Pandion (hero)

Pandion (/ˈpændiən/ or /ˈpændiɒn/; Ancient Greek: Πανδίων) was the eponymous hero of the Attic tribe Pandionis, which was created as part of the tribal reforms of Cleisthenes at the end of the sixth century BC.

[3] Demosthenes' Funeral Oration (338 BC) makes the father of the famous sisters Procne and Philomela—usually considered to be Pandion I—the eponymous hero of the Pandionidae.

[10] This would be consistent with what Kearns describes as "a wide spread cultic-mythic phenomenon in which a hero or heroine is worshipped in conjunction with a god, while an aetiological myth explains that he or she was the first to perform the rite.

"[11] An inscription[12] dating from c. 386 BC, which refers to a decree of the tribe Pandionis, commending a "priest of Pandion" for services performed at the Pandia, supports the notion of a link between Pandion and the festival.

[14] According to Pausanias the hero Pandion was also honored in Megara where he had a monument in the city and a tomb in the cave of Athena Aithyia.