DEUCALION (son of Prometheus)

During his reign, a great flood swept across the earth, an event some attributed to the impiety of Lycaon's sons.^4,5,6 Following the advice of his father, Deucalion built a chest and stored provisions within it, embarking with his wife Pyrrha, the daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora, whom he addressed as both wife and sister.^7,8 They were the only two humans left alive on Earth, standing in the boundless sea as the deluge raged around them.^2,9

When the waters finally receded, Deucalion first rested on the mountain Parnassus, where he sacrificed to Zeus, the god of Escape, and paid homage to the prophetic goddess Themis and the Corycian Nymphs.^7,8 Observing the empty and silent Earth, he spoke to Pyrrha with tears bursting forth, sharing his sorrow with her as a common fate.^2,9 Zeus sent Hermes to allow Deucalion to choose what he wanted, and he selected to obtain new men for the world.⁷ He threw stones over his head, which transformed into men, creating a flinty race from the gathered earth.^7,10,11

Deucalion held kingship over the entirety of Thessaly, ruling in the regions surrounding Phthia where the Dorians inhabited the land under the mountains Ossa and Olympus.^12,13,7,14 Zeus granted him a group of Lelegian people led by Locrus, and some writers claim he named his allotted territory after his mother Pandora or won the southern part of the region by lot.^15,11,16 Other accounts list Orestheus, Amphictyon, and others as his sons, though his sons did not rule the Pelasgian land during the era of the Arcadians.^{17,18,19,20,21}

Deucalion resided in Athens, where his tomb is located, and a grave near the current temple is cited as evidence of this residence, while the Athenians claimed he constructed the ancient sanctuary of Olympian Zeus.^22,23 He is also reported to have resided at the promontory of Cynus, and an island near the promontory of Pyrrha is named after him.^23,24 In one tragic account, he jumped from a high rock into the sea to escape his hopeless love for Pyrrha, a leap taken from the area known as the sea of Actium and Leucate, after which his intense passion vanished immediately.²⁵ Water from the deluge flowed off along a bed in the precincts, where wheat meal mixed with honey is cast annually.⁵