City foundation myths

The word for she-wolf could also mean prostitute.

The myth of the foundation of Prague is quite famous - that of Princess Libuse. She was supposedly the daughter of King Krok, and was a prophetess and seer. He made her a judge of the nation, but the menfolk weren't too happy about having a woman in charge, so they demanded she pick a man to rule. She did, but she had a vision of a ploughman with a broken sandle, and married him rather than a noble. This was Premysl, the mythical ancestor of the Premyslid kings.

She supposedly had a vision whilst living in her castle at Libusin (although later retellings of the story move her to Vysehrad castle in Prague, which didn't exist until about 200 years later) of a grand and beautiful city of the banks of the river Vltava, topped by a mighty castle named Prague which all the nobles would bow to and kiss. Then they went and built it - meaning that even if this was a true story it's not that impressive a prophecy. It's like saying 'I have a vision, of me drinking a cup of tea!' and then going to put the kettle on.

I'm not sure of what any of the symbolism in these myths is meant to mean.

That Constantinople was supposed to be a new Christian capital. It was, initially, neither, since Constantine built or embellished temples there, and it did not have the requisite standard for a true capital (and urban prefect) until the 350s.

When the hare chased the dog, the emperor built the city

Myth of founadation of Ahmedabad, India. - According to legend the Sultan ahmedshah (from whose name city derived its name) was mesmerized by the beauty of the tribal .... - Teja. HE forced his father who was also the leader of the clan to marry his daughter to him. After marriage Teja convinced the king to stay near hes hometown. One day when the king was looking for the place to build a new city, he witnessed a hare chasing the dog. Impressed by this act, he decided to establish the city at that place as he thought that the city will produce the brave people. there is a famous saying about it " ... kutte pe sassa aaya, tab Badshah ne shaher basaya". (When the hare chased the dog, the emperor built the city).

Cadmus [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadmus]Cadmus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame] and the city of Thebes in ancient Greece.

To save me writing I paste this from wiki:

'Cadmus came in the course of his wanderings to Delphi, where he consulted the[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythia"][/ame] oracle. He was ordered to give up his quest and follow a special cow, with a half moon on her flank, which would meet him, and to build a town on the spot where she should lie down exhausted.
The cow was given to Cadmus by Pelagon, King of Phocis, and it guided him to Boeotia, where he founded the city of Thebes.[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Graves"][/ame] Rober Graves (The Greek Myths) suggested that the cow was actually turned loose within a moderately confined space, and that where she lay down, a temple to the moon-goddess (Selene) was erected: "A cow's strategic and commercial sensibilities are not well developed," Graves remarked.
Intending to sacrifice the cow to Athena, Cadmus sent some of his companions to the nearby Castalian Spring, for water. They were slain by the spring's guardian water-dragon (compare the Learnaean Hydra), which was in turn destroyed by Cadmus, the duty of a[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_hero"][/ame] culture hero of the new order.


By the instructions of Athena, he sowed the dragon's teeth in the ground, from which there sprang a race of fierce armed men, called thehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartoí Spartoi ("sown"). By throwing a stone among them, Cadmus caused them to fall upon one another until only five survived, who assisted him to build the Cadmeia or citadel of Thebes, and became the founders of the noblest families of that city.'

Where i live there used to be a giant who extorted the merchants sailing up or down the river. Lange Wapper was his name and he was cruel, murdering those who could not pay the tolls. A Roman officer, Druoon Antigoon, cut of his hand and threw it in the river. Handthrowing, or Antwerpen, became the name of the city.

Now that i think of it, the Roman's name was Brabo. The giant's name was Druoon Antigoon. Lange Wapper is another giant.

This was Premysl, the mythical ancestor of the Premyslid kings.

Athens was founded by King Cecrops, half serpent and half man. He taught the native people of Attica reading, writing, worship of the Gods, and other cultural traditions. During his time, Athena and Poseidon raced to the city to become its official God. Athena grew an olive tree, and Poseidon instead struck a fountain of water. Poseidon's fountain happened to be sea water rather than fresh water and so turned out to be useless, so by default Athena and her tree won, and Athens got its name.