Erichthonius of Dardania

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The mythical King Erichthonius was the son of Dardanus or Darda, King of Dardania, and Batia, (although some legends say his mother was Olizone). Erichthonius became king of Dardania when his elder brother Ilus died childless. Homer called him "the richest man on earth", because he inherited kingdoms from both his father and his mother's father.

Erichthonius' wealth came from his horses, who were said to be wondrous. Erichtonius received the horses from Zeus as compensation for the death of his son Ganymede. Template:Not verified

Three thousand horses had he, that fed on the grasslands,

mares that joyed in their young foals. And as they grazed,

Boreas, the North Wind, desired them, and made himself

into a dark-maned stallion, and coupled with twelve mares,

and they, conceiving, bore to him twelve young horses.

These, when they frisked across the grain-giving land,

would run along the topmost ears of corn, not breaking them,

and again, when they sported over the wide sea's waves,

would gallop above the crests of the slat grey breakers.

Iliad, 20.221-9.

His son and heir by Astyoche or Callirhoe was Tros, the eponym of the Trojans and the Troad.

References

• Greek Mythology Link 2003-10-01
• March, J., Cassell's Dictionary Of Classical Mythology, London, 1999. ISBN 030435161X