Aglaulus, daughter of Cecrops
Encyclopedia
Aglaulus or Agraulos was in Greek mythology
the daughter of Cecrops
and Aglaulus
, daughter of Actaeus
. She had two offspring by two different gods, Alcippe (with Ares
) and Ceryx
(with Hermes
). There were numerous versions of her myth.
"Ion"-lines 22-23; 484-485 mentions her, but in the
Moses Hadas and John Mclean 1960 Bantam Classics trans. they have Euripides
say
respectively: '(Athena) gave Erichthonius to Aglaurus' daughters (not sisters) to keep.' and
later, speaking of "a haunt of Pan
": "There the daughters of Aglaurus still tread the
measures of their dance, on the green lawns before the shrine of Pallas
(Athena)...".
According to Apollodorus
, Hephaestus
attempted to rape Athena
but was unsuccessful. His semen fell on the ground, impregnating Gaia
. Gaia didn't want the infant Erichthonius, so she gave the baby to the goddess Athena
. Athena gave the baby in a box to three women—Aglaulus and her two sisters Herse
and Pandrosus
--and warned them to never open it. Aglaulus and Herse opened the box. The sight of the infant caused them both to go insane and they threw themselves off the Acropolis
, or, according to Hyginus
, into the sea.
An alternative version of the same story is that, while Athena was gone bringing a mountain from Pallene
to use in the Acropolis, the sisters, minus Pandrosus again, opened the box. A crow witnessed the opening and flew away to tell Athena, who fell into a rage and dropped the mountain (now Mt. Lykabettos). Once again, Herse and Aglaulus went insane and threw themselves to their deaths from a cliff.
Another legend represents Agraulos in a totally different light. Athens
was at one time involved in a long and protracted war, and an oracle
declared that it would cease if someone would sacrifice himself for the good of his country. Agraulos came forward and threw herself off the Acropolis. The Athenians, in gratitude for this, built her a temple on the Acropolis, in which it subsequently became customary for the young Athenians, on receiving their first suit of armor, to take an oath that they would always defend their country to the last.
According to Ovid
, Hermes
loved Herse
but a jealous Aglaulus stood between them, barring Hermes' entry into the house, and refused to move. Hermes, outraged at her presumption, turned her to stone.
deme
s (Agraule) derived its name from this heroine, and a festival and mysteries were celebrated at Athens in honor of her. According to Porphyry
, she was also worshiped in Cyprus
, where human sacrifices were offered to her down to a very late time. Mythographers believe Aglaulus to have an origin distinct from that of her sisters, due in part to the fact that she had her own sanctuary
near the Acropolis
, and unlike her sister Pandrosus, was more associated with young men or soldiers (epheboi
) than with infants. She was particularly associated with the festival of Athena
called the Plynteria
.
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
the daughter of Cecrops
Cecrops I
Cecrops was a mythical king of Athens who is said to have reigned for fifty-six years. The name is not of Greek origin according to Strabo, or it might mean 'face with a tail': it is said that, born from the earth itself, he had his top half shaped like a man and the bottom half in serpent or...
and Aglaulus
Aglaulus
Aglaulus or Agraulos is a name attributed to three figures in Greek mythology.*Aglaulus, daughter of Actaeus, king of Athens...
, daughter of Actaeus
Actaeus
Actaeus was the first king of Attica, according to Pausanias. He was the son of Erysichthon, father of Agraulus, and father-in-law to Cecrops, the first king of the city of Athens. Actaeus is said to have ruled over a city named Acte or Akte. The location of this city is uncertain...
. She had two offspring by two different gods, Alcippe (with Ares
Ares
Ares is the Greek god of war. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. In Greek literature, he often represents the physical or violent aspect of war, in contrast to the armored Athena, whose functions as a goddess of intelligence include military strategy and...
) and Ceryx
Ceryx
In Greek mythology, Ceryx or Keryx was a son of Hermes and either Pandrosus or Agraulus. He was, like his father, a messenger of the gods....
(with Hermes
Hermes
Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...
). There were numerous versions of her myth.
Mythography
Taking the earliest first, EuripidesEuripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
"Ion"-lines 22-23; 484-485 mentions her, but in the
Moses Hadas and John Mclean 1960 Bantam Classics trans. they have Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
say
respectively: '(Athena) gave Erichthonius to Aglaurus' daughters (not sisters) to keep.' and
later, speaking of "a haunt of Pan
Pan (mythology)
Pan , in Greek religion and mythology, is the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music, as well as the companion of the nymphs. His name originates within the Greek language, from the word paein , meaning "to pasture." He has the hindquarters, legs,...
": "There the daughters of Aglaurus still tread the
measures of their dance, on the green lawns before the shrine of Pallas
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
(Athena)...".
According to Apollodorus
Apollodorus
Apollodorus of Athens son of Asclepiades, was a Greek scholar and grammarian. He was a pupil of Diogenes of Babylon, Panaetius the Stoic, and the grammarian Aristarchus of Samothrace...
, Hephaestus
Hephaestus
Hephaestus was a Greek god whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan. He is the son of Zeus and Hera, the King and Queen of the Gods - or else, according to some accounts, of Hera alone. He was the god of technology, blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals, metallurgy, fire and volcanoes...
attempted to rape Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
but was unsuccessful. His semen fell on the ground, impregnating Gaia
Gaia (mythology)
Gaia was the primordial Earth-goddess in ancient Greek religion. Gaia was the great mother of all: the heavenly gods and Titans were descended from her union with Uranus , the sea-gods from her union with Pontus , the Giants from her mating with Tartarus and mortal creatures were sprung or born...
. Gaia didn't want the infant Erichthonius, so she gave the baby to the goddess Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
. Athena gave the baby in a box to three women—Aglaulus and her two sisters Herse
Herse
Herse is a figure in Greek mythology, daughter of Cecrops, sister to Aglauros and Pandrosos.According to Apollodorus, when Hephaestus unsuccessfully attempted to rape Athena, she wiped his semen off her leg with wool and threw it on the ground, impregnating Gaia...
and Pandrosus
Pandrosus
Pandrosus was a figure in Greek mythology, and a daughter of Cecrops, sister to Herse and Aglauros....
--and warned them to never open it. Aglaulus and Herse opened the box. The sight of the infant caused them both to go insane and they threw themselves off the Acropolis
Acropolis, Athens
Acropolis is a neighborhood of Athens, near the ancient monument of Acropolis, along the Dionysios Areopagitis, courier road. This neighborhood has a significant number of tourists all year round. It is the site of the Museum of Acropolis, opened in 2009....
, or, according to Hyginus
Gaius Julius Hyginus
Gaius Julius Hyginus was a Latin author, a pupil of the famous Cornelius Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was by Augustus elected superintendent of the Palatine library according to Suetonius' De Grammaticis, 20...
, into the sea.
An alternative version of the same story is that, while Athena was gone bringing a mountain from Pallene
Pallene
Pallene can refer to:* Pallene , one of the seven Alkyonides, daughters of the giant Alkyoneus in Greek mythology* Pallene , a small moon of Saturn, discovered in 2004*Pallini, a town east of Athens, Greece...
to use in the Acropolis, the sisters, minus Pandrosus again, opened the box. A crow witnessed the opening and flew away to tell Athena, who fell into a rage and dropped the mountain (now Mt. Lykabettos). Once again, Herse and Aglaulus went insane and threw themselves to their deaths from a cliff.
Another legend represents Agraulos in a totally different light. Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
was at one time involved in a long and protracted war, and an oracle
Oracle
In Classical Antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination....
declared that it would cease if someone would sacrifice himself for the good of his country. Agraulos came forward and threw herself off the Acropolis. The Athenians, in gratitude for this, built her a temple on the Acropolis, in which it subsequently became customary for the young Athenians, on receiving their first suit of armor, to take an oath that they would always defend their country to the last.
According to Ovid
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...
, Hermes
Hermes
Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...
loved Herse
Herse
Herse is a figure in Greek mythology, daughter of Cecrops, sister to Aglauros and Pandrosos.According to Apollodorus, when Hephaestus unsuccessfully attempted to rape Athena, she wiped his semen off her leg with wool and threw it on the ground, impregnating Gaia...
but a jealous Aglaulus stood between them, barring Hermes' entry into the house, and refused to move. Hermes, outraged at her presumption, turned her to stone.
Worship
One of the AtticAttica
Attica is a historical region of Greece, containing Athens, the current capital of Greece. The historical region is centered on the Attic peninsula, which projects into the Aegean Sea...
deme
Deme
In Ancient Greece, a deme or demos was a subdivision of Attica, the region of Greece surrounding Athens. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and earlier, but did not acquire particular significance until the reforms of Cleisthenes in...
s (Agraule) derived its name from this heroine, and a festival and mysteries were celebrated at Athens in honor of her. According to Porphyry
Porphyry (philosopher)
Porphyry of Tyre , Porphyrios, AD 234–c. 305) was a Neoplatonic philosopher who was born in Tyre. He edited and published the Enneads, the only collection of the work of his teacher Plotinus. He also wrote many works himself on a wide variety of topics...
, she was also worshiped in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, where human sacrifices were offered to her down to a very late time. Mythographers believe Aglaulus to have an origin distinct from that of her sisters, due in part to the fact that she had her own sanctuary
Sanctuary
A sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...
near the Acropolis
Acropolis
Acropolis means "high city" in Greek, literally city on the extremity and is usually translated into English as Citadel . For purposes of defense, early people naturally chose elevated ground to build a new settlement, frequently a hill with precipitous sides...
, and unlike her sister Pandrosus, was more associated with young men or soldiers (epheboi
Ephebos
Ephebos , also anglicised as ephebe or archaically ephebus , is a Greek word for an adolescent age group or a social status reserved for that age in Antiquity....
) than with infants. She was particularly associated with the festival of Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
called the Plynteria
Plynteria
Plynteria was a festival of ancient Greece celebrated at Athens every year, on the 22nd of Thargelion, in honor of Athena Polias, with the heroine Aglauros , whose temple stood on the Acropolis...
.