Cecrops II

In the tradition summarized by later compilers, Cecrops II is presented as a scion of the Athenian royal house, variously described as son of Pandion I (possibly by the naiad Zeuxippe) and thus brother of Erechtheus, Butes, Procne, Philomela and Teuthras, while alternative accounts place him in different filial relationships (sources preserve variant genealogies). He succeeds to the throne in the sequence of Athenian kings (traditionally seventh) after dynastic conflicts associated with the preceding generation; ancient and medieval chronicle traditions use his regnal placement as a synchronistic anchor when aligning Greek legendary history with other ancient timelines.

The surviving sources provide no physical description of Cecrops II. He is treated as a human dynastic figure within genealogies and regnal lists rather than as a described individual with distinctive bodily traits or supernatural form.

No supernatural powers or magical abilities are attributed to Cecrops II in the cited materials. Recorded actions are political and dynastic: he is said to have succeeded after the death of Erechtheus (in compendia of Athenian kings), to have been chosen or confirmed by adjudication (an appointment associated in summaries with the judge Xuthus), to have reigned for a specified period (traditions give differing lengths—commonly 40 years in some accounts, 50 years in certain chronicle entries), to have been ousted by Metion and Pandorus, and to have fled to Aegilia/Aegialea where he died. Sources thus present him as a legendary king whose primary role is succession, exile, and placement within chronological schemes.