[Illustration: Theseus.]
Theseus, the great national hero of Athens, is said to have been born at
Troezen, where his father, Ægeus, King of Athens, slept one night with
Æthra, the daughter of Pittheus, king of the place. Ægeus, on his
departure, hid his sword and his shoes under a large stone, and charged
Æthra, if she brought forth a son, to send him to Athens with these
tokens, as soon as he was able to roll away the stone. She brought forth
a son, to whom she gave the name of Theseus, and when he was grown up
informed him of his origin, and told him to take up the tokens and sail
to Athens, for the roads were infested by robbers and monsters. But
Theseus, who was desirous of emulating the glory of Hercules, refused to
go by sea, and after destroying various monsters who had been the terror
of the country, arrived in safety at Athens. Here he was joyfully
recognized by Ægeus, but with difficulty escaped destruction from Media
and the Pallantids, the sons and grandsons of Pallas, the brother of
Ægeus. These dangers, however, he finally surmounted, and slew the
Pallantids in battle.
His next exploit was the destruction of the great Marathonian bull,
which ravaged the neighboring country; and shortly after he resolved to
deliver the Athenians from the tribute that they were obliged to pay to
Minos, King of Crete. Every ninth year the Athenians had to send seven
young men and as many virgins to Crete, to be devoured by the Minotaur
in the Labyrinth. Theseus volunteered to go as one of the victims, and
through the assistance of Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, who became
enamoured of him, he slew the Minotaur and escaped from the Labyrinth.
He then sailed away with Ariadne, whom he deserted in the island of Dia
or Naxos, an event which frequently forms the subject of ancient works
of art. The sails of the ship Theseus left Athens in were black, but he
promised his father, if he returned in safety, to hoist white sails.
This, however, he neglected to do, and Ægeus, seeing the ship draw near
with black sails, supposed that his son had perished, and threw himself
from a rock.
Theseus now ascended the throne of Athens. But his adventures were by no
means concluded. He marched into the country of the Amazons, who dwelt
on the Thermodon, according to some accounts, in the company of
Hercules, and carried away their queen, Antiope. The Amazons in revenge
invaded Attica, and were with difficulty defeated by the Athenians. This
battle was one of the favorite subjects of the ancient artists, and is
commemorated in several works of art that are still extant. Theseus also
took part in the Argonautic expedition and the Calydonian hunt. He
assisted his friend Pirithous and the Lapithæ in their contest with the
Centaurs, and also accompanied the former in his descent to the lower
world to carry off Proserpine, the wife of Pluto. When Theseus was fifty
years old, according to tradition, he carried off Helen, the daughter of
Leda, who was then only nine years of age. But his territory was invaded
in consequence by Castor and Pollux, the brothers of Leda; his own
people rose against him, and at last, finding his affairs desperate, he
withdrew to the island of Scyros, and there perished, either by a fall
from the cliffs or through the treachery of Lycomedes, the king of the
island. For a long time his memory was forgotten by the Athenians, but
he was subsequently honored by them as the greatest of their heroes. At
the battle of Marathon they thought they saw him armed and bearing down
upon the barbarians, and after the conclusion of the Persian war his
bones were discovered at Scyros by Cimon, who conveyed them to Athens
where they were received with great pomp and deposited in a temple built
to his honor. A festival also was instituted, which was celebrated on
the eighth day of every month, but more especially on the eighth of
Pyanipsion.
The above is a brief account of the legends prevailing respecting
Theseus. But he is, moreover, represented by ancient writers as the
founder of the Attic commonwealth, and even of its democratic
institutions. It would be waste of time to inquire whether there was an
historical personage of this name who actually introduced the political
changes ascribed to him; it will be convenient to adhere to the ancient
account in describing them as the work of Theseus.
[Illustration: Tribute to the Minotaur.]
Before this time Attica contained many independent townships, which were
only nominally united. Theseus incorporated the people into one state,
removed the principal courts for the administration of justice to
Athens, and greatly enlarged the city, which had hitherto covered little
more than the rock which afterward formed the citadel. To cement their
union he instituted several festivals, and especially changed the
Athenæa into the Panathenæa, or the festivals of all the Atticans. He
encouraged the nobles to reside at Athens, and surrendered a part of his
kingly prerogatives to them; for which reason he is perhaps represented
as the founder of the Athenian democracy, although the government which
he established was, and continued to be long after him, strictly
aristocratic.