Page:History of Greece Vol I.djvu/226

 194 HISTORY OF GREECE. among their countrymen. In this way the religious and political legends of Eleusis, a town originally independent of Athens, but incorporated with it before the historical age, were worked into one continuous sequence along with those of the Erechtheids. In this way, Kekrops, the eponymous hero of the portion of Attica called Kekropia, came to be placed in the mythical chro- nology at a higher point even than the primitive god or hero Erechtheus. Ogyges is said to have reigned in Attica l 1020 years before the first Olympiad, or 1796 years B. c. In his time happened the deluge of Deukalion, which destroyed most of the inhabitants of the country : after a long interval, Kekrops, an indigenous person, half man and half serpent, is given to us by Apollodorus as the first king of the country : he bestowed upon the land, which had before been called Acte, the name of Kekropia. In his day there ensued a dispute between Athene and Poseidon respecting the possession of the acropolis at Athens, which each of them cov- eted. First, Poseidon struck the rock with his trident, and produced the well of salt water which existed in it, called the Erechtheis : next came Athene, who planted the sacred olive-tree ever afterwards seen and venerated in the portion of Erech- theion called the cell of Pandrosus. The twelve gods decided the dispute ; and Kekrops having testified before them that Athene had rendered this inestimable service, they adjudged the spot to her in preference to Poseidon. Both the ancient olive-tree and the well produced by Poseidon were seen on the acropolis, in the temple consecrated jointly to Athene and Erechtheus, throughout the historical ages. Poseidon, as a mark of his wrath for tho 1 Hellanikus, Fragm. 62 ; Philochor. Fragra. 8, ap. Euseb. Prtep. Evang. x. 10. p. 489. Larcher (Chronologic d'Herodote, ch. ix. s. 1. p. 278) treats both the historical personality and the date of Ogyges as perfectly well au- tbenticatcd. It is not probable that Philochorns should have given any calculation of time having reference to Olympiads ; and hardly conceivable that Hellani- kus should have done so. Justin Martyr quotes Hellanikus and Philochorus as having mentioned Moses, (if atyodpa ap%aiov KOI Tra7*aiov TUV 'Iov6aicji> upxovrof MwiJcrewf fiEfivrjvTcu which is still more incredible even than the assertion of Eusebius about their having fixed the date of OgygfC ly Olym- piads (see Philochor. Fragm. 9).