It's very common to hear of Greeks in mythology being descended from the Greek gods. But how often did this actually happen in Greek society? Were these claims ever challenged and how did it affect concepts like paternity for monarchies?
I'm mostly curious for the Classical period just because we have better records but I'm also interested in the Ancient Period as well if there is examples outside of the mythos.
I can't give you a fully fledged analyses, but as a history student I have only ever heard of one guy who claimed something like this, Alexander of Abonoteichos.
Alexander acted during the time of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180), so more the a half century after the 'classic' era. Alexander established an Oracle (like the famous one in Delphi) in his home town Abonoteichos where he predicted the future and healed sick people. There he convinced the people of the area that Greek god Apollo was about to be born again, in the form of a snake called Glycon. He then build a snake with a human hand as some sort of sock-puppet and spoke through her, convincing the people of her girls Nature. Alexander profited from the whole operation through increasing amounts of fame, influence and money. Also not everybody beliefert him, he was able to continue his practices until his death of old age. So he didn't claim himself being a descendant of a god, but it's kinda similar.
This being the only example I know of, does not mean it did not happen much more often. Maybe some minor cases were not worth of noting down, not worth of preservation (most ancient texts preserved through Christian monasteries who copied the texts) or I simply do not know about them.
I'm not a native speaker, so I hope I made everything clear and excuse for any mistakes.