Cercyon

Cercyon

Kerkyon

Minor DeityWrestling, Kingship of Eleusis

King of Eleusis who challenged every passing traveller to a wrestling match and killed the losers. He was famously strong, but Theseus — who is credited with inventing the techniques of the wrestler's art as against mere brute force — threw him off the ground and dashed him down, killing him on the spot. With his death Theseus became de facto protector of the Sacred Way between Athens and Eleusis, a role Athens kept as part of the Theseus legend down through the classical period.

Origin

Son variously of Poseidon, or of Branchus and a nymph of Eleusis; in another tradition his daughter Alope is raped by Poseidon, bears the hero Hippothoon, and is killed by Cercyon

Associated Places

Eleusis