Sicyon
An ancient city near Corinth claiming to be one of the oldest in Greece and site of Prometheus's sacrifice trick
The Story of Sicyon
Sicyon was one of the most ancient cities of the northeastern Peloponnese, situated on a coastal plateau overlooking the Gulf of Corinth. Ancient Sicyonians claimed their city was among the oldest in Greece, with a king-list stretching back to the mythological age. The city was identified with Mecone, the site where Prometheus divided the sacrificial ox and tricked Zeus into choosing the bones wrapped in fat, thereby establishing the sacrificial practice that defined Greek religion. Sicyon was also connected to Adrastus, king of Argos, who took refuge there before leading the doomed expedition of the Seven Against Thebes. The city became famous for its artistic schools: it produced some of the finest painters and sculptors of the classical period, including Lysippus, the court sculptor of Alexander the Great. The school of painting at Sicyon was renowned for its emphasis on precise draughtsmanship. In its mythological self-presentation, Sicyon claimed Epopeus, who abducted Antiope, and it maintained important cults of Apollo and Aphrodite.
Parents
None recorded
Symbols
Fun Fact
Sicyon's school of painting and sculpture was so respected that Lysippus, who became Alexander the Great's personal sculptor, trained in its workshops
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Thespiae
🏛 placeSacred geography
A Boeotian city near Mount Helicon famous for its cult of Eros and the sanctuary of the Muses
Orchomenus
🏛 placecity, Boeotia
An ancient Boeotian city that was one of the wealthiest in Bronze Age Greece, rivalling Thebes and associated with the Minyans.
Corinth
🏛 placeCity of Sisyphus and Medea
Corinth was a wealthy trading city on the narrow isthmus connecting mainland Greece to the Peloponnese, associated with Sisyphus, Medea, Bellerophon, and Pegasus.
Argos
🏛 placecity-state, Peloponnese
One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and a major power in the Peloponnese, closely associated with the goddess Hera.
Pherae
🏛 placeGeography
A city in Thessaly where Admetus ruled and Alcestis chose to die in her husband's place
Ilium
🏛 placeGeography
The citadel of Troy, site of the legendary ten-year siege by the Greek forces
Abydos
🏛 placeGeography
An ancient city on the Hellespont famous as the launching point of Xerxes' bridge and the home of Leander
Arges
🏛 placegeography
The Argolid plain dominated by the city of Argos, one of the oldest and most mythologically saturated regions of Greece.
Eleusis
🏛 placeSite of the Mysteries
Eleusis was a sacred city near Athens, home to the Eleusinian Mysteries — the most important secret religious rites in the ancient Greek world.
Tyre
🏛 placeGeography
The great Phoenician island-city whose princess Europa was abducted by Zeus in the form of a bull
Pella
🏛 placeMacedonia, Alexander
Capital of ancient Macedonia and birthplace of Alexander the Great.
Mecone
🏛 placeSacred geography
The site where Prometheus tricked Zeus at a sacrificial feast, establishing the division between gods and mortals