Erichthonius

Legendary king of Athens, son of the Greek god of fire, Hephaestus, and Ge, the goddess of the Earth. When he was a baby, Athena put him in a chest and entrusted him to the daughters of Cecrops, the legendary first king of Athens. They were forbidden to open the chest, but two of them disobeyed. When they saw the child in the form of a serpent (or entwined by a snake), they went mad and hurled themselves from the Acropolis (or were devoured by the snake).

Legend has it that Erichthonius established the worship of Athena in Athens (a snake was kept in a basket at the foot of Athena's statue in the Parthenon) and instituted the festival of Panathenaea. He is often confused with Erechtheus, who was also, in Greek legend, a son of Ge raised by Athena.

The name Erichthonius (probably meaning 'good earth') and his connection with snakes may indicate that he was an archaic Earth god.