Page:Greek and Roman Mythology.djvu/40

 26 GREEK AND ROMAN MYTHOLOGY 38. To agriculture especially is to be referred the myth of the serpent-formed Erichthonius, or Erechtheus. These two names at Athens stood originally for the same person, and really represented the seed corn grow- ing up out of the lap of the earth (their mother Gaea), under the protection of Athena, the goddess of the thunderstorm, and her maidservants, the dew sisters Aglauros (' the one living in the open air ? ), Herse ('dew'), and Pandrosos ('dew'). The father of both Erichthonius and Erechtheus is Hephaestus, the god of the thunderstorm, who during the spring storms cleaves the hard crust of the earth and fertilizes it. It was sup- posed to be in his honor and that of Athena that the very ancient ChalJceia (' forge festival ') had been instituted, at which the invention of the plow and the birth of Erech- theus were celebrated. Erichthonius and Erechtheus came at length to be distinguished. The latter was considered a national god living in a cave on the Acrop- olis, and, still later, as a king of Athens. The dew sisters now appear under various names as his daughters. In the Erechtheum he was worshiped as a hero in the form of a serpent, in connection with the worship of Athena and Poseidon. As the protecting goddess of agri- culture Athena was honored also by sacred plowings at the foot of the Acropolis in the beginning of seedtime, and especially at the old harvest festival of the Pana- thenaia from the 24th to the 29th of Hecatombaion (beginning of August), a festival which from the time of Pisistratus was observed every fifth year with special splendor. A torch race, prize contests for musicians and dancers, and races between ships of war were arranged for these occasions. The chief day of the festival was