Herse

This is an article about the Greek mythological figure; for an article on the French bicycle manufacturer, see Herse; for an article on the ancient Norse noble title see Herse.

Herse is a figure in Greek mythology, daughter of Cecrops, sister to Aglaulus and Pandrosus. According to Apollodorus, when Hephaestus unsuccessfully attempted to rape Athena, she wiped his semen off her leg with wool and threw it on the ground, impregnating Gaia. Athena wished to make the resulting infant Erichthonius immortal and to raise it, so she gave it to three sisters: Herse, Aglaulus and Pandrosus in a basket and warned them to never open it. Aglaulus and Herse opened the basket which contained the infant and future-king, Erichthonius, who was somehow mixed or intertwined with a snake. The sight caused Herse and Aglaulus to go insane and they jumped to their deaths off the Acropolis. Shrines were constructed for Herse and Aglaulus on the Acropolis.

An alternative version of the story is that, while Athena was gone bringing a mountain from Pallena to use in the Acropolis, the sisters, minus Pandrosus again, opened the box with Erichthonius inside. A crow witnessed the opening and flew away to tell Athena, who fell into a rage and dropped the mountain (now Mt. Lykabettos). Once again, Herse and Aglaulus went insane and threw themselves to their deaths off the cliffs of the Acropolis.

This story supposedly inspired an ancient ritual in Athens: "The Festival of the Dew Carriers" or Arrhephoria.

Some authors, such as Ovid in his Metamorphoses and Ars amatoria, wrote a different end for Herse and Aglaurus. Hermes/Mercury loves Herse but jealous Aglaulus stood between them and refused to move. Hermes, angry at Aglaulus for breaking her promise, changes her to stone. Cephalus is the son of Hermes and Herse and suffers a tragically happy marriage to Procris.