Deucalion (mythology)

   Deucalion, in Greek mythology, an ancient Greek king, the son of Prometheus and Clymene and the husband of Pyrrha. When Zeus, angered by the wickedness of all men, determined to destroy them with a flood, Prometheus advised Deucalion and Pyrrha to build an ark. During the flood the couple took shelter in the ark and were the only mortals to survive. After the flood subsided, they were advised by Themis, the goddess of justice, to renew the human race by casting behind them the bones of their mother. When Deucalion realized that these bones were the stones of Gaea (earth), the mother of all men, he and Pyrrha obeyed. The stones cast by Deucalion turned into men, and those thrown by Pyrrha became women. Deucalion and Pyrrha were the parents of Hellen, who gave his name to the ancient Greeks, or Hellenes. According to legend, Deucalion was the first King of the Hellenes.