Pandion I

This article is about the son of Erichthonius and Praxithea. For his descendant that was named after him, see Pandion II.

Pandion
King of Athens
General Information
Species	Human
Sex	Male
Relationships
Parents	Erichthonius of Athens and Praxithea
Grandparents	Hephaestus and Gaia and Athena (paternal)
Spouses	Zeuxippe
Children	Erechtheus, Butes, and Teuthras (sons) Philomela and Procne
Grandchildren	By Erechtheus Cecrops II, Pandorus, Metion, Protogeneia, Pandora, Procris, Creusa, Oreithyia, Chthonia, Orneus, Thespius, Eupalamus, Sicyon, Merope By Teuthras Thespius By Procne Itys

Pandion I (Ancient Greek: Πανδίων means "all-divine") was the son of King Erichthonius of Athens. He succeeded his father as king and was succeeded by his son and heir Erectheus.

After Erectheus died, the kingship passed between the descendants of Erectheus; through Metion and Orneus, and Cecrops II. The two branches often fought between themselves, deposing members from other branches. Some of Pandion's notable descendants are his great-grandson; Daedalus, son of Metion, and Aegeus, son of Pandion II and grandson of Cecrops II. The famous hero-king Theseus was the son of Aegeus.

Mythology

Pandion I was the fifth king of Athens in the traditional line of succession as given by the third century BC Parian Chronicle, the chronographer Castor of Rhodes (probably from the late third-century Eratosthenes) and the Bibliotheca. He was preceded by Cecrops I, Cranaus, Amphictyon, and Erichthonius, and succeeded by Erechtheus, Cecrops II, and Pandion II. Castor makes Pandion I the son of Erichthonius (the earliest source for this) and says he ruled for 40 years (1437/6–1397/6 BC). It may be that either Pandion I or Pandion II was invented to fill a gap in the mythical history of Athens.

According to the Bibliotheca, Pandion fought a war with Labdacus, the king of Thebes, over boundaries, and married his daughter Procne to Tereus in exchange for help in the fighting, and it was during his reign that the gods Demeter and Dionysus came to Attica. After his death, the kingdom of Athens went to his son Erechtheus, while Butes received the priesthoods of Athena and "Poseidon Erechtheus" (in Athens, Erechtheus was a cult-title of Poseidon). He is said to have died of grief when he discovered that his daughters, Procne and Philomela, had died.

Either Pandion I or Pandion II was usually identified with Pandion, the eponymous hero of the Attic tribe Pandionis.

Family

Pandion married a naiad, Zeuxippe, his aunt and they had two sons Erechtheus and Butes, and two daughters Procne and Philomela.  In some accounts, he was also called the father of Teuthras, father of Thespius.

Note: This family tree is wrong

Erichthonid Genealogy in Greek mythology

Hḗphaistos                           Erichthonius   Praxithea                                       Pandion I   Zeuxippe                                                                                   Echenais   Erectheus                   Cecrops II   Telphousa                                                                                     Metion   Iphinome     Orneus   Melaina       Pandion II   Pylia                                                                                                                                       Daedalus     Thronia   Peteus   Aethra   Aegeus       Lycus   Ismenis     Nisos                                                                                               Phrasimede   Menestheus           Theseus   Hippolyta       Iobates   Metope                                                                                             Icarus                           Demophon   Phyllis       Amphianax                                                                                                   Oxyntes   Anchiroe                                                                                                                           Apheidas         Thymoetes

Preceded by: Erichthonius of Athens

King of Athens Mythic

Succeeded by Erechtheus