cheated Aegeus into an intrigue with Aethra. Afterwards, when he
discovered that he had conversed with the daughter of Pittheus, as he
imagined that she might prove with child, he left behind him his sword
and sandals hidden under a great stone, which had a hollow inside it
exactly fitting them. This he told to Aethra alone, and charged her if a
son of his should be born, and on growing to man's estate should be able
to lift the stone and take from under it the deposit, that she should
send him at once with these things to himself, in all secrecy, and as
far as possible concealing his journey from observation. For he greatly
feared the sons of Pallas, who plotted against him, and despised him on
account of his childlessness, they themselves being fifty brothers, all
the sons of Pallas.
[Footnote A: Autochthones was the name by which the original citizens of
Athens called themselves, meaning that they were sprung from the soil
itself, not immigrants from some other country.]
IV. When Aethra's child was born, some writers say that he was at once
named Theseus, from the tokens placed under the stone; others say that
he was afterwards so named at Athens, when Aegeus acknowledged him as
his son. He was brought up by his grandfather Pittheus, and had a master
and tutor, Konnidas, to whom even to the present day, the Athenians
sacrifice a ram on the day before the feast of Theseus, a mark of
respect which is much more justly due to him, than those which they pay
to Silanion and Parrhasius, who have only made pictures and statues of
Theseus.
V. As it was at that period still the custom for those who were coming
to man's estate to go to Delphi and offer to the god the first-fruits of
their hair (which was then cut for the first time),[A] Theseus went to
Delphi, and they say that a place there is even to this day named after
him. But he only cut the front part of his hair, as Homer tells us the
Abantes did, and this fashion of cutting the hair was called Theseus's
fashion because of him. The Abantes first began to cut their hair in
this manner, not having, as some say, been taught to do so by the
Arabians, nor yet from any wish to imitate the Mysians, but because they
were a warlike race, and met their foes in close combat, and studied
above all to come to a hand-to-hand fight with their enemy, as
Archilochus bears witness in his verses:
"They use no slings nor bows,
Euboea's martial lords,
But hand to hand they close
And conquer with their swords."
So they cut their hair short in front, that their enemies might not
grasp it. And they say that Alexander of Macedon for the same reason
ordered his generals to have the beards of the Macedonians shaved,
because they were a convenient handle for the enemy to grasp.
[Footnote A: The first cutting of the hair was always an occasion of
solemnity among the Greeks, the hair being dedicated to some god. The
first instance of this is in Homer's Iliad, where Achilles speaks of
having dedicated his hair to the river Spercheius. The Athenian youth
offered their hair to Herakles. The Roman emperor Nero, in later times,
imitated this custom.]
VI. Now while he was yet a child, Aethra concealed the real parentage of
Theseus, and a story was circulated by Pittheus that his father was
Poseidon. For the people of Troezen have an especial reverence for
Poseidon; he is their tutelar deity; to him they offer first-fruits of
their harvest, and they stamp their money with the trident as their
badge. But when he was grown into a youth, and proved both strong in
body and of good sound sense, then Aethra led him to the stone, told him
the truth about his father, and bade him take the tokens from beneath it
and sail to Athens with them. He easily lifted the stone, but determined
not to go to Athens by sea, though the voyage was a safe and easy one,
and though his mother and his grandfather implored him to go that way.
By land it was a difficult matter to reach Athens, as the whole way was
infested with robbers and bandits. That time, it seems, produced men of
great and unwearied strength and swiftness, who made no good use of
these powers, but treated all men with overbearing insolence, taking
advantage of their strength to overpower and slay all who fell into
their hands, and disregarding justice and right and kindly feeling,
which they said were only approved of by those who dared not do injury
to others, or feared to be injured themselves, while men who could get
the upper hand by force might disregard them. Of these ruffians,
Herakles in his wanderings cut off a good many, but others had escaped
him by concealing themselves, or had been contemptuously spared by him
on account of their insignificance. But Herakles had the misfortune to
kill Iphitus, and thereupon sailed to Lydia and was for a long time a
slave in that country under Omphale, which condition he had imposed upon
himself as a penance for the murder of his friend. During this period
the country of Lydia enjoyed peace and repose; but in Greece the old
plague of brigandage broke out afresh, as there was now no one to put it
down. So that the journey overland to Athens from Peloponnesus was full
of peril; and Pittheus, by relating to Theseus who each of these
evildoers was, and how they treated strangers, tried to prevail upon him
to go by sea. But it appears that Theseus had for a long time in his
heart been excited by the renown of Herakles for courage: he thought
more of him than of any one else, and loved above all to listen to those
who talked of him, especially if they had seen and spoken to him. Now he
could no longer conceal that he was in the same condition as
Themistokles in later times, when he said that the trophy of Miltiades
would not let him sleep. Just so did the admiration which Theseus
conceived for Herakles make him dream by night of his great exploits,
and by day determine to equal them by similar achievements of his own.
VII. As it happened, they were connected, being second cousins; for
Aethra was the daughter of Pittheus, and Alkmena the daughter of
Lysidike, and Lysidike and Pittheus were brother and sister, being the
children of Pelops and Hippodameia. So Theseus thought that it would be
a great and unbearable disgrace to him that his cousin should go
everywhere and clear the sea and land of the brigands who infested them,
and he should refuse to undertake the adventures that came in his way;
throwing discredit upon his reputed father by a pusillanimous flight by
sea, and upon his real father by bringing him only the sandals and an
unfleshed sword, and not proving his noble birth by the evidence of some
brave deed accomplished by him. In this spirit he set out on his
journey, with the intention of doing wrong to no one, but of avenging
himself on any one who offered wrong to him.
VIII. And first in Epidaurus he slew Periphetes, who used a club as his
weapon, and on this account was called the club-bearer, because he laid
hands upon him and forbade him to proceed farther on his way. The club
took his fancy, and he adopted it as a weapon, and always used it, just
as Herakles used his lion's skin; for the skin was a proof of how huge a
beast the wearer had overcome, while the club, invincible in the hands
of Theseus, had yet been worsted when used against him. At the Isthmus
he destroyed Sinis the Pine-bender by the very device by which he had
slain so many people, and that too without having ever practised the
art, proving that true valour is better than practice and training.
Sinis had a daughter, a tall and beautiful girl, named Perigoune. When
her father fell she ran and hid herself. Theseus sought her everywhere,
but she fled into a place where wild asparagus grew thick, and with a
simple child-like faith besought the plants to conceal her, as if they
could understand her words, promising that if they did so she never
would destroy or burn them. However, when Theseus called to her,
pledging himself to take care of her and do her no hurt, she came out,
and afterwards bore Theseus a son, named Melanippus. She afterwards was
given by Theseus in marriage to Deïoneus, the son of Eurytus of
Oechalia. Ioxus, a son of Melanippus, and Theseus's grandchild, took
part in Ornytus's settlement in Caria; and for this reason the
descendants of Ioxus have a family custom not to burn the asparagus
plant, but to reverence and worship it.
IX. Now the wild sow of Krommyon, whom they called Phaia, was no
ordinary beast, but a fierce creature and hard to conquer. This animal
he turned out of his way to destroy, that it might not be thought that
he performed his exploits of necessity. Besides, he said, a brave man
need only punish wicked men when they came in his way, but that in the
case of wild beasts he must himself seek them out and attack them. Some
say that Phaia was a murderous and licentious woman who carried on
brigandage at Krommyon, and was called a sow from her life and habits,
and that Theseus put her to death.
X. Before coming to Megara he slew Skeiron by flinging him down a
precipice into the sea, so the story runs, because he was a robber, but
some say that from arrogance he used to hold out his feet to strangers
and bid them wash them, and that then he kicked the washers into the
sea. But Megarian writers, in opposition to common tradition, and, as
Simonides says, "warring with all antiquity," say that Skeiron was not
an arrogant brigand, but repressed brigandage, loved those who were good
and just, and was related to them. For, they point out, Aeakus is
thought to have been the most righteous of all the Greeks, and Kychreus
of Salamis was worshipped as a god, and the virtue of Peleus and Telamon
is known to all. Yet Skeiron was the son-in-law of Kychreus, and
father-in-law of Aeakus, and grandfather of Peleus and Telamon, who were
both of them sons of Endeis, the daughter of Skeiron and his wife
Chariklo. It is not then reasonable to suppose that these, the noblest
men of their time, would make alliances with a malefactor, and give and
receive from him what they prized most dearly. But they say that Theseus
slew Skeiron, not when he first went to Athens, but that afterwards he
took the town of Eleusis which belonged to the Megarians, by dealing
treacherously with Diokles, who was the chief magistrate there, and that
on that occasion he killed Skeiron. This is what tradition says on both
sides.
XI. At Eleusis Theseus overcame Kerkyon of Arcadia in wrestling and
killed him, and after journeying a little farther he killed Damastes,
who was surnamed Prokroustes, by compelling him to fit his own body to
his bed, just as he used to fit the bodies of strangers to it. This he
did in imitation of Herakles; for he used to retort upon his aggressors
the same treatment which they intended for him. Thus Herakles offered up
Busiris as a sacrifice, and overcame Antaeus in wrestling, and Kyknus in
single combat, and killed Termerus by breaking his skull. This is, they
say, the origin of the proverb, "A Termerian mischief," for Termerus, it
seems, struck passers-by with his head, and so killed them. So also did
Theseus sally forth and chastise evildoers, making them undergo the same
cruelties which they practised on others, thus justly punishing them for
their crimes in their own wicked fashion.
XII. As he proceeded on his way, and reached the river Kephisus, men of
the Phytalid race were the first to meet and greet him. He demanded to
be purified from the guilt of bloodshed, and they purified him, made
propitiatory offerings, and also entertained him in their houses, being
the first persons from whom he had received any kindness on his journey.
It is said to have been on the eighth day of the month Kronion, which is
now called Hekatombeion, that he came to his own city. On entering it he
found public affairs disturbed by factions, and the house of Aegeus in
great disorder; for Medea, who had been banished from Corinth, was
living with Aegeus, and had engaged by her drugs to enable Aegeus to
have children. She was the first to discover who Theseus was, while
Aegeus, who was an old man, and feared every one because of the
disturbed state of society, did not recognise him. Consequently she
advised Aegeus to invite him to a feast, that she might poison him.
Theseus accordingly came to Aegeus's table. He did not wish to be the
first to tell his name, but, to give his father an opportunity of
recognising him, he drew his sword, as if he meant to cut some of the
meat with it, and showed it to Aegeus. Aegeus at once recognised it,
overset the cup of poison, looked closely at his son and embraced him.
He then called a public meeting and made Theseus known as his son to the
citizens, with whom he was already very popular because of his bravery.
It is said that when the cup was overset the poison was spilt in the
place where now there is the enclosure in the Delphinium, for there
Aegeus dwelt; and the Hermes to the east of the temple there they call
the one who is "at the door of Aegeus."
XIII. But the sons of Pallas, who had previously to this expected that
they would inherit the kingdom on the death of Aegeus without issue, now
that Theseus was declared the heir, were much enraged, first that
Aegeus should be king, a man who was merely an adopted child of Pandion,
and had no blood relationship to Erechtheus, and next that Theseus, a
stranger and a foreigner, should inherit the kingdom. They consequently
declared war. Dividing themselves into two bodies, the one proceeded to
march openly upon the city from Sphettus, under the command of Pallas
their father, while the other lay in ambush at Gargettus, in order that
they might fall upon their opponents on two sides at once. But there was
a herald among them named Leos, of the township of Agnus, who betrayed
the plans of the sons of Pallas to Theseus. He suddenly attacked those
who were in ambush, and killed them all, hearing which the other body
under Pallas dispersed. From this time forth they say that the township
of Pallene has never intermarried with that of Agnus, and that it is not
customary amongst them for heralds to begin a proclamation with the
words "Acouete Leo," (Oyez) for they hate the name of Leo[A] because of
the treachery of that man.
[Footnote A: The Greek word _leos_ signifies people.]
XIV. Now Theseus, who wished for employment and also to make himself
popular with the people, went to attack the bull of Marathon, who had
caused no little trouble to the inhabitants of Tetrapolis. He overcame
the beast, and drove it alive through the city for all men to see, and
then sacrificed it to Apollo of Delphi. Hekale, too, and the legend of
her having entertained Theseus, does not seem altogether without
foundation in fact; for the people of the neighbouring townships used to
assemble and perform what was called the Hekalesian sacrifice to Zeus
Hekalus, and they also used to honour Hekale, calling her by the
affectionate diminutive Hekaline, because she also, when feasting
Theseus, who was very young, embraced him in a motherly way, and used
such like endearing diminutives. She also made a vow on Theseus's
behalf, when he was going forth to battle, that if he returned safe she
would sacrifice to Zeus; but as she died before he returned, she had the
above-mentioned honours instituted by command of Theseus, as a grateful
return for her hospitality. This is the legend as told by Philochorus.
XV. Shortly after this the ship from Crete arrived for the third time
to collect the customary tribute. Most writers agree that the origin of
this was, that on the death of Androgeus, in Attica, which was ascribed
to treachery, his father Minos went to war, and wrought much evil to the
country, which at the same time was afflicted by scourges from Heaven
(for the land did not bear fruit, and there was a great pestilence and
the rivers sank into the earth). So that as the oracle told the
Athenians that, if they propitiated Minos and came to terms with him,
the anger of Heaven would cease and they should have a respite from
their sufferings, they sent an embassy to Minos and prevailed on him to
make peace, on the condition that every nine years they should send him
a tribute of seven youths and seven maidens. The most tragic of the
legends states these poor children when they reached Crete were thrown
into the Labyrinth, and there either were devoured by the Minotaur or
else perished with hunger, being unable to find the way out. The
Minotaur, as Euripides tells us, was
"A form commingled, and a monstrous birth,
Half man, half bull, in twofold shape combined."
XVI. Philochorus says that the Cretans do not recognise this story, but
say that the Labyrinth was merely a prison, like any other, from which
escape was impossible, and that Minos instituted gymnastic games in
honour of Androgeus, in which the prizes for the victors were these
children, who till then were kept in the Labyrinth. Also they say that
the victor in the first contest was a man of great power in the state, a
general of the name of Taurus, who was of harsh and savage temper, and
ill-treated the Athenian children. And Aristotle himself, in his
treatise on the constitution of the Bottiaeans, evidently does not
believe that the children were put to death by Minos, but that they
lived in Crete as slaves, until extreme old age; and that one day the
Cretans, in performance of an ancient vow, sent first-fruits of their
population to Delphi. Among those who were thus sent were the
descendants of the Athenians, and, as they could not maintain themselves
there, they first passed over to Italy, and there settled near
Iapygium, and from thence again removed to Thrace, and took the name of
Bottiaeans. For this reason, the Bottiaean maidens when performing a
certain sacrifice sing "Let us go to Athens." Thus it seems to be a
terrible thing to incur the hatred of a city powerful in speech and
song; for on the Attic stage Minos is always vilified and traduced, and
though he was called "Most Kingly" by Hesiod, and "Friend of Zeus" by
Homer, it gained him no credit, but the playwrights overwhelmed him with
abuse, styling him cruel and violent. And yet Minos is said to have been
a king and a lawgiver, and Rhadamanthus to have been a judge under him,
carrying out his decrees.
XVII. So when the time of the third payment of the tribute arrived, and
those fathers who had sons not yet grown up had to submit to draw lots,
the unhappy people began to revile Aegeus, complaining that he, although
the author of this calamity, yet took no share in their affliction, but
endured to see them left childless, robbed of their own legitimate
offspring, while he made a foreigner and a bastard the heir to his
kingdom. This vexed Theseus, and determining not to hold aloof, but to
share the fortunes of the people, he came forward and offered himself
without being drawn by lot. The people all admired his courage and
patriotism, and Aegeus finding that his prayers and entreaties had no
effect on his unalterable resolution, proceeded to choose the rest by
lot. Hellanikus says that the city did not select the youths and maidens
by lot, but that Minos himself came thither and chose them, and that he
picked out Theseus first of all, upon the usual conditions, which were
that the Athenians should furnish a ship, and that the youths should
embark in it and sail with him, not carrying with them any weapon of
war; and that when the Minotaur was slain, the tribute should cease.
Formerly, no one had any hope of safety; so they used to send out the
ship with a black sail, as if it were going to a certain doom; but now
Theseus so encouraged his father, and boasted that he would overcome the
Minotaur, that he gave a second sail, a white one, to the steersman, and
charged him on his return, if Theseus were safe, to hoist the white one,
if not, the black one as a sign of mourning. But Simonides says that it
was not a white sail which was given by Aegeus, but "a scarlet sail
embrued in holm oak's juice," and that this was agreed on by him as the
signal of safety. The ship was steered by Phereklus the son of Amarsyas,
according to Simonides.
But Philochorus says that Theseus had one Nausithous sent him from
Skirus of Salamis, to steer the ship, and Phaeax to act as look-out, as
the Athenians had not yet turned their attention to the sea.
One of the youths chosen by lot was Menestheos the son of Skirus's
daughter. The truth of this account is attested by the shrines of
Nausithous and Phaeax, which Theseus built at Phalerum, and by the feast
called the Kybernesia or pilot's festival, which is held in their
honour.
XVIII. When the lots were drawn Theseus brought the chosen youths from
the Prytaneum, and proceeding to the temple of the Delphian Apollo,
offered the suppliants' bough to Apollo on their behalf. This was a
bough of the sacred olive-tree bound with fillets of white wool. And
after praying he went to sea on the sixth day of the month Munychion, on
which day even now they send maidens as suppliants to the temple of the
Delphian Apollo. And there is a legend that the Delphian oracle told him
that Aphrodite would be his guide and fellow-traveller, and that when he
was sacrificing a she-goat to her by the seaside, it became a he-goat;
wherefore the goddess is called Epitragia.
XIX. When they reached Crete, according to most historians and poets,
Ariadne fell in love with him, and from her he received the clue of
string, and was taught how to thread the mazes of the Labyrinth. He slew
the Minotaur, and, taking with him Ariadne and the youths, sailed away.
Pherekydes also says that Theseus also knocked out the bottoms of the
Cretan ships, to prevent pursuit. But Demon says that Taurus, Minos's
general, was slain in a sea-fight in the harbour, when Theseus sailed
away. But according to Philochorus, when Minos instituted his games,
Taurus was expected to win every prize, and was grudged this honour; for
his great influence and his unpopular manners made him disliked, and
scandal said, that he was too intimate with Pasiphae. On this account,
when Theseus offered to contend with him, Minos agreed. And, as it was
the custom in Crete for women as well as men to be spectators of the
games, Ariadne was present, and was struck with the appearance of
Theseus, and his strength, as he conquered all competitors. Minos was
especially pleased, in the wrestling match, at Taurus's defeat and
shame, and, restoring the children to Theseus, remitted the tribute for
the future. Kleidemus tells the story in his own fashion and at
unnecessary length, beginning much farther back. There was, he says, a
decree passed by all the Greeks, that no ship should sail from any post
with more than five hands on board, but Jason alone, the master of the
great ship Argo, should cruise about, and keep the sea free of pirates.
Now when Daedalus fled to Athens, Minos, contrary to the decree, pursued
him in long war galleys, and being driven to Sicily by a storm, died
there. When his son Deukalion sent a warlike message to the Athenians,
bidding them give up Daedalus to him, or else threatening that he would
put to death the children whom Minos had taken as hostages, Theseus
returned him a gentle answer, begging for the life of Daedalus, who was
his own cousin and blood relation, being the son of Merope, the daughter
of Erechtheus. But he busied himself with building a fleet, some of it
in Attica, in the country of the Thymaitadae, far from any place of
resort of strangers, and some in Troezen, under the management of
Pittheus, as he did not wish his preparations to be known. But when the
ships were ready to set sail, having with him as pilots, Daedalus
himself and some Cretan exiles, as no one knew that he was coming, and
the Cretans thought that it was a friendly fleet that was advancing, he
seized the harbour, and marched at once to Knossus before his arrival
was known. Then he fought a battle at the gates of the Labyrinth, and
slew Deukalion and his body-guard. As Ariadne now succeeded to the
throne, he made peace with her, took back the youths, and formed an
alliance between the Cretans and the Athenians, in which each nation
swore that it would not begin a war against the other.
XX. There are many more stories about these events, and about Ariadne,
none of which agree in any particulars. Some say that she hanged herself
when deserted by Theseus, and some, that she was taken to Naxos by his
sailors, and there dwelt with Oenarus, the priest of Dionysus, having
been deserted by Theseus, who was in love with another.
"For Aegle's love disturbed his breast."
This line, we are told by Hereas of Megara, was struck out of Hesiod's
poems by Peisistratus; and again he says that he inserted into Homer's
description of the Shades,
"Peirithous and Theseus, born of gods,"
to please the Athenians. Some writers say that Theseus had by Ariadne
two sons, Staphylus and Oenopion, whom Ion of Chios follows when he
speaks of his own native city as that