ABSTRACT
Son of Poseidon and a nymph, Euryte. Near the Acropolis in Athens he raped Alcippe, a daughter of Ares and Aglaurus, and for this Ares killed him. The god was arraigned by Poseidon at a court which met on the spot. This was the legendary origin of the court named the Areopagus (‘Hill of Ares’) which tried cases of homicide at Athens: it acquitted Ares of guilt. According to an alternative version of the story, Poseidon sent Halirrhothius to cut down Athena’s sacred olive trees near the Acropolis, and the axe slipped and killed him.
