Each of the tragic dynasties has a dominant theme. In that of Minos it is the use of power and retribution for wrong. In that of Atreus it is kin murder and atoning for this family curse. In that of Cadmus it is unmerited suffering and the fortitude necessary to overcome it. And here, with the House of Erichthonius, it is the battle of the sexes, in which rape is a major motif.
These legends present the relationships between men and women as soured, thorny, fated to unhappiness. The contest between Poseidon and Athena for possession of Athens triggers a conflict between the Athenian men and women in which the women lose their voting rights. This fight sets the stage for the other legends. Appropriately, the founder of the Athenian dynasty, Erichthonius, is engendered when Hephaestus tries to rape Athena.
In the tale of Procne the battle of the sexes becomes a murderous war, with ferocity and ruthless lust on Tereus' part and a hate-ridden urge for revenge on that of Procne and Philomela. With the story of Procris it is .Cephalus' unbalanced jealousy and Procris' pride that breaks up their marriage. The happy reunion is destroyed when Procris' gift to Cephalus becomes the instrument that kills her. While Orithyia is kidnaped and ravished by Boreas, her sister Creüsa is raped and abandoned by Apollo. Creüsa has a barren marriage to Xuthus. It takes a miraculous intervention on the part of Athena and the Delphic priestess to reconcile Creüsa to men and to Apollo. The flaws of these characters are those of normal human beings — pride, lust, wrath, jealousy, selfishness, and so on — but in this dynasty they are magnified beyond their normal limits. The House of Erichthonius seems afflicted with a lack of balance that tends to disturb or ruin its marriages. Despite the fabulous elements in these legends, there is a core of realism that is based on an understanding of human character.
It is interesting that each of the tragic dynasties has its own individuality. This may be due to prominent traits in the Cretans, Mycenaeans, Thebans, or Athenians that distinguished them from each other. It may be that there were actually dynasties with those qualities. Or it may be that a certain kind of story tended to evolve around a group of legendary figures. Of course, the conscious literary artistry of the Greek writers would have accentuated this shaping process, particularly with the tragic dramatists. But the important thing is that personality flaws often run in families, and that these defects do affect the destiny of a family. In Greek mythology the dictum that "character is fate" applies as much to clans as it does to individual heroes.
