Hippothoon or Hippothous is a figure in Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, often described as the King of Eleusis after the death of Cercyon

Cercyon

Cercyon - Κερκύων was a figure in Greek mythology. He was the King of Eleusis, and a very strong man. According to the different versions, he was the son of:*Poseidon and one of the daughters of Amphictyon, or...

; however, Theseus

Theseus

For other uses, see Theseus Theseus was the mythical founder-king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, both of whom Aethra had slept with in one night. Theseus was a founder-hero, like Perseus, Cadmus, or Heracles, all of whom battled and overcame foes that were...

 was sometimes said to have taken the throne from Cercyon after his death.

The story of Hippothoon's birth was unusual. Poseidon

Poseidon

Poseidon was the god of the sea, and, as "Earth-Shaker," of the earthquakes in Greek mythology. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...

 had an affair (some say rape) with Alope

Alope

Alopê was in Greek mythology a mortal woman, the daughter of Cercyon, known for her great beauty. Poseidon, in the guise of a kingfisher, seduced Alope, his granddaughter through Cercyon, and from the union she gave birth to Hippothoon...

, Cercyon's daughter, who begat Hippothoon. Cercyon had his daughter buried alive but Poseidon turned her into the spring, Alope, near Eleusis.