Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/62

Rh 48 ERICHTHONIUS. as helmsman. (Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 135, ii. 896.) When the Argonauts took part in the fu- neral games which Hypsipyle celebrated at Lem- nos in honour of her father Thoas, Erginus also contended for a prize ; but he was ridiculed by the Lemnian women, because, though still young, he had grey hair. However, he conquered the sons of Boreas in the foot-race. (Find. 01. iv. 29, &c., with the Schol.) Later traditions represent our Erginus as a Milesian and a son of Poseidon. (Apollon. Rhod. i. 185, &c. ; Orph. Argon. 150 ; Apollod. i. 9. § 16 ; Hygin. Fab. 14 ; comp. Mul- ler, OrcJiom. p. 1 79, &c. 2nd edit.) [L. S.] ERGI'NUS ('EpTivos), a Syrian Greek, who betrayed the citadel of Corintli into the hands of Aratus, by informing him of a secret path by which it was accessible. For this service he re- ceived 60 talents from Aratus. At a subsequent period he made an attempt to surprise the Peiraeeus, in order to free the Atlienians from the yoke of Antigonus Gonatas : but failed in the enterprise, which was disavowed by Aratus. (Plut. Ar'at. cc. 18—22,33.) [E. H. B.] ERIBOEA {"El€oia). There are three mythical personages of this name. One was the wife of Aloeus (Hom. //. v. 385, &c.), the second the wife of Telamon (Soph. Ajax, 562; Find. Isthm. vi. 42), and the third an Amazon. (Diod. iv. 16.) [L.S.J ERTBO'TES ('EptgwTTjs), the son of Teleon, was one of the Argonauts, and appears to have acted as surgeon, as he is represented as attending on Oileus when he was wounded. (Apollon. Rhod. Argon, i. 73, ii. 1040 ; Hygin. Fab. 14 ; Valer. Flacc. Argon-) [ W. A. G.] ERICHTHO'NIUS {'Epixe6pios). 1. There can be little doubt but that the names Erichthonius and p]rechtheus are identical ; but whether the two heroes mentioned by Plato, Hyginus, and Apollodorus, the one of whom is usually called Erichthonius or Erechtheus L and the other Erech- theus II., are likewise one and the same person, as MuUer {Orchom. p. 117, 2d edit.) and others think, is not so certain, though highl}^ probable. Homer (//. ii. 547, &c., Od. vii, 81) knows only .one Erechtheus, as an autochthon and king of Athens ; and the first writer who distinguishes two person- ages is Plato. {Crit. p. 110, a.) The story of Erichthonius is related thus: When Hephaestus wished to embrace Athena, and the goddess re- pulsed him, he became by Ge or by Atthis, the daughter of Cranaus, the father of a son, who had either completely or only half the form of a ser- pent. Athena reared this being without the know- ledge of the other gods, had him guarded by a dragon, and then entrusted him to Agraulos, Pan- drosos, and Herse, concealed in a chest, and for- bade them to open it. (Hygin. Poe^. Astr. ii. 13.) But this command was neglected ; and on opening the chest and seeing the child in the form of a ser- pent, or entwined by a serpent, they were seized with madness, and threw themselves down the rock of the acropolis, or, according* to others, into the sea. The serpent escaped into the shield of Atliena, and was protected by her. (Apollod. iii. 14. § 6; Hygin. Fab. 166; Paus, i. 2. § 5, 18. § 2; Eurip. /o«, 260, &c. ; Ov. Met. ii. 554.) When I'lrichthonius had grown up, he expelled Amphic- tyon, and usurped the government of Athens, and kis wife Pasithea bore him a son Pandion. (Apol- lod. /. c.) He is said to have introduced the wop- ship of Athena, to have instituted the festival of ERIDANUS. the Panathenaea, and to have built a temple of Athena on the acropolis. When Atliena and Po- seidon disputed about the possession of Attica, Erichthonius declared in favour of Athena. (Apol- lod. iii. 14. $ I.) He was further the first who used a chariot with four horses, for which reason he was placed among the stars as auriga (Hygin. P. A. I.e.; Virg. Georg. i. 205, iii. 113; Aelian, V. II. iii. 38); and lastly, he was believed to have made the Atlienians acquainted with the use of silver, which had been discoveredr by the Scythian king Indus. (Hygin. Fab. 274.) He was buried in the temple of Athena, and his worship on the acropolis was connected with that of Athena and Poseidon. (Apollod. iii. 14. §6; Serv. ad Aen. vii. 761.) His famous temple, the Erechtheium, stood on the acropolis, and in it there were three altars, one of Poseidon, on which sacrifices were offered to Erechtheus also, the second of Butes, and the third of Hephaestus. (Paus. i, 26. § 6.) Erechtheus II., as he is called, is described as a grandson of the first, and as a son of Pandion by Zeuxippe, so that he was a brother of Butes, Procne, and Philomela. (Apollod. iii. 14. §8; Paus. i. 5, § 3.) After his father's death, he suc- ceeded him as king of Athens, and was regarded in later times as one of the Attic eponymi. He was married to Praxithea, by whom lie became the father of Cecrops, Pandoros, Metion, Orneus, Procris, Creusa, Chthonia, and Oreithyia. (Apol- lod. iii. 15. § 1 ; Paus. ii. 25. § 5; Ov. Met. vi. 676.) His four daughters, whose names and whose stories differ very much in the ditFerent tra- ditions, agreed among themselves to die all together, if one of them was to die. When Eumolpus, the son of Poseidon, whose assistance the Eleusinians had called in against the Athenians, had been killed by the latter, Poseidon or an oracle demand-r ed the sacrifice of one of the daughters of Erecli- theus. When one was drawn by lot, the others voluntarily accompanied her in death, and Erech- theus himself was killed by Zeus with a flash of lightning at the request of Poseidon. (Apollod. iii. 15. M; Hygin. Fab. 46, 238 ; Plut. Parali. (h: et Rom. 20.) In his war with the Eleusinians, he is also said to have killed Immaradus, the son of Eumolpus. (Paus. i. 5. § 2 •, comp. Agraulos.) According to Diodorus (i. 29), Erechtheus was an Egyptian, who during a famine brought corn to Athens, instituted the worship of Demeter, and the Eleusinian mysteries. 2. A son of Dardanus and Bateia. He was the husband of Astyoche or Caliirrhoe, and father of Tros or Assaracus, and the wealthiest of all mortals, for 3000 mares grazed in his fields, which were so beautiful, that Boreas fell in love with them. He is mentioned also among the kings of Crete. (Hom. II. XX. 220, &c. ; Apollod. iii. 12. § 2 ; Dionys. i. 62 ; Ov. Fast. iv. 33 ; Serv. ad Aen. viii. ] 30 ; Strab. xiii. p. 604.) [L. S.J ERI'DANUS ('HpISavos), a river god, a son of Oceanus and Tethys, and father of Zeuxippe. (He- siod. Theog. 338 ; Hygin. Fah. 14.) He is called the king of rivers, and on its banks amber was found. (Virg. Georg. i. 482 ; Ov. Met. ii. 324.) In Homer the name does not occur, and the first writer who mentions it is Hesiod. Herodotus (iii. 15) declares the name to be barbarous, and the inven- tion of some poet. (Comp. Strab. v. p. 215.) The position which the ancient poets assign to the river Eridaniis ditfered at different times. [L. S.]