Cecrops
Cecrops was believed to be the living spirit of the guardian snake of the city. The snake was kept at the Erechtheum, a temple housing the cult statue of Athena Polias, the mark of Poseidon Erechtheus' Trident and the salt spring, the sacred olive tree that sprouted when Athena struck the rock with her spear, and the burial places of Athens first two kings, Cecrops and Erechtheus.
↻ synthesized from 3 sources
When
- First attested
- 1550 BCE
- Attested period
- -1550 – 2020
- Historical notes
- Cecrops is said to have ruled Athens c. 1556–1506 BCE.
Relationships
- manifests as
- guardian snake of the city
- co occurs with
- Cephalus, Hermes, Poseidon, Hekate, Athena Polias
- sibling of
- Procris, Pandorus, Metion, Orneus, Thespius, Eupalamus, Sicyon, Creusa, Oreithyia, Chthonia, Protogeneia, Pandora, Merope
- child of
- Pandion, Erechtheus, Praxithea
Mentioned by
Sources
Source passages
“The snake was believed to be the living spirit of King Cecrops.”
#20117 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Procris's sisters were Creusa, Oreithyia, Chthonia, Protogeneia, Pandora and Merope while her brothers were Cecrops, Pandorus, Metion, and possibly Orneus, Thespius, Eupalamus and Sicyon.”
#43414 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“The later Greek writers describe Cecrops as having immigrated into Greece with a band of colonists from Sais in Egypt.”
#46104 · extracted by openai/gpt-oss-120b:free