Galaxy/The codex of Cychreus

In Greek mythology, Cychreus (Ancient Greek Κυχρεύς) is the legendary first king of Salamis, son of Poseidon and the Asopid nymph Salamis. He wins the island by slaying (or otherwise mastering) a ravaging serpent, bequeaths the kingdom to Telamon, and later appears as a serpent among the Athenian ships at the Persian sea-fight.

Adapted from Wikipedia, "Cychreus" · CC BY-SA 4.0

I.King of Salamis

Apollodorus makes Cychreus son of Poseidon and Salamis, daughter of Asopus. He becomes king by killing a snake that ravaged the island; dying childless, he leaves the kingdom to Telamon, who had come as an exile from Aegina after the death of Phocus. Pausanias says Cychreus was the first to name the island after his mother, before Aeginetan colonization under Telamon.

Other strands associate him more closely with serpentine identity: some say he raised a serpent as a pet, or was himself called "the dragon" for his fierce temper. Pausanias saw a sanctuary of Cychreus on Salamis and records that when the Athenians fought the Persians at sea a serpent appeared among the ships; an oracle declared it was the hero Cychreus.

II.Place in the atlas

Cychreus anchors the Salaminian royal line that passes to Telamon and so to Ajax. He is not a Trojan or Argive namesake; the atlas node is the island king alone.

AT A GLANCE

Greek nameKychreus (Κυχρεύς)
Roman nameCychreus
Typehero
Domainsthe kingship of Salamis · the island serpent · the hero of the Salaminian fleet
ParentagePoseidon · Salamis
SymbolsSerpent / dragon of Salamis · Island kingship
Cult centersSalamis (sanctuary of Cychreus) · Attic–Salaminian fleet cult
EtymologyGreek Κυχρεύς (Kychreús); related traditions name the island serpent Cychreides.
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