Unchanged by any teller — how the centuries since have seen Cecrops.
The gallery
Minerva and Cecrops
Cornelis Bloemaert, after Pietro da Cortona, c. 1677
This Baroque engraving by Cornelis Bloemaert (c. 1603-1692), after a design by Pietro da Cortona, shows Minerva (the Roman Athena) appearing before Cecrops, the legendary serpent-tailed first king of Athens. It belongs to the series 'Heroicae virtutis imagines' (Images of Heroic Deeds) published by Giovanni Giacomo de Rossi, reproducing the lunette frescoes of the Sala di Venere in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence. The pairing of goddess and king evokes Cecrops' role as Athena's earthly partner: the king who judged her victory over Poseidon and established her worship in the new city of Athens. The print is held in the British Museum's Prints and Drawings collection.
Cecrops on an Attic Red-Figure Cup (Birth of Erichthonius)
Attributed to the Codrus Painter, c. 440-430 BC
A detail of an Attic red-figure cup (kylix) attributed to the Codrus Painter, made in Athens in the third quarter of the 5th century BC, showing the Athenian king Cecrops. The cup, 12 cm high with a diameter of 31.2 cm, depicts the birth of Erichthonius from the earth, the autochthonous heir of Athens whom Cecrops' daughters would later be charged to guard. Cecrops appears here in his canonical form as a witness to the city's foundational miracle. The vessel is preserved in the Antikensammlung Berlin (Altes Museum, inv. F 2537).
Melian Relief of the Birth of Erichthonius
Unknown, c. 460 BC
A small terracotta plaque (11 cm high) of the so-called Melian type, dating to the first half of the 5th century BC, staging one of the central Athenian foundation myths. Athena, at left, receives the infant Erichthonius handed up from the earth by Ge (Gaia) in the center, while Cecrops, the serpent-legged primal king, looks on at the right. The relief situates Cecrops as the human witness who legitimizes the divine origins of the Athenian royal line. It is held in the Antikensammlung Berlin (inv. TC 6281).
West Pediment of the Parthenon: Cecrops and Pandrosus
Unknown (workshop of Pheidias), c. 438-432 BC
Marble figures from the west pediment of the Parthenon, traditionally identified as Cecrops seated with his daughter Pandrosus. The west pediment depicted the very contest in which Cecrops figures most prominently in myth: the strife between Athena and Poseidon for possession of Attica, judged in Athena's favor. As the founding king who established the goddess' cult, Cecrops was placed among the divine and heroic spectators of the contest. These surviving statues are now housed in the Acropolis Museum, Athens.