ICARIUS

The hero of the Attic deme of Icaria. Under the reign of Pandion he received the vine from Dionysus in return for his hospitable reception of the god. As he went about the land with skins full of wine, in order to spread the cultivation of the vine, and some shepherds became intoxicated on the new drink, their companions, thinking they had been poisoned, slew him and either cast his body into a dry brook or buried him under a tree on Mount Hymettus. His daughter Erigone found it after a long search, being led to the spot by her faithful dog Maera ; and hung herself on the tree. Dionysus punished the land with a plague, and the maidens with madness, so that they hanged themselves after the manner of Erigone. To expiate the guilt of slaying Icarius and to avert the curse, the festival of the Aiora (the "swing") was founded in her honour. During this all sorts of small images were hung on the trees and swung, and fruits were brought as an offering to the father as well as to the daughter. Icarius was placed among the constellations as Bootes or Arcturus, Erigone as Virgo, and Maera as Procyon.