Cecrops

Cēcrops, ŏpis, m., = Κέκροψ,

• the most ancient king of Attica, who went there from the Egyptian Sais, and was founder of the citadel of Athens (which is hence called Cecropia; v. infra), Hyg. Fab. 48 and 158; Cic. Leg. 2, 25, 63; Plin. 7, 56, 57, § 194; acc. to the fable, half man and half serpent; hence, geminus, Ov. M. 2, 555.—
• II Hence,
• • A Cēcrŏpĭus, a, um, adj.
  • • 1 Of or pertaining to Cecrops, Cecropian; and subst.: Cēcrŏpĭa, ae, f., the citadel of Athens, built by Cecrops, Plin. 7, 56, 57, § 194: arx, Ov. M. 6, 70; 15, 427.—Hence, meton. for Athens, Cat. 64, 79.—Far more freq.,
    • 2 Pertaining to Athens or Attica, Athenian, Attic: fines, the Attic territory, Lucr. 6, 1139 Lachm.: coloni, Prop. 2 (3), 33, 29: Eumolpus (born at Athens), Ov. M. 11, 93: thymus, Verg. G. 4, 270: apes, id. ib. 4, 177; Mart. 9, 14: mel, id. 13, 24: cothurnus, tragedy, which was native to Athens, Hor. C. 2, 1, 12: domūs opprobrium (on account of Procne, the daughter of the Athenian king Pandion; cf. Atthis), id. ib. 4, 12, 6: fides, i.e. the fidelity of the friends Theseus and Pirithous, Stat. S. 2, 6, 55: dote madent pectora, full of Athenian wisdom, Mart. 7, 69, 2; cf. id. 1, 40.—
  • B Cēcrŏpĭdes, ae, m., a male descendant of Cecrops; voc. Cecropidā (i. e. Theseus), Ov. M. 8, 550.—Appel. for one of noble descent, Juv. 8, 46 sq.—Plur.: Cē-crŏpĭdae, ārum, Athenians, Ov. M. 7, 486; 7, 502; Mart. Cap. 4, § 424; 9, § 888.—
  • C Cēcrŏpĭs, ĭdis (dat. plur. Cecropidis, Lact. 1, 17, 14; voc. Cecropĭ, Ov. H. 10, 100), f., a female descendant of Cecrops; so his daughter Aglauros, Ov. M. 2, 806; cf. id. ib. 2, 797.—Adj.: ales, i.e. Procne, Ov. Am. 3, 12, 32: virgines, Lact. 1, 17, 14.—In plur., Procne and Philomele, daughters of Pandion, Ov. M. 6, 667.—Also,
  • • 2 An Athenian woman, Juv. 6, 187; and adj. for Attic, of Attica: terra, Ov. H. 10, 100.

Cecrops, opis, m. (Κέκροψ), der älteste König in Attika, Gründer der Burg von Athen, Hyg. fab. 48 u. 158: dem Mythus nach halb Mensch u. halb Schlange, dah. geminus, Ov. met. 2, 555. – Dav.: A) Cecropidēs, ae, m. (Κεκροπίδης), ein Cekropide (= Nachkomme des Cekrops), v. Theseus, Ov. met., 8, 550 (wo Vok. Cecropida). – appell. = ein »Altadeliger, einer von altem Geschlecht«, ast ego Cecropides, Iuven. 8, 46. – Plur. Cecropidae, ārum, m. (wie Κεκροπίδαι), die »Athener«, Verg. Aen. 6, 21. Ov. fast. 3, 81; met. 7, 502 (wo Genet. Cecropidûm). Mart. Cap. 4. § 424 u. 9. § 888. – B) Cecropis, pidis, f. (Κεκροπίς), eine Cekropide = a) ein weiblicher Nachkomme des Cekrops, wie dessen Tochter Aglauros, Ov. met. 2, 806: Pandions Töchter Prokne u. Philomele, Ov. met. 6, 667. – b) eine Athenerin, Iuven. 6, 186. – adi. cekropisch, ales, Prokne, Ov. am. 3, 12, 33: tres virgines, Lact. 1, 17, 14 (wo heterokl. Dat. Cecropidis): terra, Attika, Ov. her. 10, 100 (wo Vok. Cecropi). – C) Cecropius, a, um (Κεκρόπιος), a) cekropisch, Cecr. arx u. subst. bl. Cecropia, ae, f. (Κεκροπία), die von Cekrops erbaute Burg von Athen, Ov. met. 6, 70. Plin. 7, 194; dah. meton. = Athen, Catull. 64, 79. – b) häufiger attisch, fines, Attika, Lucr.: insula, Attika, Plaut.: Eumolpus (zu Athen geboren), Ov.: apes, Verg.: vates, Ov.: cothurnus, der Stil der in Athen heimischen Tragödie, Hor.: Cecropiae domus opprobrium (v. der Prokne, der Tochter des athenischen Königs Pandion), Hor.: fides, die Treue der Freunde Theseus u. Pirithous, Stat.: cuius Cecropiā voce madent pectora, voll attischer Weisheit, Mart.

Cĕcrops, (15) ŏpis, m. (Κέκροψ), Cécrops, [premier roi dʼAthènes] : Ov. M. 2, 555.

Cecrops

(Κέκροψ), according to Apollodorus (3.14.1, &c.) the first king of Attica, which derived from him its name Cecropia, having previously borne the name of Acte. He is described as an autochthon, and is accordingly called a γηγενής, the upper part of whose body was human, while the lower was that of a dragon. Hence he is called διφυής or geminus. (Hyg. Fab. 48; Ant. Lib. 6; Diod. 1.28; Aristoph. Wasps 438; Ov. Met. 2.555.) Some ancients referred the epithet διφυής to marriage, of which tradition made him the founder. He was married to Agraulos, the daughter of Actaeus, by whom he had a son, Erysichthon, and three daughters, Agraulos, Herse, and Pandrosos. (Apollod. l.c.; Paus. 1.2.5.) In his reign Poseidon called forth with his trident a well on the acropolis, which was known in later times by the name of the Erechthean well, from its being enclosed in the temple of Erechtheus. (Paus. 1.26.6; Hdt. 8.55.) The marine god now wanted to take possession of the country; but Athena, who entertained the same desire, planted an olivetree on the hill of the acropolis, which continned to be shewn at Athens down to the latest times ; and as she had taken Cecrops as her witness while she planted it, he decided in her favour when the possession of Attica was disputed between her and Poseidon, who had no witness to attest that he had created the well. Cecrops is represented in the Attic legends as the author of the first elements of civilized life, such as marriage, the political division of Attica into twelve communities, and also as the introducer of a new mode of worship, inasmuch as he abolished the bloody sacrifices which had until then been offered to Zeus, and substituted cakes (πέλανοι) in their stead. (Paus. 8.2.1; Strab. ix. p.397; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1156.) The name of Cecrops occurs also in other parts of Greece, especially where there existed a town of the name of Athenae, such as in Boeotia, where he is said to have founded the ancient towns of Athenae and Eleusis on the river Triton, and where he had a heroum at Haliartus. Tradition there called him a son of Pandion. (Paus. 9.33.1; Strab. ix. p.407.) In Euboea, which had likewise a town Athenae, Cecrops was called a son of Erechtheus and Praxithea, and a grandson of Pandion. (Apollod. 3.15. §§ 1, 5; Paus. 1.5.3.) From these traditions it appears, that Cecrops must be regarded as a hero of the Pelasgian race; and Müller justly remarks, that the different mythical personages of this name connected with the towns in Boeotia and Euboea are only multiplications of the one original hero, whose name and story were transplanted from Attica to other places. The later Greek writers describe Ceerops as having immigrated into Greece with a band of colonists from Sais in Egypt. (Diod. 1.29; Schol. ad Arist. Plut. 773.) But this account is not only rejected by some of the ancients themselves, but by the ablest critics of modern times. (Müller, Orchom. p. 123; Thirlwall, Greece, i. p. 66, &c.) [L.S]

Cecrops

(Κέκρωψ). A hero of the Pelasgic race, said to have been the first king of Attica. He was married to Agraulos, daughter of Actaeus, by whom he had a son, Erysichthon, who succeeded him as king of Athens, and three daughters, Agraulos, Hersé, and Pandrosos. In his reign Poseidon and Athené contended for the possession of Attica, but Cecrops decided in favour of the goddess. Cecrops is said to have founded Athens—the citadel of which was called Cecropia, after him—to have divided Attica into twelve communities, and to have introduced the first elements of civilized life. (See Athenae.) He instituted marriage, abolished bloody sacrifices, and taught his subjects how to worship the gods. The later Greek writers describe Cecrops as a native of Saïs in Egypt, who led a colony of Egyptians into Attica, and thus introduced from Egypt the arts of civilized life; but this account is rejected by some of the ancients themselves, and by the ablest modern critics.