The pleasantest of these legends are in nearly every one's mouth. But
Paeon of Amathus gives an account peculiar to himself, that Theseus was
driven by a storm to Cyprus, and that Ariadne, who was pregnant,
suffered much from the motion of the ship, and became so ill, that she
was set on shore, but Theseus had to return to take charge of the ship,
and was blown off to sea. The women of the country took care of Ariadne,
and comforted her in her bereavement, even bringing forged letters to
her as if from Theseus, and rendering her assistance during her
confinement; and when she died in childbirth, they buried her. Theseus,
on his return, grieved much, and left money to the people of the
country, bidding them sacrifice to Ariadne; he also set up two little
statues, one of silver, and the other of brass. And at this sacrifice,
which takes place on the second day of the month Gorpiaeus, one of the
young men lies down on the ground, and imitates the cries of a woman in
travail; and the people of Amathus call that the grove of Ariadne
Aphrodite, in which they show her tomb.
But some writers of Naxos tell a different story, peculiar to
themselves, that there were two Minoses and two Ariadnes, of whom one,
they say, was married to Dionysus in Naxos, and was the mother of
Staphylus and his brother, while the younger was carried off by Theseus,
and came to Naxos after he deserted her; and a nurse called Korkyne came
with her, whose tomb they point out. Then Naxians also says that this
Ariadne died there, and is honoured, but not so much as the elder; for
at the feast in honour of the elder, there are merriment and revelry,
but at that of the younger gloomy rites are mingled with mirth.
XXI. Theseus, when he sailed away from Crete, touched at Delos; here he
sacrificed to the god and offered up the statue of Aphrodite, which
Ariadne had given him; and besides this, he and the youths with him
danced a measure which they say is still practised by the people of
Delos to this day, being an imitation of the turnings and windings of
the Labyrinth expressed by complicated evolutions performed in regular
order. This kind of dance is called by the Delians "the crane dance,"
according to Dikaearchus. It was danced round the altar of the Horns,
which is all formed of horns from the left side. They also say that he
instituted games at Delos, and that then for the first time a palm was
given by him to the victor.
XXII. As he approached Attica, both he and his steersman in their
delight forgot to hoist the sail which was to be a signal of their
safety to Aegeus; and he in his despair flung himself down the cliffs
and perished. Theseus, as soon as he reached the harbour, performed at
Phalerum the sacrifices which he had vowed to the gods if he returned
safe, and sent off a herald to the city with the news of his safe
return. This man met with many who were lamenting the death of the king,
and, as was natural, with others who were delighted at the news of their
safety, and who congratulated him and wished to crown him with garlands.
These he received, but placed them on his herald's staff, and when he
came back to the seashore, finding that Theseus had not completed his
libation, he waited outside the temple, not wishing to disturb the
sacrifice. When the libation was finished he announced the death of
Aegeus, and then they all hurried up to the city with loud lamentations:
wherefore to this day, at the Oschophoria, they say that it is not the
herald that is crowned, but his staff, and that at the libations the
bystanders cry out, "Eleleu, Iou, Iou;" of which cries the first is used
by men in haste, or raising the paean for battle, while the second is
used by persons in surprise and trouble.
Theseus, after burying his father, paid his vow to Apollo, on the
seventh day of the month Pyanepsion; for on this day it was that the
rescued youths went up into the city. The boiling of pulse, which is
customary on this anniversary, is said to be done because the rescued
youths put what remained of their pulse together into one pot, boiled it
all, and merrily feasted on it together. And on this day also, the
Athenians carry about the Eiresione, a bough of the olive tree garlanded
with wool, just as Theseus had before carried the suppliants' bough, and
covered with first-fruits of all sorts of produce, because the
barrenness of the land ceased on that day; and they sing,
"Eiresione, bring us figs
And wheaten loaves, and oil,
And wine to quaff, that we may all
Host merrily from toil."
However, some say that these ceremonies are performed in memory of the
Herakleidae, who were thus entertained by the Athenians; but most
writers tell the tale as I have told it.
XXIII. Now the thirty-oared ship, in which Theseus sailed with the
youths, and came back safe, was kept by the Athenians up to the time of
Demetrius Phalereus. They constantly removed the decayed part of her
timbers, and renewed them with sound wood, so that the ship became an
illustration to philosophers of the doctrine of growth and change, as
some argued that it remained the same, and others, that it did not
remain the same. The feast of the Oschophoria, or of carrying boughs,
which to this day the Athenians celebrate, was instituted by Theseus.
For he did not take with him all the maidens who were drawn by lot, but
he chose two youths, his intimate friends, who were feminine and fair to
look upon, but of manly spirit; these by warm baths and avoiding the
heat of the sun and careful tending of their hair and skin he
completely metamorphosed, teaching them to imitate the voice and
carriage and walk of maidens. These two were then substituted in the
place of two of the girls, and deceived every one; and when they
returned, he and these two youths walked in procession, dressed as now
those who carry boughs at the Oschophoria are dressed. They carry them
in honour of Dionysus and Ariadne, because of the legend, or rather
because they returned home when the harvest was being gathered in. And
the women called supper-carriers join in carrying them and partake of
the sacrifice, in imitation of the mothers of those who were drawn by
lot; for they used continually to bring their children food. Also, old
tales are told, because these women used to tell their children such
ones, to encourage and amuse them.
These things are related by the historian Demus. Moreover, a sacred
enclosure was dedicated to Theseus, and those families out of whom the
tribute of the children had been gathered were bidden to contribute to
sacrifices to him. These sacrifices were presided over by the
Phytalidae, which post Theseus bestowed upon them as a recompense for
their hospitality towards him.
XXIV. After the death of Aegeus, Theseus conceived a great and important
design. He gathered together all the inhabitants of Attica and made them
citizens of one city, whereas before they had lived dispersed, so as to
be hard to assemble together for the common weal, and at times even
fighting with one another.
He visited all the villages and tribes, and won their consent; the poor
and lower classes gladly accepting his proposals, while he gained over
the more powerful by promising that the new constitution should not
include a king, but that it should be a pure commonwealth, with himself
merely acting as general of its army and guardian of its laws, while in
other respects it would allow perfect freedom and equality to every one.
By these arguments he convinced some of them, and the rest knowing his
power and courage chose rather to be persuaded than forced into
compliance. He therefore destroyed the prytaneia, the senate house, and
the magistracy of each individual township, built one common prytaneum
and senate house for them all on the site of the present acropolis,
called the city Athens, and instituted the Panathenaic festival common
to all of them. He also instituted a festival for the resident aliens,
on the sixteenth of the month, Hekatombeion, which is still kept up. And
having, according to his promise, laid down his sovereign power, he
arranged the new constitution under the auspices of the gods; for he
made inquiry at Delphi as to how he should deal with the city, and
received the following answer:
"Thou son of Aegeus and of Pittheus' maid,
My father hath within thy city laid
The bounds of many cities; weigh not down
Thy soul with thought; the bladder cannot drown."
The same thing they say was afterwards prophesied by the Sibyl
concerning the city, in these words:
"The bladder may be dipped, but cannot drown."
XXV. Wishing still further to increase the number of his citizens, he
invited all strangers to come and share equal privileges, and they say
that the words now used, "Come hither all ye peoples," was the
proclamation then used by Theseus, establishing as it were a
commonwealth of all nations. But he did not permit his state to fall
into the disorder which this influx of all kinds of people would
probably have produced, but divided the people into three classes, of
Eupatridae or nobles, Geomori or farmers, Demiurgi or artisans. To the
Eupatridae he assigned the care of religious rites, the supply of
magistrates for the city, and the interpretation of the laws and customs
sacred or profane, yet he placed them on an equality with the other
citizens, thinking that the nobles would always excel in dignity, the
farmers in usefulness, and the artisans in numbers. Aristotle tells us
that he was the first who inclined to democracy, and gave up the title
of king; and Homer seems to confirm this view by speaking of the people
of the Athenians alone of all the states mentioned in his catalogue of
ships. Theseus also struck money with the figure of a bull, either
alluding to the bull of Marathon, or Taurus, Minos' general, or else to
encourage farming among the citizens. Hence they say came the words,
"worth ten," or "worth a hundred oxen." He permanently annexed Megara to
Attica, and set up the famous pillar on the Isthmus, on which he wrote
the distinction between the countries in two trimeter lines, of which
the one looking east says,
"This is not Peloponnesus, but Ionia,"
and the one looking west says,
"This is Peloponnesus, not Ionia."
And also he instituted games there, in emulation of Herakles; that, just
as Herakles had ordained that the Greeks should celebrate the Olympic
games in honour of Zeus, so by Theseus's appointment they should
celebrate the Isthmian games in honour of Poseidon.
The festival which was previously established there in honour of
Melikerta used to be celebrated by night, and to be more like a
religious mystery than a great spectacle and gathering. Some writers
assert that the Isthmian games were established in honour of Skeiron,
and that Theseus wished to make them an atonement for the murder of his
kinsman; for Skeiron was the son of Kanethus and of Henioche the
daughter of Pittheus. Others say that this festival was established in
honour of Sinis, not of Skeiron. Be this as it may, Theseus established
it, and stipulated with the Corinthians that visitors from Athens who
came to the games should have a seat of honour in as large a space as
could be covered by a sail of the public ship which carried them, when
stretched out on the ground. This we are told by Hellanikus and Andron
of Halikarnassus.
XXVI. Besides this, according to Philochorus and other writers, he
sailed with Herakles to the Euxine, took part in the campaign against
the Amazons, and received Antiope as the reward for his valour; but most
historians, among whom are Pherekydes, Hellanikus, and Herodorus, say
that Theseus made an expedition of his own later than that of Herakles,
and that he took the Amazon captive, which is a more reasonable story.
For no one of his companions is said to have captured an Amazon; while
Bion relates that he caught this one by treachery and carried her off;
for the Amazons, he says, were not averse to men, and did not avoid
Theseus when he touched at their coast, but even offered him presents.
He invited the bearer of these on board his ship; and when she had
embarked he set sail. But one, Menekrates, who has written a history of
the town of Nikaea in Bithynia, states that Theseus spent a long time in
that country with Antiope, and that there were three young Athenians,
brothers, who were his companions in arms, by name Euneon, Thoas, and
Soloeis. Soloeis fell in love with Antiope, and, without telling his
brothers, confided his passion to one of his comrades. This man laid the
matter before Antiope, who firmly rejected his pretensions, but treated
him quietly and discreetly, telling Theseus nothing about it. Soloeis,
in despair at his rejection, leaped into a river and perished; and
Theseus then at length learned the cause of the young man's death. In
his sorrow he remembered and applied to himself an oracle he had
received from Delphi. It had been enjoined upon him by the Pythia that
whenever he should be struck down with special sorrow in a foreign land,
he should found a city in that place and leave some of his companions
there as its chiefs. In consequence of this the city which he founded
was called Pythopolis, in honour of the Pythian Apollo, and the
neighbouring river was called Soloeis, after the youth who died in it.
He left there the brothers of Soloeis as the chiefs and lawgivers of the
new city, and together, with them one Hermus, an Athenian Eupatrid. In
consequence of this, the people of Pythopolis call a certain place in
their city the house of Hermes, by a mistaken accentuation transferring
the honour due to their founder, to their god Hermes.
XXVII. This was the origin of the war with the Amazons; and it seems to
have been carried on in no feeble or womanish spirit, for they never
could have encamped in the city nor have fought a battle close to the
Pnyx and the Museum unless they had conquered the rest of the country,
so as to be able to approach the city safely. It is hard to believe, as
Hellanikus relates, that they crossed the Cimmerian Bosphorus on the
ice; but that they encamped almost in the city is borne witness to by
the local names, and by the tombs of the fallen. For a long time both
parties held aloof, unwilling to engage; but at last Theseus, after
sacrificing to Phobos (Fear), attacked them. The battle took place in
the month Boedromion, on the day on which the Athenians celebrate the
feast Boedromia. Kleidemus gives us accurate details, stating that the
left wing of the Amazons stood at the place now called the Amazoneum,
while the right reached up to the Pnyx, at the place where the gilded
figure of Victory now stands. The Athenians attacked them on this side,
issuing from the Museum, and the tombs of the fallen are to be seen
along the street which leads to the gate near the shrine of the hero
Chalkodus, which is called the Peiraeic gate. On this side the women
forced them back as far as the temple of the Eumenides, but on the other
side those who assailed them from the temple of Pallas, Ardettus, and
the Lyceum, drove their right wing in confusion back to their camp with
great slaughter. In the fourth month of the war a peace was brought
about by Hippolyte; for this writer names the wife of Theseus Hippolyte,
not Antiope. Some relate that she was slain fighting by the side of
Theseus by a javelin hurled by one Molpadia, and that the column which
stands beside the temple of Olympian Earth is sacred to her memory. It
is not to be wondered at that history should be at fault when dealing
with such ancient events as these, for there is another story at
variance with this, to the effect that Antiope caused the wounded
Amazons to be secretly transported to Chalkis, where they were taken
care of, and some of them were buried there, at what is now called the
Amazoneum. However, it is a proof of the war having ended in a treaty of
peace, that the place near the temple of Theseus where they swore to
observe it, is still called Horeomosium, and that the sacrifice to the
Amazons always has taken place before the festival of Theseus. The
people of Megara also show a burying-place of the Amazons, as one goes
from the market-place to what they call Rhus, where the lozenge-shaped
building stands. It is said that some others died at Chaeronea, and were
buried by the little stream which it seems was anciently called
Thermodon, but now is called Haemon, about which we have treated in the
life of Demosthenes. It would appear that the Amazons did not even get
across Thessaly without trouble, for graves of them are shown to this
day at Skotussa and Kynoskephalae.
XXVIII. The above is all that is worthy of mention about the Amazons;
for, as to the story which the author of the 'Theseid' relates about
this attack of the Amazons being brought about by Antiope to revenge
herself upon Theseus for his marriage with Phaedra, and how she and her
Amazons fought, and how Herakles slew them, all this is clearly
fabulous. After the death of Antiope, Theseus married Phaedra, having a
son by Antiope named Hippolytus, or Demophoon, according to Pindar. As
for his misfortunes with this wife and son, as the account given by
historians does not differ from that which appears in the plays of the
tragic poets, we must believe them to have happened as all these writers
say.
XXIX. However, there are certain other legends about Theseus' marriage
which have never appeared on the stage, which have neither a creditable
beginning nor a prosperous termination: for it is said that he carried
off one Anaxo, a Troezenian girl, and after slaying Sinis and Kerkyon he
forced their daughters, and that he married Periboea the mother of Ajax
and also Phereboea and Iope the daughter of Iphikles: and, as has been
told already, it was on account of his love for Aegle the daughter of
Panopeus that he deserted Ariadne, which was a shameful and
discreditable action. And in addition to all this he is charged with
carrying off Helen, which brought war upon Attica, and exile and
destruction on himself; about which we shall speak presently. But,
though many adventures were undertaken by the heroes of those times,
Herodorus is of opinion that Theseus took no part in any of them, except
with the Lapithae in their fight with the Centaurs; though other writers
say that he went to Kolchis with Jason and took part with Meleager in
the hunt of the Kalydonian boar.
From these legends arises the proverb, "Not without Theseus;" also he by
himself without any comrades performed many glorious deeds, from which
the saying came into vogue, "This is another Herakles."
Theseus, together with Adrastus, effected the recovery of the bodies of
those who fell under the walls of the Cadmea at Thebes, not after
conquering the Thebans, as Euripides puts it in his play, but by a truce
and convention, according to most writers. Philochorus even states that
this was the first occasion on which a truce was made for the recovery
of those slain in battle. But we have shown in our 'Life of Herakles'
that he was the first to restore the corpses of the slain to the enemy.
The tombs of the rank and file are to be seen at Eleutherae, but those
of the chiefs at Eleusis, by favour of Theseus to Adrastus. Euripides's
play of the 'Suppliants' is contradicted by that of Aeschylus, the
'Eleusinians,' in which Theseus is introduced giving orders for this to
be done.
XXX. His friendship for Peirithous is said to have arisen in the
following manner: He had a great reputation for strength and courage;
Peirithous, wishing to make trial of these, drove his cattle away from
the plain of Marathon, and when he learned that Theseus was pursuing
them, armed, he did not retire, but turned and faced him. Each man then
admiring the beauty and courage of his opponent, refrained from battle,
and first Peirithous holding out his hand bade Theseus himself assess
the damages of his raid upon the cattle, saying that he himself would
willingly submit to whatever penalty the other might inflict. Theseus
thought no more of their quarrel, and invited him to become his friend
and comrade; and they ratified their compact of friendship by an oath.
Hereupon, Peirithous, who was about to marry Deidameia, begged Theseus
to come and visit his country and meet the Lapithae. He also had invited
the Centaurs to the banquet; and as they in their drunken insolence laid
hands upon the women, the Lapithae attacked them. Some of them they
slew, and the rest they overcame, and afterwards, with the assistance of
Theseus, banished from their country. Herodorus, however, says that this
is not how these events took place, but that the war was going on, and
that Theseus went to help the Lapithae and while on his way thither
first beheld Herakles, whom he made a point of visiting at Trachis,
where he was resting after his labours and wanderings; and that they met
with many compliments and much good feeling on both sides. But one would
more incline to those writers who tell us that they often met, and that
Herakles was initiated by Theseus's desire, and was also purified before
initiation at his instance, which ceremony was necessary because of some
reckless action.
XXXI. Theseus was fifty years old, according to Hellanikus, when he
carried off Helen, who was a mere child. For this reason some who wish
to clear him of this, the heaviest of all the charges against him, say
that it was not he who carried off Helen, but that Idas and Lynkeus
carried her off and deposited her in his keeping. Afterwards the Twin
Brethren came and demanded her back, but he would not give her up; or
even it is said that Tyndareus himself handed her over to him, because
he feared that Enarsphorus the son of Hippocoon would take her by force,
she being only a child at the time. But the most probable story and that
which most writers agree in is the following: The two friends, Theseus
and Peirithous, came to Sparta, seized the maiden, who was dancing in
the temple of Artemis Orthia, and carried her off. As the pursuers
followed no farther than Tegea, they felt no alarm, but leisurely
travelled through Peloponnesus, and made a compact that whichever of
them should win Helen by lot was to have her to wife, but must help the
other to a marriage. They cast lots on this understanding, and Theseus
won. As the maiden was not yet ripe for marriage he took her with him to
Aphidnae, and there placing his mother with her gave her into the charge
of his friend Aphidnus, bidding him watch over her and keep her presence
secret. He himself in order to repay his obligation to Peirithous went
on a journey with him to Epirus to obtain the daughter of Aidoneus the
king of the Molossians, who called his wife Persephone, his daughter
Kore, and his dog Cerberus. All the suitors of his daughter were bidden
by him to fight this dog, and the victor was to receive her hand.
However, as he learned that Peirithous and his friend were come, not as
wooers, but as ravishers, he cast them into prison. He put an end to
Peirithous at once, by means of his dog, but only guarded Theseus
strictly.
XXXII. Now at this period Mnestheus, the son of Peteus, who was the son
of Orneus, who was the son of Erechtheus, first of all mankind they say
took to the arts of a demagogue, and to currying favour with the people.
This man formed a league of the nobles, who had long borne Theseus a
grudge for having destroyed the local jurisdiction and privileges of
each of the Eupatrids by collecting them all together into the capital,
where they were no more than his subjects and slaves; and he also
excited the common people by telling them that although they were
enjoying a fancied freedom they really had been deprived of their
ancestral privileges and sacred rites, and made to endure the rule of
one foreign despot, instead of that of many good kings of their own
blood.