[Greek heroic] Erichthonius - the Athenian mythical king According to the tradition the parents of Erichthonius were Hephaestus, the god of fire and smithies and Gaia, the goddess of the earth. Apollodoros was describing a story about Hephaestus and his strange encounter with Athena, when he tried to rape her. He was not successful, but from sperma-impregnated earth Erichthonius was born. Because Gaia did not like such a situation, she did not want this child and so Athena took care of Erichthonius. She brought him within a closed basket into the sanctuary of the Athenian Acropolis and insisted to her priestesses - Aglauros, Herse and Pandrosos, the daughters of the first Athenian king Cecrops - not to open the basket. Once, when Athena was absent, while bringing from the peninsula Pallena a mountain for the Acropolis, her orders were broken. Pausanias noticed, that Pandrosos obeyed, but her sisters were curious and opened the chest or basket with Erichthonius. Unfortunately, one crow saw th...
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