Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the
mythical king and founder-hero of
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages.
Theseus is sometimes described as the son of
Aegeus, King of Athens, and sometimes as the son of the god
Poseidon
Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as ...
. He was raised by his mother,
Aethra, and, upon discovering his connection to Aegeus, travels overland to Athens, having many adventures on the way. When he reaches Athens, he finds that Aegeus is married to
Medea
In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jaso ...
(formerly wife of
Jason), who plots against him.
The most famous legend about Theseus is his slaying of the
Minotaur, half man and half bull. He then goes on to unite
Attica
Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean ...
under Athenian rule: the ''
synoikismos'' ('dwelling together'). As the unifying king, he is credited with building a palace on the fortress of the
Acropolis.
Pausanias reports that after ''synoikismos'', Theseus established a cult of
Aphrodite
Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols incl ...
('Aphrodite of all the People') on the southern slope of the Acropolis.
Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...
's ''Life of Theseus'' makes use of varying accounts of the death of the Minotaur, Theseus' escape, and his romantic involvement with and betrayal of
Ariadne
Ariadne (; grc-gre, Ἀριάδνη; la, Ariadne) was a Cretan princess in Greek mythology. She was mostly associated with mazes and labyrinths because of her involvement in the myths of the Minotaur and Theseus. She is best known for having ...
, daughter of
King Minos.
["May I therefore succeed in purifying Fable, making her submit to reason and take on the semblance of History. But where she obstinately disdains to make herself credible, and refuses to admit any element of probability, I shall pray for kindly readers, and such as receive with indulgence the tales of antiquity." (Plutarch, ''Life of Theseus'', translated by Bernadotte Perrin).]
Plutarch's avowed purpose is to construct a
life that parallels the ''Life of
Romulus'', the
founding myth of Rome. Plutarch's sources, not all of whose texts have survived independently, include
Pherecydes (mid-fifth century BCE), Demon (c. 400 BCE),
Philochorus, and
Cleidemus (both fourth century BCE). As the subject of myth, the existence of Theseus as a real person has not been proven, but scholars believe that he may have been alive during the Late Bronze Age, possibly as a king in the 8th or 9th century BCE.
Birth and early years
Aegeus, one of the primordial
kings of Athens, was childless. Desiring an heir, he asked the
Oracle of Delphi for advice. Her cryptic words were "Do not loosen the bulging mouth of the wineskin until you have reached the height of Athens, lest you die of grief." Aegeus did not understand the prophecy and was disappointed. He asked the advice of his host
Pittheus, king of
Troezen. Pittheus understood the prophecy, got Aegeus drunk, and gave Aegeus his daughter
Aethra.
But following the instructions of
Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of v ...
in a dream, Aethra left the sleeping Aegeus and waded across to the island of Sphairia that lay close to Troezen's shore. There, she poured a libation to Sphairos (Pelops's charioteer) and
Poseidon
Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as ...
and was possessed by the sea god in the night. The mix gave Theseus a combination of divine as well as mortal characteristics in his nature; such double paternity, with one immortal and one mortal, was a familiar feature of other
Greek heroes.
[The theory, expounded as natural history by ]Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...
, was accepted through the nineteenth century and only proven wrong in modern genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar work ...
: see Telegony. Sometimes in myth, the result could be twins, one born divine of a divine father, the other human of a human sire: see Dioscuri. Of a supposed Parnassos, founder of Delphi
Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The orac ...
, Pausanias observes, "Like the other heroes, as they are called, he had two fathers; one they say was the god Poseidon, the human father being Cleopompus." (''Description of Greece'' x.6.1). After Aethra became pregnant, Aegeus decided to return to Athens. Before leaving, however, he buried his sandals and sword under a huge rock
[Rock "which had a hollow in it just large enough to receive these objects," Plutarch says.] and told Aethra that when their son grew up, he should move the rock, if he were heroic enough, and take the tokens for himself as evidence of his royal parentage. In Athens, Aegeus was joined by
Medea
In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jaso ...
, who had left
Corinth
Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part ...
after slaughtering the children she had borne and had taken Aegeus as her new consort.
Thus Theseus was raised in his mother's land. When Theseus grew up to be a young man, he moved the rock and recovered his father's tokens. His mother then told him the truth about his father's identity and that he must take the sword and sandals back to the king
Aegeus to claim his birthright. To journey to Athens, Theseus could choose to go by sea (which was the safe way) or by land, following a dangerous path around the
Saronic Gulf
The Saronic Gulf ( Greek: Σαρωνικός κόλπος, ''Saronikós kólpos'') or Gulf of Aegina in Greece is formed between the peninsulas of Attica and Argolis and forms part of the Aegean Sea. It defines the eastern side of the isthmus of ...
, where he would encounter a string of six entrances to the
Underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwo ...
,
[Compared to Hercules and his Labours, "Theseus is occupied only with the sacred Entrances that are local to the lands of Athens" (Ruck and Staples 1994:204).] each guarded by a
chthonic enemy. Young, brave, and ambitious, Theseus decided to go alone by the land route and defeated many bandits along the way.
The Six Labours
The six entrances to the underworld, more commonly known as the Six Labours, are as follows:
* At the first site, which was
Epidaurus
Epidaurus ( gr, Ἐπίδαυρος) was a small city ('' polis'') in ancient Greece, on the Argolid Peninsula at the Saronic Gulf. Two modern towns bear the name Epidavros: '' Palaia Epidavros'' and '' Nea Epidavros''. Since 2010 they belong t ...
, sacred to
Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
and the healer
Asclepius
Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Greek religion and mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis, or Arsinoe, or of Apollo alone. Asclepius represen ...
, Theseus turned the tables on the chthonic bandit,
Periphetes, the Club Bearer, who beat his opponents into the Earth, taking from him the stout staff that often identifies Theseus in vase-paintings.
* At the
Isthmian entrance to the Underworld was a robber named
Sinis, often called "Pityokamptes" (). He would capture travelers, tie them between two
pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...
trees that were bent down to the ground, and then let the trees go,
tearing his victims apart. Theseus slew him by his own method. He then seduced Sinis's daughter,
Perigune
In Greek mythology, Perigune (Ancient Greek: Περιγούνη) was the beautiful daughter of Sinis. Her name is also spelled Perigouna, Perigone, and as Perigenia in Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''.
After Theseus killed her father, ...
, fathering the child
Melanippus.
* In another deed north of the
Isthmus, at a place called
Crommyon
Crommyon or Krommyon ( grc, Κρομμυών), or CromyonOvid ''Metamorphoses'' 7.435. or Kromyon (Κρομυών), or Cremmyon or Kremmyon (Κρεμμυών), was a small town of ancient Corinthia on the Saronic Gulf, but originally the last town ...
, he killed an enormous pig, the
Crommyonian Sow
The Crommyonian Sow ( grc, Ὕς Κρομμύων ''Hus Krommúōn'', also called (Phaia "Grey") after the woman who owned it) is a pig in Greek mythology.
Mythology
The Crommyonian Sow was a wild pig that ravaged the region around the villa ...
, bred by an old crone named Phaea. Some versions name the sow herself as Phaea. The ''
Bibliotheca'' by
Pseudo-Apollodorus described the Crommyonian Sow as an offspring of
Typhon and
Echidna.
* Near
Megara, a robber named
Sciron forced travelers along the narrow cliff-face pathway to wash his feet. While they knelt, he kicked them off the cliff behind them, where they were eaten by a giant turtle (or, in some versions, a sea monster). Theseus pushed him off the cliff where he was eaten as well.
* Another of these enemies was
Cercyon In Greek mythology, Cercyon ( Ancient Greek: Κερκύων, -ονος ''Kerkyon'') was the name of the following two figures:
* Cercyon, malefactor who was killed by Theseus.
* Cercyon, son of Agamedes, and the father of Hippothous, who succeed ...
, king at the holy site of
Eleusis, who challenged passers-by to a wrestling match and, when he had beaten them, killed them. Theseus beat Cercyon at wrestling and then killed him instead.
* The last bandit was
Procrustes the Stretcher, who had two beds, one of which he offered to passers-by in the plain of Eleusis. He then'' made'' them fit into it, either by stretching them or by cutting off their feet. Since he had two beds of different lengths, no one would fit. Theseus once again employed Procrustes' own method on him, cutting off his legs and decapitating him with his axe.
Medea, the Marathonian Bull, Androgeus, and the Pallantides
When Theseus arrived in Athens, he did not reveal his true identity immediately.
Aegeus gave him hospitality but was suspicious of the young, powerful stranger's intentions. Aegeus's consort
Medea
In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jaso ...
recognized Theseus immediately as Aegeus' son and worried that Theseus would be chosen as heir to Aegeus' kingdom instead of her son
Medus
In Greek mythology, Medus ( grc, Μῆδος) or Medeus ( or ) was an Athenian prince as the son of King Aegeus, thus a half-brother of the hero Theseus.
Family
Medus's mother was the Colchian witch Medea, daughter of King Aeëtes. In some acc ...
. She tried to arrange to have Theseus killed by asking him to capture the
Marathonian Bull, an emblem of Cretan power.
On the way to
Marathon, Theseus took shelter from a storm in the hut of an ancient woman named
Hecale
In Greek mythology, Hecale ( grc-gre, Ἑκάλη ''Hekálē'') was an old woman who offered succor to Theseus on his way to capture the Marathonian Bull.
Mythology
On the way to Marathon to capture the Bull, Theseus sought shelter from a s ...
. She swore to make a sacrifice to
Zeus if Theseus were successful in capturing the bull. Theseus did capture the bull, but when he returned to Hecale's hut, she was dead. In her honor, Theseus gave her name to one of the
deme
In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and ear ...
s of Attica, making its inhabitants in a sense her adopted children.
When Theseus returned victorious to Athens, where he sacrificed the Bull, Medea tried to poison him. At the last second, Aegeus recognized the sandals and the sword and knocked the poisoned wine cup from Theseus's hands. Thus father and son were reunited, and Medea fled to Asia.
When Theseus appeared in the town, his reputation had preceded him, as a result of his having traveled along the notorious coastal road from Troezen and slain some of the most feared bandits there. It was not long before the
Pallantides' hopes of succeeding the childless Aegeus would be lost if they did not get rid of Theseus (the Pallantides were the sons of
Pallas and nephews of King
Aegeus, who was then living at the royal court in the sanctuary of Delphic Apollo). So they set a trap for him. One band of them would march on the town from one side while another lay in wait near a place called Gargettus in ambush. The plan was that after Theseus, Aegeus, and the palace guards had been forced out the front, the other half would surprise them from behind. However, Theseus was not fooled. Informed of the plan by a herald named Leos, he crept out of the city at midnight and surprised the Pallantides. "Theseus then fell suddenly upon the party lying in ambush, and slew them all. Thereupon the party with Pallas dispersed," Plutarch reported.
Theseus and the Minotaur
Pasiphaë, wife of King
Minos of Crete, had several children. The eldest of these,
Androgeus
Androgeos or Androgeus ( Ancient Greek: Ἀνδρόγεως, la, Androgeum or Androgeōs derived from ''andros'' "of a man" and ''geos'', genitive ''gē'' "earth, land") was the name of two individuals in Classical mythology.
* Androgeus, son of ...
, set sail for Athens to take part in the
Panathenaic Games, which were held there every four years. Being strong and skillful, he did very well, winning some events outright. He soon became a crowd favorite, much to the resentment of the Pallantides, who assassinated him, incurring the wrath of Minos.
When King Minos heard what had befallen his son, he ordered the Cretan fleet to set sail for Athens. Minos asked Aegeus for his son's assassins, saying that if they were to be handed to him, the city would be spared. However, not knowing who the assassins were, King
Aegeus surrendered the whole city to Minos' mercy. His retribution was to stipulate that at the end of every
Great Year, which occurred after every seven cycles on the solar calendar, the seven most courageous youths and the seven most beautiful maidens were to board a boat and be sent as tribute to Crete, never to be seen again.
In another version, King Minos had waged war with the Athenians and was successful. He then demanded that, at nine-year intervals, seven Athenian boys and seven Athenian girls were to be sent to Crete to be devoured by the
Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull monster that lived in the
Labyrinth
In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by ...
created by
Daedalus
In Greek mythology, Daedalus (, ; Greek: Δαίδαλος; Latin: ''Daedalus''; Etruscan: ''Taitale'') was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. He is the father of Icarus, the uncle of Perdi ...
.
On the third occasion, Theseus volunteered to talk to the monster to stop this horror. He took the place of one of the youths and set off with a black sail, promising to his father, Aegeus, that if successful he would return with a white sail.
[Plutarch quotes ]Simonides
Simonides of Ceos (; grc-gre, Σιμωνίδης ὁ Κεῖος; c. 556–468 BC) was a Greek lyric poet, born in Ioulis on Ceos. The scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria included him in the canonical list of the nine lyric poets esteeme ...
to the effect that the alternate sail given by Aegeus was not white, but "a scarlet sail dyed with the tender flower of luxuriant holm oak." (Plutarch, 17.5). Like the others, Theseus was stripped of his weapons when they sailed. On his arrival in Crete,
Ariadne
Ariadne (; grc-gre, Ἀριάδνη; la, Ariadne) was a Cretan princess in Greek mythology. She was mostly associated with mazes and labyrinths because of her involvement in the myths of the Minotaur and Theseus. She is best known for having ...
, King Minos' daughter, fell in love with Theseus and, on the advice of Daedalus, gave him a ball of thread (a clew), so he could find his way out of the Labyrinth.
[Ariadne is sometimes represented in vase-paintings with the thread wound on her spindle.] That night, Ariadne escorted Theseus to the Labyrinth, and Theseus promised that if he returned from the Labyrinth he would take Ariadne with him. As soon as Theseus entered the Labyrinth, he tied one end of the ball of string to the doorpost and brandished his sword which he had kept hidden from the guards inside his tunic. Theseus followed Daedalus' instructions given to Ariadne: go forwards, always down, and never left or right. Theseus came to the heart of the Labyrinth and upon the sleeping Minotaur. The beast awoke and a tremendous fight occurred. Theseus overpowered the Minotaur with his strength and stabbed the beast in the throat with his sword (according to one ''
scholium'' on Pindar's Fifth Nemean Ode, Theseus strangled it).
After decapitating the beast, Theseus used the string to escape the Labyrinth and managed to escape with all of the young Athenians and Ariadne as well as her younger sister
Phaedra
Phaedra may refer to:
Mythology
* Phaedra (mythology), Cretan princess, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus
Arts and entertainment
* ''Phaedra'' (Alexandre Cabanel), an 1880 painting
Film
* ''Phaedra'' (film), a 1962 film by ...
. Then he and the rest of the crew fell asleep on the beach of the island of Naxos, where they stopped on their way back, looking for water. Theseus then abandoned Ariadne, where Dionysus eventually found and married her. Theseus forgot to put up the white sails instead of the black ones, so his father, the king, believing he was dead, died by suicide, throwing himself off a cliff of
Sounion and into the sea, causing this body of water to be named the Aegean Sea.
Ship of Theseus
According to
Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...
's ''Life of Theseus'', the ship Theseus used on his return from
Minoan Crete to
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
was kept in the Athenian harbor as a memorial for several centuries.
"The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
returned had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus,[Demetrius Phalereus was a distinguished orator and statesman, who governed Athens for a decade before being exiled, in 307 BCE.] for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their place..."
The ship had to be maintained in a seaworthy state, for, in return for Theseus's successful mission, the Athenians had pledged to honor
Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
every year henceforth. Thus, the Athenians sent a religious mission to the island of
Delos (one of Apollo's most sacred sanctuaries) on the Athenian state galley—the ship itself—to pay their fealty to the god. To preserve the purity of the occasion, no executions were permitted between the time when the religious ceremony began to when the ship returned from Delos, which took several weeks.
To preserve the ship, any wood that wore out or rotted was replaced; it was thus unclear to philosophers how much of the original ship remained, giving rise to the philosophical question of whether it should be considered "the same" ship or not. Such philosophical questions about the nature of identity are sometimes referred to as the "
Ship of Theseus
The Ship of Theseus is a thought experiment about whether an object that has had all of its original components replaced remains the same object. According to legend, Theseus, the mythical Greek founder-king of Athens, had rescued the children o ...
" paradox.
Regardless of these issues, the Athenians preserved the ship. They believed that Theseus had been an actual, historical figure and the ship gave them a tangible connection to their divine provenance.
Theseus and Pirithous
Theseus's best friend was
Pirithous
Pirithous (; grc-gre, Πειρίθοος or , derived from ; also transliterated as Perithous), in Greek mythology, was the King of the Lapiths of Larissa in Thessaly, as well as best friend to Theseus.
Biography
Pirithous was a son of ...
, king of the
Lapiths. Pirithous had heard stories of Theseus's courage and strength in battle but wanted proof so he rustled Theseus's herd of cattle and drove it from
Marathon and Theseus set out in pursuit. Pirithous took up his arms and the pair met to do battle but were so impressed with each other's gracefulness, beauty and courage they took an oath of friendship and joined the
Calydonian boar hunt
The Calydonian boar hunt is one of the great heroic adventures in Greek legend. It occurred in the generation prior to that of the Trojan War, and stands alongside the other great heroic adventure of that generation, the voyage of the Argonauts ...
.
In ''Iliad'' I,
Nestor numbers Pirithous and Theseus "of heroic fame" among an earlier generation of heroes of his youth, "the strongest men that Earth has bred, the strongest men against the strongest enemies, a savage mountain-dwelling tribe whom they utterly destroyed." No trace of such an oral tradition, which Homer's listeners would have recognized in Nestor's allusion, survived in the literary epic. Later, Pirithous was preparing to marry
Hippodamia. The
centaurs were guests at the wedding feast, but got drunk and tried to abduct the women, including Hippodamia. The Lapiths won the ensuing battle.
In
Ovid
Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom ...
's ''
Metamorphoses
The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his '' magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the ...
'' Theseus fights against and kills
Eurytus
Eurytus, Eurytos (; Ancient Greek: Εὔρυτος) or Erytus (Ἔρυτος) is the name of several characters in Greek mythology, and of at least one historical figure.
Mythological
*Eurytus, one of the Giants, sons of Gaia, killed by Dionysus ...
, the "fiercest of all the fierce centaurs" at the wedding of
Pirithous
Pirithous (; grc-gre, Πειρίθοος or , derived from ; also transliterated as Perithous), in Greek mythology, was the King of the Lapiths of Larissa in Thessaly, as well as best friend to Theseus.
Biography
Pirithous was a son of ...
and
Hippodamia.
Also according to Ovid, Phaedra, Theseus' wife, felt left out by her husband's love for Pirithous and she used this as an excuse to try to convince her stepson, Hippolytus, to accept being her lover, as Theseus also neglected his son because he preferred to spend long periods with his companion.
Abduction of Persephone and encounter with Hades
Theseus, a great abductor of women, and his bosom companion,
Pirithous
Pirithous (; grc-gre, Πειρίθοος or , derived from ; also transliterated as Perithous), in Greek mythology, was the King of the Lapiths of Larissa in Thessaly, as well as best friend to Theseus.
Biography
Pirithous was a son of ...
, since they were sons of Zeus and Poseidon, pledged themselves to marry daughters of Zeus. Theseus, in an old tradition, chose
Helen
Helen may refer to:
People
* Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world
* Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress
* Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
Places
* Helen, ...
, and together they kidnapped her, intending to keep her until she was old enough to marry. Pirithous chose
Persephone
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld aft ...
, even though she was already married to
Hades, king of the underworld. They left Helen with Theseus's mother,
Aethra at
Aphidna, whence she was rescued by the
Dioscuri.
On Pirithous's behalf they rather unwisely traveled to the underworld, domain of
Persephone
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld aft ...
and her husband
Hades. As they wandered through the outskirts of
Tartarus, Theseus sat down to rest on a rock. As he did so he felt his limbs change and grow stiff. He tried to rise but could not. He was fixed to the rock. As he turned to cry out to his friend, he saw that Pirithous too was crying out. Around him gathered the terrible band of
Furies with snakes in their hair, torches, and long whips in their hands. Before these monsters, the hero's courage failed and he was led away to eternal punishment.
For many months in half-darkness, Theseus sat immovably fixed to the rock, mourning for both his friend and for himself. In the end, he was rescued by
Heracles
Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...
who had come to the underworld for his 12th task. There he persuaded Persephone to forgive him for the part he had taken in the rash venture of Pirithous. So Theseus was restored to the upper air but Pirithous never left the kingdom of the dead, for when Heracles tried to free Pirithous, the underworld shook. They then decided the task was beyond any hero and left. When Theseus returned to Athens, he found that the
Dioscuri had taken Helen and Aethra to
Sparta
Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referr ...
.
Phaedra and Hippolytus
Phaedra
Phaedra may refer to:
Mythology
* Phaedra (mythology), Cretan princess, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus
Arts and entertainment
* ''Phaedra'' (Alexandre Cabanel), an 1880 painting
Film
* ''Phaedra'' (film), a 1962 film by ...
, Theseus' second wife and the daughter of King Minos, bore Theseus two sons,
Demophon and
Acamas. While these two were still in their infancy, Phaedra fell in love with
Hippolytus, Theseus' son by the
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
queen
Hippolyta
In Classical Greek mythology, Hippolyta, or Hippolyte (; grc-gre, Ἱππολύτη ''Hippolytē'') was a daughter of Ares and Otrera, queen of the Amazons, and a sister of Antiope and Melanippe. She wore her father Ares' ''zoster'', the Gre ...
. According to some versions of the story, Hippolytus had scorned
Aphrodite
Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols incl ...
to become a follower of
Artemis
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified with ...
, so Aphrodite made Phaedra fall in love with him as punishment. He rejected her out of chastity.
Alternatively, in Euripides' version, ''
Hippolytus'', Phaedra's nurse told Hippolytus of her mistress's love and he swore he would not reveal the nurse as his source of information. To ensure that she would
die with dignity, Phaedra wrote to Theseus on a tablet claiming that Hippolytus had raped her before hanging herself. Theseus believed her and used one of the three wishes he had received from
Poseidon
Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as ...
against his son. The curse caused Hippolytus' horses to be frightened by a sea monster, usually a bull, and drag their rider to his death. Artemis would later tell Theseus the truth, promising to avenge her loyal follower on another follower of Aphrodite.
In a version recounted by the Roman playwright
Seneca, entitled ''
Phaedra
Phaedra may refer to:
Mythology
* Phaedra (mythology), Cretan princess, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus
Arts and entertainment
* ''Phaedra'' (Alexandre Cabanel), an 1880 painting
Film
* ''Phaedra'' (film), a 1962 film by ...
'', after Phaedra told Theseus that Hippolytus had raped her, Theseus called upon Neptune (as he did Poseidon in Euripides' interpretation) to kill his son. Upon hearing the news of Hippolytus' death at the hands of Neptune's sea monster, Phaedra died by suicide out of guilt, for she had not intended for Hippolytus to die.
In yet another version, Phaedra simply told Theseus Hippolytus had raped her and did not kill herself.
Dionysus
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...
sent a wild bull that terrified Hippolytus's horses.
A cult grew up around Hippolytus, associated with the cult of
Aphrodite
Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols incl ...
. Girls who were about to be married offered locks of their hair to him. The cult believed that
Asclepius
Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Greek religion and mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis, or Arsinoe, or of Apollo alone. Asclepius represen ...
had resurrected Hippolytus and that he lived in a sacred forest near
Aricia in
Latium
Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire.
Definition
Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil ( Old Latium) on w ...
.
Other stories and death of Theseus
According to some sources, Theseus also was one of the
Argonauts, although
Apollonius of Rhodes
Apollonius of Rhodes ( grc, Ἀπολλώνιος Ῥόδιος ''Apollṓnios Rhódios''; la, Apollonius Rhodius; fl. first half of 3rd century BC) was an ancient Greek author, best known for the '' Argonautica'', an epic poem about Jason and ...
states in the ''
Argonautica
The ''Argonautica'' ( el, Ἀργοναυτικά , translit=Argonautika) is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only surviving Hellenistic epic, the ''Argonautica'' tells the myth of the voyage of Jas ...
'' that Theseus was still in the underworld at this time. Both statements are inconsistent with
Medea
In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jaso ...
being Aegeus' wife by the time Theseus first came to Athens. With Phaedra, Theseus fathered
Acamas, who was one of those who hid in the
Trojan Horse during the
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans ( Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and ...
. Theseus welcomed the wandering
Oedipus and helped
Adrastus to bury the
Seven against Thebes
The Seven against Thebes were seven champions in Greek mythology who made war on Thebes. They were chosen by Adrastus, the king of Argos, to be the captains of an Argive army whose purpose was to restore Oedipus' son Polynices to the Theban ...
.
Lycomedes of the island of
Skyros threw Theseus off a cliff after he had lost popularity in Athens. In 475 BCE, in response to an oracle,
Cimon of Athens, having conquered Skyros for the Athenians, identified as the remains of Theseus "a coffin of a great corpse with a bronze spear-head by its side and a sword." (Plutarch, ''Life of Theseus'').
The remains found by Cimon were reburied in Athens. The early modern name ''Theseion'' (Temple of Theseus) was mistakenly applied to the
Temple of Hephaestus which was thought to be the actual site of the
hero's tomb.
Adaptations of the myth
Literature
*
Sophocles
Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...
'
tragedy
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
''
Oedipus at Colonus'' features Theseus as a major character.
*
Euripides
Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars ...
' tragedy ''
Hippolytus'' and
Seneca's ''
Phaedra
Phaedra may refer to:
Mythology
* Phaedra (mythology), Cretan princess, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus
Arts and entertainment
* ''Phaedra'' (Alexandre Cabanel), an 1880 painting
Film
* ''Phaedra'' (film), a 1962 film by ...
'' revolve around the death of Theseus' son.
* In
Geoffrey Chaucer's epic chivalric romance "
The Knight's Tale
"The Knight's Tale" ( enm, The Knightes Tale) is the first tale from Geoffrey Chaucer's '' The Canterbury Tales''.
The Knight is described by Chaucer in the " General Prologue" as the person of highest social standing amongst the pilgrims, t ...
", one of the ''
Canterbury Tales
''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's '' magnum opu ...
'', Theseus is the duke of Athens, husband of Ypolita, and protector of Emelye, Ypolita's sister, for whom the two knights of Thebes, Arcite and Palamon, do battle.
*
Jakob Ayrer
Jakob Ayrer (c. 1543 – March 26, 1605 or in 1625) was a German playwright and author of '' Fastnachtsspiele'' ( carnival or Shrovetide plays).
Life
Little is known of Ayrer's living circumstances. He lived as an ironmonger in Nuremberg, prob ...
wrote the play ''Theseus'' (1618)
*
Racine
Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditi ...
's ''
Phèdre'' (1677) features Theseus as well as Hippolytus and the title character Phaedra.
* Theseus is a prominent character as the Duke of Athens in
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's plays, ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream'' and ''
The Two Noble Kinsmen
''The Two Noble Kinsmen'' is a Jacobean tragicomedy, first published in 1634 and attributed jointly to John Fletcher and William Shakespeare. Its plot derives from " The Knight's Tale" in Geoffrey Chaucer's '' The Canterbury Tales'', which ...
''.
Hippolyta
In Classical Greek mythology, Hippolyta, or Hippolyte (; grc-gre, Ἱππολύτη ''Hippolytē'') was a daughter of Ares and Otrera, queen of the Amazons, and a sister of Antiope and Melanippe. She wore her father Ares' ''zoster'', the Gre ...
also appears in both plays.
*
F. L. Lucas
Frank Laurence Lucas (28 December 1894 – 1 June 1967) was an English classical scholar, literary critic, poet, novelist, playwright, political polemicist, Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, and intelligence officer at Bletchley Park during ...
's epic poem ''Ariadne'' (1932) is an epic reworking of the Labyrinth myth: Aegle, one of the sacrificial maidens who accompany Theseus to Crete, is Theseus's sweetheart, the Minotaur is Minos himself in a bull-mask, and Ariadne, learning on Naxos of Theseus's earlier love for Aegle, decides to leave him for the Ideal
ionysus
*
André Gide's ''Thésée'' (1946) is a fictional autobiography where the mythical hero of Athens, now elderly, narrates his life story from his carefree youth to his killing of the Minotaur.
*
Mary Renault's ''
The King Must Die'' (1958) is a dramatic retelling of the Theseus legend from his childhood in Troizen until the return from Crete to Athens. While fictional, it is generally faithful to the spirit and flavor of the best-known variations of the original story. The sequel is ''
The Bull from the Sea'' (1962), about the hero's later career.
*
Evangeline Walton's historical fiction novel ''
The Sword is Forged'' (1983) chronicles the story of Theseus and Antiope.
*
Fran Ross
Fran Ross (June 25, 1935 – September 17, 1985) was an African-American author best known for her 1974 novel ''Oreo''. She briefly wrote comedy for Richard Pryor.
Early childhood
Born on June 25, 1935, in Philadelphia, she was the eldest dau ...
' 1974 novel
''Oreo'' draws heavily from the Theseus myth.
*
Stephen Dobyns, wrote the poem ''Theseus within the Labyrinth'' (1986) which provides a retelling of the myth of Ariadne, Theseus and the Minotaur, in particular the feelings of Ariadne.
* In issue No. 12 of the
'' Fright Night'' comic series, entitled ''Bull-Whipped'', Theseus and the Minotaur are resurrected by the comic's Aunt Claudia Hinault, who is the reincarnation of
Ariadne
Ariadne (; grc-gre, Ἀριάδνη; la, Ariadne) was a Cretan princess in Greek mythology. She was mostly associated with mazes and labyrinths because of her involvement in the myths of the Minotaur and Theseus. She is best known for having ...
.
*
Kir Bulychov
Kir Bulychev (russian: Кир Булычёв ''Kir Bulychyov 18 October 1934 – 5 September 2003) is a pen name of Igor Vsevolodovich Mozheiko (И́горь Все́володович Може́йко), a Soviet Russian science fiction writer, c ...
's 1993 book ''An Attempt on Theseus' Life'' () is about a plot to assassinate a man during a
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), edu ...
tour in which he lives through Theseus' life.
*
Aleksey Ryabinin
Aleksey Valerievich Ryabinin (russian: link=no, Алексей Валерьевич Рябинин, born April 3, 1970) is a Russian Public Ombudsman for Copyright and Intellectual Property. Russian economist, politician and writer. Member of th ...
's book ''Theseus: The story of ancient gods, goddesses, kings, and warriors'' (2018) provides a retelling of the myths of Theseus, Aegeus, Minotaur, Ariadne, Pirithous and other personages of Greek mythology.
*
Troy Denning's 1996 novel ''Pages of Pain'' features an amnesic Theseus fighting to recover his past while interacting with some of the more colorful beings of the
Planescape
''Planescape'' is a campaign setting for the '' Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, designed by Zeb Cook, and published in 1994. It crosses numerous planes of existence, encompassing an entire cosmology called the Great Wheel, as d ...
universe.
*
Steven Pressfield's novel ''
Last of the Amazons'' (2002) attempts to situate Theseus's meeting and subsequent marriage to Antiope, as well as the ensuing war, in a historically plausible setting.
*
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known b ...
presents a variation of the myth in a short story, "
The House of Asterion
"The House of Asterion" (original Spanish title: "") is a short story by Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. The story was first published in 1947 in the literary magazine ''Los Anales de Buenos Aires'' and republished in Borges's short story ...
" ().
* British comedian
Tony Robinson wrote a version of the Theseus story entitled ''Theseus: Super Hero''.
* In
Gene Wolfe's
Book of the New Sun
''The Book of the New Sun'' (1980–1983) is a four volume, science fantasy novel written by the American author Gene Wolfe. It inaugurated the "Solar Cycle" that Wolfe continued by setting other works in the same universe (''The Urth of the N ...
, set in a very distant future, the protagonist reads a story which appears to blend the myth of Theseus with the story of
Battle of Hampton Roads
The Battle of Hampton Roads, also referred to as the Battle of the ''Monitor'' and ''Virginia'' (rebuilt and renamed from the USS ''Merrimack'') or the Battle of Ironclads, was a naval battle during the American Civil War.
It was fought over t ...
- presumably because of a confusion between the Minotaur and the
USS Monitor. (In this version, the Theseus character is now a
a student's son.)
Opera, film, television and video game
* ''
Thésée'' (1675) is an early French opera by
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste Lully ( , , ; born Giovanni Battista Lulli, ; – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-born French composer, guitarist, violinist, and dancer who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas ...
to a
libretto by
Philippe Quinault, based on Ovid.
* ''
Teseo'' (1713) is an
opera seria by
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...
to a libretto by
Nicola Francesco Haym, based on Quinault.
* The opera ''
Hippolyte et Aricie
('' Hippolytus and Aricia'') was the first opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau. It was premiered to great controversy by the Académie Royale de Musique at its theatre in the Palais-Royal in Paris on October 1, 1733. The French libretto, by Abbé Sim ...
'' (1733) by
Jean-Philippe Rameau, based on Racine, features Theseus as a character.
* Fictionalized versions of Theseus and the Minotaur appear in the 1960 Italian
sword-and-sandal
Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (pepla plural), is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or Biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget ...
film ''
Teseo contro il Minotauro'' and the 2006 horror film ''
Minotaur''.
* The video game ''
Hades'' has Theseus, along with the
Minotaur (named Asterius in game) acting as the bosses of
Elysium, the third level of the game.
* The film
Immortals (2011), a unique and modernized adaptation of the legend, features
Henry Cavill as Theseus in a battle to save humanity from the evil man-King Hyperion, who seeks to release imprisoned
Titans to contest the Gods.
References
Notes
Citations
Further reading
Primary sources
* Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''
Bibliotheca''
*
Ovid
Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom ...
,
Metamorphoses
The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his '' magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the ...
*
Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...
,
Theseus'
Secondary sources
*
Burkert, Walter, ''Greek Religion'' (1985)
*
Stephen Dobyns, ''Theseus within the Labyrinth'' (1986) https://www.jstor.org/stable/20600617
*
Kerényi, Karl, ''The Heroes of the Greeks'' (1959)
* Price, Anne, ''The Quest for Theseus'' (London, 1970) examines the Theseus-Minotaur-Ariadne myth and its historical basis, and later treatments and adaptations of it in Western culture.
* Ruck, Carl A.P. and Danny Staples, ''The World of Classical Myth'': ch. IX "Theseus: making the new Athens" (1994), pp. 203–222.
* Sideris, Athanasios
''Theseus in Thrace. The silver lining on the clouds of the Athenian-Thracian relations in the 5th century BC''(Sofia, 2015) presents new iconographical sources and examines the role of Theseus in the state ideology of Athens and its gift-diplomacy with Thrace.
* Walker, Henry J., ''Theseus and Athens'', Oxford University Press (US 1995). The most thorough scholarly examination of Theseus's archaic origins and classical myth and cult, and his place in classical literature.
External links
Greek Myth Comix: The Story of Theseus, Pt. 1Pt. 2Pt. 3
The story of Theseus in comic-strip format, b
Greek Myth Comix
{{S-end
Greek mythological heroes
Mythological swordfighters
Argonauts
Founding monarchs
Kings of Athens
Kings in Greek mythology
Children of Poseidon
Demigods in classical mythology
Heroes who ventured to Hades
Characters in Book VI of the Aeneid
Attican characters in Greek mythology
Characters in Greek mythology
Male Shakespearean characters
Characters in A Midsummer Night's Dream
Mythological kings