion, who danced on the northern slope of the Acropolis, and the nymphs, the nurses of Epimenides Buzyges (Toepffer, Att. Gen., * Toepffer, Attische Geneal., p. 83, N. *' Bedenkt man, wie nahe Chariten Nymphen und Thauschwestern einander stehen, so liegt die Vermuthung nahe, dass die Kekropstochter in Athen an Stellederin Fieusis mit Hermes verbnndenen Chariten (C. I. A. i, 5) getreten sind. Daher ist man sich auch nicht klar, welche der Schwestern die Stammmutter des Kervken^e- schlechtesist." ^ M. c.-"die genannten Keryken, bereits, wie spater, in einem genealo- gischen Verhaltnis zu den Kephaliden von Thorikos stehend, das deshalb im Hymnos (to Demeter) von alien attischen Orten allein genannt wird." lo Erichthonius ayid the Three Daughters of Cecrops, p. 144), of that same region, who are depicted in a dance with Pan on many reliefs found in his cave close to the north-west comer of the citadel (Furtwangler, Athen. Mitth., iii, 200). As has been set forth by Mr. Farnell*, the rivalry of Poseidon and Athena in Attica for the possession of the land, and many similar theomachies contain an historical fact, an actual conflict of worships. Athena was the older divinity in Attica** and, accord- ing to Mr. Farnell, Poseidon was the great god of the lonians ; the strife and reconciliation on the Acropolis being ' ' the religious counterpart of the old Attic and Ionic elements of the popula- tion.'* There is evidence to show that Poseidon was not an Aryan divinity originally. His name has been a stumbling block to the comparative philologists and to form an idea of the many etymol- ogies it is only necessary to glance at the various conjectures given in the Pape-Benseler Worterbuch under his name. More- over, oftentimes Poseidon's material shape is not in keeping with the general anthropomorphic characteristics of the pantheon of Achaean divinities. One of the latest etymologies to appear is that of Robert Brown*' ; he gives the derivation of the name of Poseidon as fol- lows : There was an Itanos in Crete ; i-Tan is ' ' the island of Tan." Tan on coins is a person with a fish-tail, carrying a tri- dent like Neptune ; the same figure is seen on the coins of Ashqeldn. From the two forms Itanos and It6nos, we get first nocri5*lTavo? = Hoo-otSav, Hoo-ctSav and then HoVis "Irtovos = Hoo-ctSwi/, /. which records that Eumolpus, in disputing the rule of Athens with Erechtheus, claimed that Poseidon had possessed it before Athena. Miss Harrison, however, has since changed her view and now thinks that Athena was there first. ** Miss Harrison (1. c.) ventures the assertion that one of the names of Poseidon was Erechtheus. Mr. Farnell thinks^ that *' Erechtheus was a figure that personified the ancient birth and growth of the state, and his cult was the heart of the city's life " He furthermore adds, - The fair interpretation of all the evidence IS that she (Athena) was there very long before Poseidon came Nor is there any evidence that Poseidon was called 'Epcx^ci^s in his own right or anywhere else except at Athens, for the men- tion in Homer of a King Erichthonius, son of Dardanos, ' richest of mortal men, who owned mares that Boreas loved' (II Y •Semitic Influence in Greek Mythology, p. 48. *» Mythology and Monuments, p. lix. i^lTJ* T" ""^ ^^*^^^^«y ^^ Monuments, Miss Harrison writes that a looked ohve on the Acropolis and a salt-spring were enough to start the myth The cause seems to me to reach a little further. These two obiect^ merely made the story local on the Acropolis. ^ - Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion, p. 303. Quoted on p. 10. 'Cults of the Greek States, vol. i, p. 270 and Note a. Erichthonius and the Three Daughters of Cecrops. 13 222) is too doubtful to be called evidence. If Erechtheus was the old agricultural god or hero of Attica, who afterwards lent his name to Poseidon, we can understand why he should be buried, as Dionysos and Adonis and other divinities of vegetation were ; but why should he be buried if he were Poseidon ? " There can be no doubt that Poseidon took the name of Erechtheus for himself at some period, and this is a thread of evidence showing that the two divinities were considered identi- cal. The evidence found in Hesychius (s. v. 'Epcx^cvs)", in I^y- cophron (158, 431)*', in ApoUodorus (iii, 15, i)^» and in inscriptions (C. I. A., i, 387^; iii, 2j6'\ 805^^ shows this. As one entered the Erechtheum there was an altar for sacrifices to both Poseidon and Erechtheus. The Boutadae, an agricult- ural clan at Athens, who had charge of the worship of Erech- theus, became priests of Poseidon- Erechtheus (Pans, i, 26, 5)*'. Erechtheus is a form of Erichthonius and so in a way is the child of Athena. ApoUodorus (iii, 15, i)^ writes that Butes was the first priest of Athena and Poseidon-Erichthonius. We know from Aeschines (Parapres., i^'jf^ that the priestess of Athena Polias was chosen from the tribe of Eteoboutadae. I cannot enter into the argument here, but it will serve merely to suggest that the mythological relation between Athena and Erichthonius is shown in the junction of the worships of Poseidon and Athena in the Erechtheum on the Acropolis (Pans., i, 26, 6-7 )*\ and also at Colonnus, where Poseidon Hippius and Athena Hippia were worshipped together (Pans, i, 30, 4)*^. Again as father of Theseus and Eumolpus*, Poseidon is represented as an alien god. This Eumolpus is probably only another form of the foreign sea-god. Miss Harrison*' writes that Erichthonius, or rather Erechtheus, when properly reborn, could be ''made to fight with his sea-god double, Eumolpus. '* I^t us examine the statement that Erechtheus is a form of Erichthonius. Mr. Farnell (1. c, p. 271) thinks that Erechtheus » Pans, i, 17. 3*9 ;|i, 38, 2» ; Apollod. iii, 15, 4« ; Lycurg. ^\ ^ Mythology and Monuments, p. lix. 14 Erichthonms and the Three Daiighters of Cecrops, is the double of Erichthonius. Mr. Brown (1. c, p. loi) speaks of • ' Erichthonios, otherwise Erechtheus, representative of the native Attic race." Hesychius (s. v. 'Epcx^ci^s)" records that Erichthonius was an epithet of Poseidon. Etymologicum Mag- num (s. V. ^p^x^€.