Places of Myth
36 Athens
Foundation
Sections & Primary Sources
Mythological Foundation
Athens is the modern-day capital of Greece, and the most populous urban center in the region of Attica. In ancient mythology, the foundation of the city was attributed to the hero Cecrops, who was also the first king. Both he and his successor, Erichthonius, were depicted as snake-human hybrids to symbolize the autochthony of the Athenians who had inhabited the land since the beginning of times.
The most important landmark mentioned in myth is the acropolis, which was considered the centre of political and religious power, as it hosted the royal palace and the main buildings for the worship of the protectress of the city, Athena, as well as the sacred olive tree and the salt water spring that she and Poseidon had gifted to the city during their contest to claim its ownership.
For further discussion of Athena and the mythological foundation of Athens, see chapter 11.
In myth, the foundation of Athens is also tied to the hero Theseus. An early king of Athens, Theseus was credited with establishing elements of the Athenian political system and instituting the Panathenaic Festival.
For further discussion of Theseus, see chapter 22.
Plutarch, Parallel Lives, “Life of Theseus,” Part 24 (trans. B. Perrin, adapted by L. Zhang)
Latin biography, 2nd century CE
[24.1] After the death of Aegeus, Theseus came up with a wonderful plan, and settled all the residents of Attica in one city. He thus made one people, of one city, out of those who had, up until then, been scattered about and not easily called together for the common interests of all. In fact, they sometimes actually argued and fought with each other.
[24.2] He visited them and tried to win them over to his project, township by township and clan by clan. The common folk and the poor quickly answered to his summons. To the powerful, he promised a government without a king and a democracy, in which he would only be commander in war and guardian of the laws, while in all else everyone should be on an equal footing.
[24.3] Some he readily persuaded of this plan. Others, fearing his power (which was already great) and his boldness, chose to be persuaded rather than to be forced to agree to it. Accordingly, after getting rid of the town-halls and council-chambers and magistracies in the several communities, and after building a common town-hall and council-chamber for all on the ground where the upper town of the present day stands, he named the city Athens, and instituted a Panathenaic festival.
Taken from: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0067%3Achapter%3D24%3Asection%3D1
Historical Foundation
The acropolis is indeed one of the places with the earliest traces of human occupation, including large fortification works dating from the 15th century BCE, the so-called ‘Cyclopean Walls’. Athens does not seem to have been a major Mycenaean palatial centre, but it was still affected by the collapse of the Bronze Age. During the Archaic Period the city expanded with an ambitious building program sponsored by both the tyrants of the city and aristocratic families that funded new walls, an aqueduct, temples, and a sacred way that connected Athens to the sanctuary of Eleusis. Most of the remains that are visible nowadays are, however, dating from the Classical and Hellenistic periods, when the city rose to fame and was monumentalized by its own democratic government and foreign kings alike.
Archaeology
Several of the most important archaeological remains are located along the Panathenaic Way that connected Eleusis and Athens coming through the northwestern Dipylon Gate. This route went through the cemetery of Kerameikos, the agora, where the most important public buildings such as fountains, the mint, and the seat of the assembly had been situated since the late Archaic Period. The same area also contained important religious buildings such as the Altar of the Twelve Gods, from which all distances were calculated, and a large temple dedicated to Athena and Hephaistos as patrons of craftsmen.
The Panathenaic Way proceeded southeast and climbed up to the acropolis, and ended at its monumental entrance, the Propylaia. On the top of the hill were the Parthenon, dedicated to Athena as protectress of the city, the Erechtheion, a religious building containing the sacred olive tree as well as other ancestral cults, and various altars and sacred precincts dedicated to Zeus and other gods.
The area south of the acropolis is occupied by the 2nd century CE Odeon of Herodes Atticus, a long Hellenistic portico, the great Theatre of Dionysus (built in its current form in the late fifth century BCE over an earlier structure), and the coeval Odeion of Pericles, another building for public assemblies.
Lastly, on the southeastern portion of the city was the great temple of Olympian Zeus, started in the late 6th century BCE and completed only in the 2nd century AD by Roman Emperor Hadrian.
Media Attributions
Media Attributions
- Fourth-century calyx-krater ARV extra – Athena and Poseidon competing for the protection of Attica – two youths (02) © ArchaiOptix is licensed under a CC BY-SA (Attribution ShareAlike) license
- Kodros Painter ARV 1268 2 Eos and Kephalos – birth of Erichthonios © ArchaiOptix is licensed under a CC BY-SA (Attribution ShareAlike) license
- Map Ancient Athens is licensed under a Public Domain license
- AgoraAthens5thcentury © MadMedea is licensed under a CC BY-SA (Attribution ShareAlike) license
- Plan Acropolis of Athens © Tomisti adapted by Qirille is licensed under a CC BY-SA (Attribution ShareAlike) license
- Side view of the Erechtheion with the olive tree on May 19, 2020 © George E. Koronaios is licensed under a CC BY-SA (Attribution ShareAlike) license
- Attica 06-13 Athens 50 View from Philopappos – Acropolis Hill © A. Savin is licensed under a CC BY-SA (Attribution ShareAlike) license
- Teatro de Dioniso, Atenas, Grecia, 2019 01 © Benjamín Núñez González is licensed under a CC BY-SA (Attribution ShareAlike) license
- Temple of Olympian Zeus (Dec. 2016) © Argos is licensed under a CC BY-SA (Attribution ShareAlike) license
- Olympieion2 copy © Valentin Fiumefreddo is licensed under a CC BY-SA (Attribution ShareAlike) license
A king of Athens, in some traditions the father of Theseus. Known for giving Medea shelter in Athens after she fled Corinth.
Featured in chapter 19 and chapter 22.
A king and founder of Athens. The son of Aegeus and Aethra, husband of Hippolyte and later of Phaedra, and father of Hippolytus. Known for his encounters on the road to Athens, and for killing the Minotaur.
See chapter 22. Also appears in chapter 36 and chapter 41.