King of Athens
19 dated entries naming King of Athens, drawn from 19 separate years between 1556 BCE and 845 BCE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.
Also written as Kings of Athens in the source articles; Wikipedia redirects those to the same subject, so their entries are on this page.
16th century BC
- 1556 BCE1556 BC—Cecrops I builds or rebuilds Athens following the great flood of Deucalion and the end of the Silver age. He becomes the first of several Kings of Athens whose life account is considered part of Greek mythology.source
- 1506 BCE1506 BC — Cecrops, legendary King of Athens, dies after a reign of 50 years. Having survived his own son, he is succeeded by Cranaus.source
15th century BC
- 1497 BCE1497 BC—Cranaus, legendary King of Athens, is deposed after a reign of 10 years by his son-in-law Amphictyon of Thessaly, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha.source
- 1487 BCE1487 BC—Amphictyon, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, legendary King of Athens, dies after a reign of 10 years and is succeeded by Erichthonius I of Athens, a grandson of Cranaus.source
14th century BC
13th century BC
- 1282 BCE1282 BC—Pandion II, legendary King of Athens, dies after a nominal reign of 25 years. He reportedly only reigned in Megara, while Athens and the rest of Attica were under the control of an alliance of Nobles led by his uncle Metion (son of Erechtheus of Athens) and his sons (including in some accounts Daedalus). His four sons lead a successful military campaign to regain the throne. Aegeus becomes King of Athens, Nisos reigns in Megara, Lykos in Euboea and Pallas in southern Attica.source
- 1213 BCE1213 BC—Theseus, legendary King of Athens, is deposed and succeeded by Menestheus, great-grandson of Erechtheus and second cousin of Theseus' father Aegeus. Menestheus is reportedly assisted by Castor and Polydeuces of Sparta, who want to reclaim their sister Helen from her first husband Theseus. The latter seeks refuge in Skyros, whose King Lycomedes is an old friend and ally. Lycomedes, however, considers his visitor a threat to the throne and proceeds to assassinate him (though other accounts place these events a decade later, in the 1200s BC).source
- 1204 BCE1204 BC: Theseus, legendary King of Athens, is deposed after a reign of 30 years and succeeded by Menestheus, great-grandson of Erichthonius II of Athens and second cousin of Theseus' father Aegeus. Menestheus is reportedly assisted by Castor and Polydeuces of Sparta, who want to reclaim their sister Helen from her first husband Theseus. Theseus seeks refuge in Skyros, whose King Lycomedes is an old friend and ally. Lycomedes, however, considers his visitor a threat to the throne and proceeds to assassinate him. (Other accounts place these events a decade earlier. See 1210s BC.)source
12th century BC
- 1191 BCE1191 BC—Menestheus, legendary King of Athens, dies during the Trojan War after a reign of 23 years and is succeeded by his nephew Demophon, a son of Theseus. Other accounts place his death a decade later and shortly after the Trojan War (see 1180s BC).source
- 1181 BCE1181 BC—Menestheus, legendary King of Athens and veteran of the Trojan War, dies after a reign of 23 years and is succeeded by his nephew Demophon, a son of Theseus. Other accounts place his death a decade earlier and during the Trojan War (see 1190s BC).source
- 1150 BCE1150 BC—Demophon, King of Athens and veteran of the Trojan War, dies after a reign of 33 years and is succeeded by his son Oxyntes.source
- 1135 BCE1135 BC—Oxyntes, legendary King of Athens, dies after a reign of 12 years and is succeeded by his eldest son Apheidas.source
11th century BC
- 1089 BCE1089 BC—Melanthus, legendary King of Athens, dies after a reign of 37 years and is succeeded by his son Codrus.source
- 1068 BCE1068 BC: Codrus, legendary King of Athens, dies in battle against Dorian invaders after a reign of 21 years. Athenian tradition considers him the last king to have held absolute power. Modern historians consider him the last king whose life account is part of Greek mythology. He is succeeded by his son Medon.source
- 1048 BCE1048 BC—Medon, King of Athens, dies after a reign of 20 years and is succeeded by his son Acastus.source
10th century BC
9th century BC
- 892 BCE892 BC — Megacles, King of Athens, dies after a reign of 30 years and is succeeded by his son Diognetus.source
- 864 BCE864 BC—Diognetus, King of Athens, dies after a reign of 28 years (beginning 892 BC), and is succeeded by his son Pherecles.source
- 845 BCE845 BC—Pherecles, King of Athens, dies after a reign of 19 years and is succeeded by his son Ariphron.source