The Royal
House Of Athens The Royal
House Of Athens
There is not just one story involved around The Royal House of Athens. Instead, it is numerous stories about the people in the Royal House of Athens. The king, was Cecrops. He chose Athena over Poseidon to be the God and protector of the city. This king was often depicted as half-serpent, but others said he was all human. At any rate, he was the great-grandfather of the famous Theseus. His sisters were Procne and Philomela who had an unfortunate life. Procne, the oldest of the two, was married to Theseus. It seemed that Theseus has too many detestable qualities. Procne requested, to see her sister Philomela. Theseus agreed to let her come. As soon as Theseus set eyes on Philomela, he wanted to marry her. He told Philomela that Procne had died and asked her to marry him. Soon, Philomela found out the truth and threatened Theseus. Theseus cut out her tongue and imprisoned her. Procne never found out about this. Over the years, Philomela embroided a tapestry that told her sister and had it delivered to Procne. Procne was outraged and killed her son that was so much like her father. When Theseus found out, he tried to kill both the sisters, but the Gods changed them into birds. The niece of these two sisters was Procris who married Cephalus. They were happy until Aurora, the Goddess of the Dawn, took away Cephalus. Cephalus would not love Aurora. Aurora then retorted by saying that Procris didn't love him. Cephalus went back disguised, and try to love Procris as another man. He tried very hard until Procris had a hint like she liked him as the disguised man. This made him angry, but then he realized she still had been faithful. They were happy together again for a while. Procris gave Cephalus a javelin, because he loved to hunt. One day while hunting, Cephalus heard a noise and threw his javelin. He went to see what he hit and he had hit Procris and killed her. A sister of Procris, Orithyia, also had a story to tell. Boreas, the north wind fell in love with Orithyia. The people opposed this, because of where Boreas came from. They would not let them get married. So one day Boreas just swept her away. Creüsa was another sister of Orithyia and Procris. One day the God, Apollo forced her to have a child with her. This was humiliating to her. She left the child for death, because the punishment for having a child like this could be severe. She would often have guilt. Later years, when she was married, she went to a shrine to the God of wisdom to see what had happened to her son. There she met a priest. It was revealed that he was her son. Apollo, the father, told her to make the son king of the city where they live. These are just some of the stories of the People in the Royal House of Athens.
The most common version of the story is that Poseidon attempted to impress Cecrops by causing a spring to flow out of barren rock. Cecrops was impressed until Athena caused an olive tree to grow next to the spring. Because the olive was such an important crop (as both a fuel and a food source), he chose Athena, hence the name Athens. Another story is Cecrops was king of Athens when the city was forced to choose between Athena and Poseidon. The men all voted for Poseidon and the women for Athena, and since there were more women than men, Athena won. The city became known as Athens. However, to appease Poseidon, the men decided to deprive women of the rights to vote and forbid children to bear their mother's names.
Cecrops was the first king of Attica. He did not have any human ancestors and he, himself, was half-serpent. He is held responsible for Athena becoming the protector of the city. Because of his choice of Athena over Poseidon, Poseidon was angry with Cecrops. He would often send floods to the city as punishment. Others stories say the Cecrops was just an ordinary man. He was the son of Erechtheus of Athens, whose reign is said to have begun agriculture
Procne and Philomela were sisters. The elder of the two, was Procne, who married Tereus of Trace. Tereus seemed to be a man that had all the detestable qualities. The two had a son, named Itys. Five years after the birth of their first son, Procne begged Tereus to let her see her family of whom she had been isolated from. He reluctantly agreed and decided to go with Procne. As soon as Tereus layed eyes on Philomela, he fell in love with her. He thought she was as beautiful as a Nymph. Tereus told Philomela that he had received news of Procne's death and forced her into a pretended marriage. Soon Philomela found out the truth. This angered her and she threatened to tell the world and make Tereus and outcast among men. This brough fury and fear to Tereus. He cut her tongue off so she could not tell anyone, and left her in a heavily guarded place. He told Procne that she had died along the road. In those days people could not write so Philomela's case looked hopeless. Back in those times the only thing she could do is draw. She decided to weave her story. She was so good that her finished product told of what had happened to her. She had an old lady deliver it to Procne. This outraged Procne. She first freed Philomela. She then saw her child. How much he seemed like her father and she killed her. She served him up to Tereus at dinner that night. Later she told him what she had done. For a moment he could not move, and the sisters started to run. He later chased them down and was about to kill them when the Gods changed them all into birds. Procne felt bad about what she had done to her son. Procne became the nightingale who sang the saddest story of all. Philomela became a swallow who can never sing, but can only twitter. Tereus became an ugly hawk.
The niece of these sisters was Procris. Procris was married happily to Cephalus, the grandson to Aeolus, the King of the Winds. Cephalus was a hunter and loved to get up early to hunt. Here, Aurora, the Goddess of the Dawn fell in love with him. Procris and Cephalus had only been married a couple of weeks when Aurora took Cephalus away. Even with all her tricks, the beautiful and radiant goddess could not get him to love her. Annoyed at his devotion, Aurora told Cephalus he could go back, but his wife probably wasn't even faithful. This made Cephalus go mad with jealousy. He decided that she was so beautiful and he could never satisfy himself until he had totally proved that she was faithful unto him. He disguised himself and went into his household. Here he found that he was missed and that Procris desperately wanted him back. He still did not give up his plans. He would try passionately to make her love him as a stranger. He would try to make love to her. He would try everything in his power. She would only say that she was faithful to her Cephalus. One day he went overboard. He tried petitions, persuasions, and promises. For a moment she did not strongly oppose him, but didn't love him either. He became enraged. "O false and shameless woman, I am your husband. By my own witness you are a traitor!" she looked at him, and her love turned to hate. How cruel he had been to do this. She ran away into the mountains. Realizing his error, and how senseless he had really been he ran after. He tried to make it up to her. After a while, they got back together again. They had some happy years together. Procris gave Cephalus a javelin that always hit its target. One day, hunting together, they separated to hunt game. Cephalus heard some noise in the bushes and threw his javelin. He went to see his prey when he saw that it was Procris dead, pierced in the heart.
One of the sisters of Procris was Orithyia. Boreas, the North Wind, fell in love with her. The only problem was that Erechtheus, his father, and the people of Athens opposed this relationship. They did this because of Procne's and Philomela's sad fate. The evil Tereus had come from the north, where Boreas was from. The people now had a hate for all the people of the North. The people were foolish to think that they could keep away from the North Wind what he wanted. One day, he swept her away from the banks of the river and kept her forever. While walking along, a pupil of Socrates asked where he thought this had taken place. Socrates said he thought it was a fictional story only.
Creüsa and Ion
Creüsa was the sister of Orithyia and Procris. She too was an unfortunate women. One day, when she was still a child, she was out in the fields picking flowers. She was about to turn home when a man appeared out of nowhere. He was a handsome man, and was Apollo himself. She screamed, but he still carried her off to a dark cave. Even though he was a god, she hated him. When the baby was born, he gave her no assistance. The bottom line was that she could be killed for having a baby. Under these circumstances, she left him the baby in the cave to die. Years later, out of sorrow and curiosity, she went back to see what had happened of the baby. There were no bloodstains on the cave. A wild animal had at least not eaten him. The strange thing was the clothes she gave to him where gone. She determined that a great bird must have taken him away. Her father gave Xuthus, a man who had helped him in the war, Creüsa's hand in marriage. Xuthus was a foreigner. They wanted desperately to have a child, although they could not. They decided to go to Delphi, the city to go when in need of something. Creüsa left her husband in the city to go the shrine. There she met a boy, who was young as the gatekeeper. She wondered at why such a young boy was in charge of the holy of holies. She asked him where he came from. He said that he did not though, but the people of the temple found him lying on the stairs and raised him up. He was proud that he did not serve men, but gods. She began to cry. The boy asked her why she was because Delphi was the city where pilgrims came to rejoice. She told him that she had come to find out what had happened to a baby she had known while her husband looked for a child. She told the story of how Apollo had came and had a child with her. The boy grew angry and said that it was not true, that Apollo would not do that. She replied that she was positive. The boy said she must not try to made Apollo a villain. Xuthus then came and told Ion that he was his son. This made Creüsa mad that some unknown child was to be there son. Ion gave Xuthus a strange look. Creüsa then saw the clothes that she had given in to her son that she thought was dead. Ion was her son. She hugged him, but he backed away angrily. Pallas Athena came in a vision and revealed the story. After this Creüsa hugged each other with perfect joy. It was declared that Ion was to be a king.
Apollo - He was the son of Zeus and Leto. Born on the island of Delos. Many call him the most Greek of all gods. He delights the Olympians by playing his golden lyre. Apollo is primarily the god of prophecy and vaticination, but as a seer he is the patron of poetry and music and the leader of the Muses . As a prophet and magician, he is the patron of medicine and healing. Apollo's second temple was built by bees.
Ares - Ares, the Greek
god of war, is tall and handsome, but was as vain and as cruel as his brother
Hephaestus was kind. His sister Eris , the goddess of strife, is his constant
companion, but he is also attended by his sons Deimos and Phobos, as well as
Enyo, an old war-goddess. When Ares heard the clashing of arms, he grinned with
glee, at his heels, were Pain, Panic, Famine and Oblivion. Once in a while,
Ares was wounded. He was immortal but whenever he would get hurt he would run
back to his father, Zeus and was healed. Needless to say, Zeus was very disgusted
with his son. Ares was mainly worshipped in Thracia, a region known for its
fierce people.
Athena
- Sprang out of Zeus's head full grown, and in full armor. She was the Goddess
of the city of Athens. She beat Poseidon in a vote to be leader of the city.
The enraged him, so he would often flood the city.
Aurora - Was the Goddess of the Dawn. She fell in love with Cephalus. Cephalus remained faithful to his wife and would not love her. This angered her so she told Cephalus that his wife probably wasn't even true to him.
Boreas -
Was one of the four chief Winds. He was the north wind. He was not allowed to
marry his love, Orithyia, so he swept her away. He was the North Wind. The Greek
god of the North Wind who lived in Thrace. He is depicted as being winged, extremely
strong, bearded and normally clad in a short pleated tunic. He is the son of
Eos and Astraeus, and the brother of Zephyrus, Eurus and Notus . Boreas has
two sons, two daughters and twelve mares which can race over the ground without
destroying the grain. When the Persian navy of Xerxes threatened the city of
Athens, the Athenians begged his assistance. The Great Wind of the Wintery North
blew his anger at the Persians and 400 Persian ships sank immediately. In Latin,
he is called Aquilo.
Cecrops - Cecrops (or Kekrops) was the legendary king of Athens (originally Attica) who was forced to choose between Athena and Poseidon as the patron deity of his city. He is often depicted as half-serpent.
Cephalus -
He was a beautiful youth that loved manly sports. He loved and married Procris
who was the favorite of the Goddess Diana. Finally in the end he made the mistake
of throwing his javelin at the sound of sobbing. It turned out it was his wife.
Creüsa - She was the sister of Procris and Orithyia. She also had an unfortunate life. A god came and made her have a child with her. She could tell no one of this. She left the child for dead, but later finds him. We never know what happens after that.
Erechtheus - King Erechtheus of Athens is said to be the king of when agriculture began. His two sisters were Procne and Philomela. His children were Cecrops, Orithyia, Creüsa, and Procris.
Ion - Was the son of Creüsa and Apollo and was a priest to the shrine of Apollo. It is later declared to him who his mother is and his father, Apollo demands that he rules the city where they live.
Orithyia - Daughter of Erechtheus and the niece of Philomela and Procne. Boreas wanted to marry her, but the people opposed it, but Boreas would have his way. He swept her up and took her away.
Ovid - He was
a Latin poet who wrote during the reign of Augustus. Most books of classical
mythology depend mainly on him. No ancient writer is thought to be as talented
as him in this regard. He told many stories of great length through literature
and art.
Phaedrus - He was a real Greek person. He was a pupil of Socrate's and would often think about mythological tales.
Poseidon -
Was the ruler of the sea and was second in power only to his brother Zeus. He
often carried with him his famous trident, a three pronged spear, which could
shake or shatter whatever he pleased. His wife was Amphitrite, who was the grand-daughter
of the Titan Ocean. He gave the first horse to man and storm and calm were under
his control.
Procris - Was the wife of Cephalus. Cephalus was taken by Aurora who said that Procris was not faithful. He tested her, but was too jealous so got mad at her even though she was faithful. Eventually they got back together and had some happy years together. She gave her husband a javelin that would pierce whatever he threw it at. One day while hunting, Cephalus accidently speared her down in the heart.
Philomela -
Philomela was the sister of Procne. Tereus was married to Procne, but saw Philomela
and fell in love with her. He tried to trick Philomela into marrying him, but
she wouldn't and told him she would humiliate him among men. He cut off her
tongue and imprisoned her. She was eventually freed and turned into a swallow.
Procne - Sister of Philomela who had an unfaithful husband, Tereus. She got so mad at him that she killed her son because he was so much like her father. She fed it to Tereus and later told him what she had done. He tried to kill her, but she was turned into a nightingale. She has the saddest song of all because she killed her son.
Socrates - He was a great Athenian teacher. He lived hundreds to perhaps thousands of years after the Mythological tales were told. He often doubted the truthfulness of these tales.
Tereus - Was
ths husband of Procne who sought after Philomela. Philomela threatened him and
so he cut out her tongue and imprisoned her. While trying to kill Procne and
Philomela, he was changed into a hawk.
Xuthus - Was a leader of a foreign land that helped Erechtheus in a war. In return Erechtheus gave his daughter, Creüsa, to Xuthus to marry. They lived in Athens where he was a stranger. He longed for a son, and eventually found Creüsa's long lost son Ion, whose father was Apollo. He claimed Ion as his own son.
Procris and Cephalus together in the woods
Procne and Philomela
Edith Hamilton's Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes of Mythology, Chapter 19
http://www.pantheon.org/mythica/
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