In
Greek mythology, 'Cranaus' was the second
King of
Athens, succeeding
Cecrops I.
He was autochthonous (born from the earth), like his predecessor. During his reign the flood of the
Deucalion story was thought to have occurred. He married
Pedias, a
Spartan woman, with whom he had Cranae, Cranaechme, and
Atthis. Atthis gave her name to
Attica after dying, possibly as a young girl, although in other traditions she was the mother, by
Hephaestus, of
Erichthonius.
Cranaus was deposed by
Amphictyon son of
Deucalion, who was himself later deposed by Erichthonius.