person
Erechtheus
also: Erechtheus, Erectheus
A legendary early king of Athens, worshipped there as a god, with a shrine and priest Cotta says he saw. Cotta cites him (and his sacrificed daughters) as a mortal deified for civic virtue.
Reading notes
- On the Ends of Good and Evil §5.62 the daughters of Erechtheus
The daughters of the early Athenian king Erechtheus offered themselves as sacrifices to save Athens in war. Cicero ranks them with Codrus among the patriotic self-sacrificers everyone praises.
- Tusculan Disputations §1.116 They go back to Erechtheus, whose daughters too eagerly sought death for the lives of the citizens
Erechtheus, legendary king of Athens, whose daughters were sacrificed (or sacrificed themselves) to secure victory, per an oracle. First in a list of patriotic self-sacrifices (Codrus, Menoeceus, Iphigenia, Harmodius and Aristogiton, Leonidas, Epaminondas).