Cecrops was a
mythical king of ancient
Athens. Although he was not the first king Cecrops was viewed by the
Athenians as their city's
ancestor, indeed
Athens was sometimes referred to as the City of Cecrops.
There are no myths in which he has parents suggesting he was believed to have been autochthonous, which means he was born of the earth. The autochthonous ancestor was used by many Greeks to explain why they were meant to control their land and we know the Athenians used the autochthonous excuse for their domination of Attica. Cecrops is generally depicted on red figure vases as being half-man, half-snake, apparently this didn't stop him from fathering 4 children, 3 daughters: Aglauros, Pandrosus, and Herse, and 1 son called Erysichthon.
Cecrops is considered to be responsible for civilising Athens, he is credited with the introduction of writing, funeral rites, and monogamy along with several other concepts considered necessary for normal society in Athens. Cecrops is also credited with founding several religious cults in Attica.
There was another Cecrops who also became King of Athens, he was the son of
Erechtheus.