Houses of Athens

The first family tree shows only two early kings of Attica. At the time, Attica was originally called either Acte or Actaea, after Actaeus. His son-in-law, Cecrops, succeeded him, and the new king renamed the entire region to Cecropia.

The second family tree displays the full genealogy of the family in Athens. Cranaüs succeeded Cecrops when the king died, because Erysichthon, son of Cecrops, died young. Cranaüs was the first king of Athens. When Cranaüs' daughter Atthis died young, the king renamed the region to Attica.

Amphictyon, Cranaüs' son-in-law, deposed him, and ruled until he was in turn deposed by Erichthonius, Cranaüs' grandson. Erichthonius was the son of Hephaestus, by either Atthis or Gaea.

I have listed Erichthonius as the son of Hephaestus and Atthis, but there was a popular myth that said that he was an earth-born king. Hephaestus tried to ravish Athena, but the goddess repelled the lamed god's sexual advances. His premature ejaculation caused his semen to land on the goddess' thigh. Athena quickly wiped it off and flung it on the ground. Gaea (earth) gave birth to a creature that was half man, half serpent.

It should be noted that I have listed Aegeus, the father of the hero Theseus (Poseidon is said to be the hero' true father), as the son of Pandion and Pylia. However, some authors said that Aegeus was actually the son of Scyrius.

The two sons of Phineus and Cleopatra have been variously named. In this family tree, I named the sons of Phineus as Plexippus and Pandion.