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FOR 106
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Chapter 23:
Theseus and the Legends of Attica and Crete MYTHICAL KINGS OF ATHENS 1st Mythical King of Athens: Cecrops. His grave is said to be under the South Porch of the Erechtheum on the Acropolis. Autochthonous (born with no parents) and snake-bodied. During his reign, Athena wins patronship of the city (as celebrated in the pedimental sculpture of the Parthenon, built in her honor). See Dr. J's Illustrated Parthenon for details and images. The storied daughters of Cecrops are Aglauros, Herse, and Pandrosos. Herse's son by Hermes is said to be Cephalus. Rubens painting of Cephalus. 2nd Mythical King of Athens: Erichthonius. Male-born (from spilled semen when Athen thwarted Hephaestus' rape of her). He is raised by Athena, whom he honors with the Panathenaea (festival celebrating her patronship of the city) and and Palladium (wooden statue that gets a new robe, or peplos). Rubens' Painting of Erichthonius. 3rd Mythical King of Athens: Erechtheus. The Erechtheum celebrates his close connection with both Poseidon and Athena. See Dr. J's Illustrated Erechtheum for details and images. Storied daughters include Creusa and Orithyia. 4th Mythical King of Athens: Pandion. Pandion's story changes depending on the mythographic source. His famous storied children include daughters Procne and Philomela and multiple sons. Sometimes, Aegeus is one of them. 4th Mythical King of Athens: Aegeus Theseus is the son of Aegeus (or Poseidon) and Aithra. Folktale motif: when Theseus comes of age, he will be strong enough to discover his true identity by lifting the rock that conceals his sword and sandals, gifts of his father.
Theseus' Labors are designed after Heracles'. First, he makes the highways safe for travelers, the first thing a king must do to foster growth, commerce, and travel: He kills Periphetes, Sinis (Pine-Bender), Sciron, and Procrustes ("Stretcher"). He kills the Bull of Marathon (the same bull released by Heracles). See the map of Theseus' adventures from Troezen to Athens. Typical of mythic heroes, Theseus kills an anthropophagic monster, the Sow of Crommyon (= Heracles' Mares of Diomedes). Typical of mythic heroes, Theseus fights the traditional liminal creatures. He fights the Amazons with Heracles and has a son Hippolytus by an Amazon named Hippolyta. See Euripides' play for the conflict between his wife Phaedra (sister of Ariadne) and his son Hippolytus. He fights the Centaurs, who get drunk and attack during his friend Pirithous' wedding. He travels to Crete and kills the Minotaur (child of Pasiphae, wife of Minos [son of Europa and Zeus], and a bull). He is aided by the princess Ariadne, whom he subsequently abandons on the island of Naxos (Theseus is a cad). (Tangentially connected to these tales are the stories of Daedalus and Icarus and the tale of Pasiphae). Theseus "forgets" to change the sail to white, the signal of a successful voyage, and in despair Aegeus kills himself by jumping from a cliff at Sounion into the sea (subsequently named for him). For details and images, see Dr. J's Illustrated Sounion. Images Of Fall of Icarus:
WALL
PAINTING FROM CNOSSUS: BULL JUMPING Then Theseus becomes the 5th Mythical King of Athens. Typical of mythic heroes, Theseus is involved in several heroic journeys, including the voyage of the Argonauts. Typical of mythic heroes, Theseus shows his prowess in a mythic hunt: the Calydonian boar-hunt. Typical of mythic heroes, Theseus voyages to the underworld. Theseus had already snatched Helen for his bride (she is snatched back by her brothers when he goes with Pirithous to the Underworld). Now they seek Persephone for Pirithous. They are imprisoned, but Heracles frees Theseus (Pirithous, mortal, is stuck). Typical of mythic heroes, Theseus mellows with age and becomes a good king, offering sanctuary to Oedipus and providing succor to widows/orphans (something Pericles will remind his audience is an Athenian attribute). Typical of mythic heroes, he is spotted long after his purported death (Elvis, anyone?). After the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, it was said that the ghost of Theseus could be seen haunting the plains of Marathon (and that he brought luck to the Athenians in their victorious fight against the more powerful Persians) THESEUS in architectural art at
Athens: THESEUS in architectural art at
Delphi (Athenian Treasury): THESEUS in architectural
inscription on Arch of Hadrian (Athens):
copyright
2001 Janice
Siegel,
All Rights Reserved
date this page was edited last:
08/02/2005
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