Erichthŏnius, the fourth king of Athens, sprung from the seed of Vulcan, which fell upon the ground when that god attempted to offer violence to Minerva. He was very deformed, and had the tails of serpents instead of legs. Minerva placed him in a basket, which she gave to the daughters of Cecrops, with strict injunctions not to examine its contents. Aglauros, one of the sisters, had the curiosity to open the basket, for which the goddess punished her indiscretion by making her jealous of her sister Herse. See: [Herse]. Erichthon was young when he ascended the throne of Athens. He reigned 50 years, and died B.C. 1437. The invention of chariots is attributed to him, and the manner of harnessing horses to draw them. He was made a constellation after death under the name of Bootes. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 553.—Hyginus, fable 166.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 14.—Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 2.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 113.——A son of Dardanus, who reigned in Troy, and died 1374 B.C., after a long reign of about 75 years. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 10.
Ericinium, a town of Macedonia.
Ericūsa, one of the Lipari isles, now Alicudi.
Erĭdănus, one of the largest rivers of Italy, rising in the Alps, and falling into the Adriatic by several mouths; now called the Po. It was in its neighbourhood that the Heliades, the sisters of Phaeton, were changed into poplars, according to Ovid. Virgil calls it the king of all rivers, and Lucan compares it to the Rhine and Danube. An Eridanus is mentioned in heaven. Cicero, Aratus, li. 145.—Claudian, Panegyricus de Consulatu Honorii Augusti, bk. 6, li. 175.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, fable 3.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 3.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Lucan, bk. 2, li. 409.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 482; Æneid, bk. 6, li. 659.
Erĭgŏne, a daughter of Icarius, who hung herself when she heard that her father had been killed by some shepherds whom he had intoxicated. She was made a constellation, now known under the name of Virgo. Bacchus deceived her by changing himself into a beautiful grape. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, fable 4.—Statius, bk. 11, Thebiad, li. 644.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 33.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 14.—Hyginus, fables 1 & 24.——A daughter of Ægisthus and Clytemnestra, who had by her brother Orestes, Penthilus, who shared the regal power with Timasenus, the legitimate son of Orestes and Hermione. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 18.—Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 1.
Erigoneius, a name applied to the Dog-star, because looking towards Erigone, &c. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 5, li. 723.
Erĭgŏnus, a river of Thrace.——A painter. Pliny, bk. 35, ch. 11.
Erigȳus, a Mitylenean, one of Alexander’s officers. Curtius, bk. 6, ch. 4.
Erillus, a philosopher of Carthage, contemporary with Zeno. Diogenes Laërtius.
Erindes, a river of Asia, near Parthia. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 11, ch. 16.