Androgeos (man of the earth) In Greek mythology, son of Pasiphae and Minos, king of Crete. He visited Athens at the first celebration of the Panathenaea and won victories over all of the champions. Out of jealousy, King Aegeus sent him to fight the bull of Marathon, which killed him. According to a variant account, Androgeos was killed in an ambush. Minos avenged his son’s death by making the Athenians send seven young men and seven young girls every nine years as victims to his Minotaur. Funeral games were held in the Ceramicus at Athens in honor of Androgeus, who was then named Eurygyes. The cult is mentioned in Vergil’s Aeneid (book 6), Apollodorus’s Bibliotheca (3.15.7), and Pausanias’s Description of Greece (1.27.9–10)
SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition – Written by Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow– Copyright © 2009 by Anthony S. Mercatante