Before the Athenian democracy, the tyrants, and the Archons, the city-state of Athens was ruled by kings . Most of these are probably mythical or only semi-historical. The following lists contain the chronological order of the title King of Athens (also prescribed earlier as kings of Attica), a semi-mythological title.
These three kings were supposed to have ruled before the flood of Deucalion.
King | Comments | |
---|---|---|
Periphas | Turned into an eagle by Zeus | |
Ogyges [1] [2] | King of the Ectenes [3] who were the earliest inhabitants of Boeotia | |
Actaeus | Father of Agraulus, and father-in-law to Cecrops |
Other sources mentioned two other ancient rulers of Athens:
The early Athenian tradition, followed by the 3rd century BC Parian Chronicle, made Cecrops, a mythical half-man half-serpent, the first king of Athens. [5] The dates for the following kings were conjectured centuries later, by historians of the Hellenistic era who tried to backdate events by cross-referencing earlier sources such as the Parian Chronicle. Tradition says that King Menestheus took part in the Trojan War.
The following list follows that of 1st Century BC Castor of Rhodes (FGrHist 250), with Castor's dates given in modern terms. [6]
Reign | King | Comments |
---|---|---|
1556–1506 BC | Cecrops I | Born from the Earth, he married Actaeus' daughter Agraulus and succeeded him to the throne |
1506–1497 BC | Cranaus | Earth-born, deposed by Amphictyon son of Deucalion |
1497–1487 BC | Amphictyon | Either son of Deucalion or Earth-born, he deposed Cranaus and was in turn deposed by Erichthonius |
1487–1437 BC | Erichthonius | Earth-born son of Hephaestus and either Gaia, Athena or Atthis |
1437–1397 BC | Pandion I | Son of Erichthonius |
1397–1347 BC | Erechtheus | Son of Pandion I |
1347–1307 BC | Cecrops II | Son of Erechtheus; omitted in Heraclides' epitome of Aristotle's Constitution of the Athenians [7] |
1307–1282 BC | Pandion II | Son of Cecrops II |
1282–1234 BC | Aegeus | Son of Pandion II; construction of Trojan Walls by Poseidon, Apollo and the mortal Aeacus (c. 1282 BC) |
1234–1205 BC | Theseus | Son of Aegeus |
1205–1183 BC | Menestheus | Trojan War and the Sack of Troy [8] (c. 1183 BC) [9] |
1183–1150 BC | Demophon | Son of Theseus |
1150–1136 BC | Oxyntes | Son of Demophon |
1136–1135 BC | Apheidas | Son of Oxyntes |
1135–1127 BC | Thymoetes | Son of Oxyntes and brother of Apheidas |
Melanthus was the Neleides king of Pylos in Messenia. Being driven out by the Dorian and Heraclidae invasion, he came to Athens where Thymoetes resigned the crown to him. Codrus, the last king, repelled the Dorian invasion of Attica.
Reign | King | Comments |
---|---|---|
1126–1089 BC | Melanthus | |
1089–1068 BC | Codrus |
After Codrus's death, his sons Medon and Acastus either reigned as kings, or became hereditary archons. [10] [11] In 753 BC the hereditary archonship was replaced by a non-hereditary system (see Archons of Athens).
The 11th century BC comprises all years from 1100 BC to 1001 BC. Although many human societies were literate in this period, some of the individuals mentioned below may be apocryphal rather than historically accurate.
The 1060s BC is a decade which lasted from 1069 BC to 1060 BC.
Ionia was an ancient region encompassing the central part of the western coast of Anatolia. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionians who had settled in the region before the archaic period.
Cecrops was a legendary king of Attica which derived from him its name Cecropia, according to the Parian Chronicle having previously borne the name of Acte or Actice. He was the founder and the first king of Athens itself though preceded in the region by the earth-born king Actaeus of Attica. Cecrops was a culture hero, teaching the Athenians marriage, reading and writing, and ceremonial burial.
Sicyon or Sikyōn was an ancient Greek city state situated in the northern Peloponnesus between Corinth and Achaea on the territory of the present-day regional unit of Corinthia. The ruins lie just west of the modern village of Sikyona. An ancient monarchy at the times of the Trojan War, the city was ruled by a number of tyrants during the Archaic and Classical period and became a democracy in the 3rd century BC. Sicyon was celebrated for its contributions to ancient Greek art, producing many famous painters and sculptors. In Hellenistic times it was also the home of Aratus of Sicyon, the leader of the Achaean League.
Philochorus of Athens, was a Greek historian and Atthidographer of the third century BC, and a member of a priestly family. He was a seer and interpreter of signs, and a man of considerable influence.
Attica, or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, which consists of the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and the core city of the metropolitan area, as well as its surrounding suburban cities and towns. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Sea, bordering on Boeotia to the north and Megaris to the west. The southern tip of the peninsula, known as Laurion, was an important mining region.
In ancient Greece, the moriai were olive trees considered to be the property of the state because of their religious significance.
In Greek mythology, Pandion I was a legendary King of Athens, the son and heir to Erichthonius of Athens and his wife, the naiad Praxithea. Through his father, he was the grandson of the god Hephaestus.
In Greek mythology, Pandion II was a legendary King of Athens, the son and heir of King Cecrops II and his wife Metiadusa, daughter of Eupalamus.
Codrus was the last of the semi-mythical Kings of Athens. He was an ancient exemplar of patriotism and self-sacrifice. He was succeeded by his son Medon, who it is claimed ruled not as king but as the first Archon of Athens. He was said to have traced his descent to the sea-God Poseidon through his father Melanthus.
The Parian Chronicle or Parian Marble is a Greek chronology, covering the years from 1582 BC to 299 BC, inscribed on a stele. Found on the island of Paros in two sections, and sold in Smyrna in the early 17th century to an agent for Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, this inscription was deciphered by John Selden and published among the Arundel Marbles, Marmora Arundelliana nos. 1–14, 59–119. The first of the sections published by Selden has subsequently disappeared. A further third fragment of this inscription, comprising the base of the stele and containing the end of the text, was found on Paros in 1897. It has entries from 336/35 to 299/98 BC.
In Greek mythology, Actaeus, also called Actaeon, was the first king of Attica, according to Pausanias.
The Eupatridae were the ancient nobility of the Greek region of Attica.
Stoa Basileios, meaning Royal Stoa, was a Doric stoa in the northwestern corner of the Athenian Agora, which was built in the 6th century BC, substantially altered in the 5th century BC, and then carefully preserved until the mid-second century AD. It is among the smallest known Greek stoas, but had great symbolic significance as the seat of the Athenian King Archon, repository of Athens' laws, and site of "the stone" on which incoming magistrates swore their oath of office.
In ancient Greece the chief magistrate in various Greek city states was called eponymous archon. "Archon" means "ruler" or "lord", frequently used as the title of a specific public office, while "eponymous" means that he gave his name to the year in which he held office, much like the Roman dating by consular years.
Pandion was the eponymous hero of the Attic tribe Pandionis, which was created as part of the tribal reforms of Cleisthenes at the end of the sixth century BC. He is usually assumed to be one of the two legendary kings of Athens, Pandion I or Pandion II.
Pausanias was the Agiad King of Sparta; the son of Pleistoanax. He ruled Sparta from 445 BC to 427 BC and again from 409 BC to 395 BC. He was the leader of the faction in Sparta that opposed the imperialist policy conducted by Lysander.
This page lists topics related to ancient Greece.