Unchanged by any teller — how the centuries since have seen Actaeus.
The gallery
Minerva and Cecrops
Cornelis Bloemaert after Pietro da Cortona, c. 17th century
Bloemaert after Cortona: Athena with Cecrops — Actaeus' son-in-law who inherits Attica when the first king's line passes through marriage.
Cecrops on an Attic Red-Figure Cup (Birth of Erichthonius)
Codrus Painter, c. 440–430 BC
Berlin cup: Cecrops at Erichthonius' birth — the successor Pausanias sets after Actaeus, first king of the land once called Actaea.
West Pediment of the Parthenon: Cecrops and Pandrosus
Unknown (Parthenon sculptors), c. 438–432 BC
Parthenon west pediment marbles: Cecrops' house on the Acropolis — the Athenian foundation story that begins, in Pausanias' roll, with Actaeus before Cecrops.
In play
Actaeus
First king of Attica in Pausanias' native roll — ruler of Actaea before Cecrops marries his daughter and takes the throne.
Cecrops I
Actaeus' successor by marriage — the snake-bodied founder who overshadows the first king in later Athenian memory.
Attica
The land once called Actaea after Actaeus — the eponym as Attica's oldest royal name.
Description of Greece
Pausanias
Pausanias' Attic king-list opens with Actaeus — the antiquarian first name before Cecrops.