Theseus

Question 1

Aegean Sea / Aegeus

Answer 1

Aegeus
§ Avatar of Poseidon
§ Childless king of Athens
§ Consults Delphic Oracle:
§ “Do not open wine-skin”

father of Theseus
Aegeus hurls himself into sea

Question 2

Aethra

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Antiope / Amazons / Amazonomachy

Answer 3

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

Question 4

Ariadne

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Athens & Attica

Answer 5

Athens
§Most Dominant Polis (City-State)
§ 6th & 5th Centuries B.C.E. §Politics influence myth
§ Propaganda
§ Attica
§ Region where Athens is situated

Question 6

Bull of Marathon

Answer 6

The Bull formerly known as: § The Cretan Bull
§ Heracles’ 7th Labour
§ Ravaging Plain of Mararthon
§ Captures & Brings to Athens
§ Sacrifices to Apollo Delphinius

Question 7

Daedalus & Icarus

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Labyrinth

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Medea

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Minos, Pasiphaë, and the Minotaur

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Naxos (Dia)

Answer 11

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?

Question 12

Perdix

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Phaedra

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Pirithoüs

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Pittheus

Answer 15

King Pittheus of T roezen
§ Gets Aegeus drunk
§ Has him sleep with daughter
§ Aethra

Question 16

Synoecism

Answer 16

unification of towns

Question 17

Theseus

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Troezen

Answer 18

Aegeus Goes to Troezen § Peloponnesus

Troezen to Athens § Overland route
§ More dangerous § 6 Labours
§“Half-pint Heracles”
§Athenian propaganda § 6th & 5th Centuries

Question 19

Periphetes, (“Club Man”); at Epidaurus

Answer 19

Epidaurus Kills Periphetes
§ Clubs him to death

Question 20

Sinis, (“Pine-bender”); at Isthmus of Corinth

Answer 20

Isthmus of Corinth
§ Kills Sinis
§ Ties him to 2 bent pines - You get the idea…

Question 21

Crommyonian Sow; at Crommyon (N. of Isthmus of Corinth)

Answer 21

N.ofIsthmusofCorinth § Village of Crommyon
§ Kills Crommyonian Sow
§ Cf. Heracles’ and Erymanthian Boar

Question 22

Sciron (“Foot-washer” - and his turtle!); near Megara

Answer 22

Sciron
§ Robber
§ Forces passers-by to wash his feet
§ Boots them over cliff; devoured by gigantic turtle!

Question 23

Cercyon; (“Wrestler”) at Eleusis

Answer 23

Eleusis
§ Cercyon
§Former Local Hero
§ Out-Wrestles Wrestler

Question 24

Procrustes (“Stretcher”); between Eleusis and Athens

Answer 24

Procrustes (“Stretcher”) § Bed; Hammer; Saw
§ Made to fit
§ “Procrustean Bed”: conformity through extremity