Theseus Flashcards
Aegean Sea / Aegeus
Aegeus
§ Avatar of Poseidon
§ Childless king of Athens
§ Consults Delphic Oracle:
§ “Do not open wine-skin”
father of Theseus
Aegeus hurls himself into sea
Aethra
mother of Theseus
Aethra’ s Dream
§ Sacrifice at nearby island
§ Poseidon appears & sleeps with her § Dual Paternity
§ Cf. Heracles’ conception (like 2 dads?)
§ Aegeus’ Orders
§ Raise child in secret
§ Sword & Sandals
§ Under boulder
§ Grown son to bring tokens to Athens
Antiope / Amazons / Amazonomachy
Heracles’ 9th Labour
§ Girdle of Hippolyta
§ Theseus’ share
§ Antiope
§ Child: Hippolytus
§ Amazons Invade
§ Athenians win; Antiope dies
§ Theseus vs. Amazons: Amazonomachy
§ Popular in Athenian art § T riumph over barbarism
Ariadne
Theseus and Ariadne
§ Daughter of Minos & Pasiphaë
§ Falls for Theseus § Thread of Ariadne
§ Theseus uses it to escape Labyrinth § Theseus slays Minotaur
§ Escapes with Ariadne & Athenian youth
Athens & Attica
Athens
§Most Dominant Polis (City-State)
§ 6th & 5th Centuries B.C.E. §Politics influence myth
§ Propaganda
§ Attica
§ Region where Athens is situated
Bull of Marathon
The Bull formerly known as: § The Cretan Bull
§ Heracles’ 7th Labour
§ Ravaging Plain of Mararthon
§ Captures & Brings to Athens
§ Sacrifices to Apollo Delphinius
Daedalus & Icarus
Daedalus
§ Skilled Craftsman & Inventor
§ Athenian Royalty (descendant of Cecrops)
Minos imprison Daedalus § Daedalus fashions wings
§ Feathers & Wax
§ Flight & Fall of Icarus
§ Daedalus’ son
§ Warned: neither too high nor too low § Warning unheeded
§ Fall of Icarus
§ Ovid, Met. 8.200-230
Labyrinth
where Minotaur is and sacrifice happens
Vengeance of Minos
§ Son, Androgeos, killed in Attica § Minos invades Attica
§Treaty
§ 7 young men & 7 young women
§ Sacrificed annually to Minotaur in Labyrinth
§ Theseus volunteers
Medea
Theseus Danger on Arrival § Sorceress Medea § Aegeus’ new wife
§Theseus a threat to Medea’s son: § Medus
§ Medea
§ Attempts to poison Theseus § Last minute recognition
§ Aegeus IDs sword & sandals
§ Medea flees on dragon-drawn chariot
Minos, Pasiphaë, and the Minotaur
Bull from Sea
§ Poseidon answers Minos’ prayer
§ Minos substitutes divine bull for lesser § Minos’ Punishment
§ Pasiphaë falls in love with bull! § Commissions Daedalus
§ Hollow Cow
§ Mates with Bull
§ Baby Minotaur
§ Daedalus builds Labyrinth
§ Cage for Minotaur
Naxos (Dia)
Pit-stop on Naxos
§ Theseus leaves her behind § Dionysus rescues her
§ Her crown catasterized as constellation Corona § Catullus 64.52-59; Ovid, Met. Ars Amatoria 1.535-564
§ Wife of Bacchus
§ Originally divine?
§ Another manifestation of Aphrodite?
Perdix
Perdix
§ Assistant to Daedalus § Invents saw
§ Jealous Daedalus kills him
§ Hurls him from cliff; Athena pities him; changes him into a
Patridge (Grk: Perdix)
Expiates Blood-guilt
§ Exiled to Crete
Phaedra
Phaedra told Theseus that Hippolytus had raped her, Theseus killed his son, and Phaedra then committed suicide out of guilt, for she had not intended Hippolytus to di
Pirithoüs
Theseus & Pirithoüs
§ Pirithoüs
§ King of Lapiths; son of Ixion
§ Help each other find wives § Daughters of Zeus
§ Theseus: Helen; Pirithoüs: Persephone § Helen abducted
§ Still a child
§ Rescued by Dioscuri
Theseus & Pirithoüs
§ Katabasis to kidnap Persephone
§ T rapped!
§ Bound to magical thrones
§ Heracles’ 12th Labour
§ Rescues Theseus
§ Pirithoüs’ hubris too great
Pittheus
King Pittheus of T roezen
§ Gets Aegeus drunk
§ Has him sleep with daughter
§ Aethra
Synoecism
unification of towns
Theseus
Theseus: King of Athens
§ Synoecism of Attica (unification of towns) § Athens as capital
raised under a rock, if he can get out when he gets older he is strong - told by Poseidon
Troezen
Aegeus Goes to Troezen § Peloponnesus
Troezen to Athens § Overland route
§ More dangerous § 6 Labours
§“Half-pint Heracles”
§Athenian propaganda § 6th & 5th Centuries
Periphetes, (“Club Man”); at Epidaurus
Epidaurus Kills Periphetes
§ Clubs him to death
Sinis, (“Pine-bender”); at Isthmus of Corinth
Isthmus of Corinth
§ Kills Sinis
§ Ties him to 2 bent pines - You get the idea…
Crommyonian Sow; at Crommyon (N. of Isthmus of Corinth)
N.ofIsthmusofCorinth § Village of Crommyon
§ Kills Crommyonian Sow
§ Cf. Heracles’ and Erymanthian Boar
Sciron (“Foot-washer” - and his turtle!); near Megara
Sciron
§ Robber
§ Forces passers-by to wash his feet
§ Boots them over cliff; devoured by gigantic turtle!
Cercyon; (“Wrestler”) at Eleusis
Eleusis
§ Cercyon
§Former Local Hero
§ Out-Wrestles Wrestler
Procrustes (“Stretcher”); between Eleusis and Athens
Procrustes (“Stretcher”) § Bed; Hammer; Saw
§ Made to fit
§ “Procrustean Bed”: conformity through extremity
