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94-515: Tradition ascribes to Theseus , whom it also regards as the author of the union ( synoecism ) of Attica around Athens as a political centre, the division of the Attic population into three classes, Eupatridae , Geomori and Demiurgi . The lexicographers mention as characteristics of the Eupatridae that they are the autochthonous population, the dwellers in the city, the descendants of

188-489: A rational choice . The application of the labels cult or sect to religious movements in government documents signifies the popular and negative use of the term cult in English and a functionally similar use of words translated as 'sect' in several European languages. Sociologists critical to this negative politicized use of the word cult argue that it may adversely impact the religious freedoms of group members. At

282-515: A "cult movement" is an actual complete organization, differing from a "sect" in that it is not a splinter of a bigger religion, while "audience cults" are loosely organized, and propagated through media, and "client cults" offer services (i.e. psychic readings or meditation sessions). One type can turn into another, for example the Church of Scientology changing from audience to client cult. Sociologists who follow their definition tend to continue using

376-521: A black sail, promising to his father, Aegeus, that if successful he would return with a white sail. Like the others, Theseus was stripped of his weapons when they sailed. On his arrival in Crete, Ariadne , King Minos' daughter, fell in love with Theseus and, on the advice of Daedalus, gave him a ball of thread (a clew), so he could find his way out of the Labyrinth. That night, Ariadne escorted Theseus to

470-415: A class which has the monopoly of political privilege. It is possible that, in very early times, the Eupatridae were the only full citizens of Athens; for the evidence suggests that they alone belonged to the phratries , and the division into phratries must have covered the whole citizen body. It is indeed just possible that the term may originally have signified true member of a clan, since membership of

564-404: A continuity with traditional beliefs and practices, whereas cults arise spontaneously around novel beliefs and practices. Scholars William Sims Bainbridge and Rodney Stark have argued for a further distinction between three kinds of cults: cult movements, client cults, and audience cults, all of which share a "compensator" or rewards for the things invested into the group. In their typology,

658-438: A cult as a social group with socially deviant or novel beliefs and practices, although this is often unclear. Other researchers present a less-organized picture of cults, saying that they arise spontaneously around novel beliefs and practices. Cults have been compared to miniature totalitarian political systems. Such groups are typically perceived as being led by a charismatic leader who tightly controls its members. It

752-428: A cult by the media, government and former members is a significant factor as to what lead to the deaths. The term was noted to carry "considerable cultural legitimacy". In the 1970s, with the rise of secular anti-cult movements , scholars (though not the general public) began to abandon the use of the term cult , regarding it as pejorative. By the end of the 1970s, the term cult was largely replaced in academia with

846-519: A cult may be a common occurrence, but it is not scholarship". However, it has also been viewed as empowering for ex-members of groups that have experienced trauma. Religious scholar Catherine Wessinger argued the term was dehumanizing of the people within the group, as well as their children; following the Waco siege , it was argued by some scholars that the defining of the Branch Davidians as

940-691: A destructive cult by "anticult crusaders." In 2002, the German government was held by the Federal Constitutional Court to have defamed the Osho movement by referring to it, among other things, as a "destructive cult" with no factual basis. Some researchers have criticized the term destructive cult , writing that it is used to describe groups which are not necessarily harmful in nature to themselves or others. In his book Understanding New Religious Movements , John A. Saliba writes that

1034-466: A great abductor of women, and his bosom companion, Pirithous , since they were sons of Zeus and Poseidon, pledged themselves to marry daughters of Zeus. Theseus, in an old tradition, chose Helen , and together they kidnapped her, intending to keep her until she was old enough to marry. Pirithous chose Persephone , even though she was already married to Hades , king of the underworld. They left Helen with Theseus's mother, Aethra at Aphidna , whence she

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1128-414: A huge rock and told Aethra that when their son grew up, he should move the rock, if he were heroic enough, and take the tokens for himself as evidence of his royal parentage. In Athens, Aegeus was joined by Medea , who had left Corinth after slaughtering the children she had borne to Jason , and had taken Aegeus as her new consort. Thus Theseus was raised in his mother's land. When Theseus grew up to be

1222-486: A phratry was a characteristic of each clan. It is not probable that the Eupatrid families were all autochthonous, even in the loose sense of that term. Some had no doubt immigrated to Attica when the rest had long been settled there. Traces of this union of immigrants with older inhabitants have been detected in the combination of Zeus Herkeios with Apollo Patros as the ancient gods of the phratry. The exact relation of

1316-470: A sacrifice to Zeus if Theseus were successful in capturing the bull. Theseus did capture the bull, but when he returned to Hecale's hut, she was dead. In her honor, Theseus gave her name to one of the demes of Attica, making its inhabitants in a sense her adopted children. When Theseus returned victorious to Athens, where he sacrificed the Bull, Medea tried to poison him. At the last second, Aegeus recognized

1410-543: A wild bull that terrified Hippolytus's horses. A cult grew up around Hippolytus, associated with the cult of Aphrodite . Girls who were about to be married offered locks of their hair to him. The cult believed that Asclepius had resurrected Hippolytus and that he lived in a sacred forest near Aricia in Latium . According to some sources, Theseus also was one of the Argonauts , although Apollonius of Rhodes states in

1504-484: A young man, he moved the rock and recovered his father's tokens. His mother then told him the truth about his father's identity and that he must take the sword and sandals back to the king Aegeus to claim his birthright. To journey to Athens, Theseus could choose to go by sea (which was the safe way) or by land, following a dangerous path around the Saronic Gulf , where he would encounter a string of six entrances to

1598-599: Is a cult with a primary interest in political action and ideology . Groups that some have described as "political cults", mostly advocating far-left or far-right agendas, have received some attention from journalists and scholars. In their 2000 book On the Edge: Political Cults Right and Left , Dennis Tourish and Tim Wohlforth discuss about a dozen organizations in the United States and Great Britain that they characterize as cults. In

1692-509: Is a shapeshifter, semantically morphing with the intentions of whoever uses it. As an analytical term, it resists rigorous definition." She argued that the least subjective definition of cult referred to a religion or religion-like group "self-consciously building a new form of society", but that the rest of society rejected as unacceptable. The term cult has been criticized as lacking "scholarly rigour"; Benjamin E. Zeller stated "[l]abelling any group with which one disagrees and considers deviant as

1786-412: Is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term has different, and sometimes divergent or pejorative , definitions both in popular culture and academia and has been an ongoing source of contention among scholars across several fields of study. Beginning in the 1930s, new religious movements became an object of sociological study within the context of the study of religious behavior . Since

1880-437: Is considered to be one of the most important and widely cited studies of the process of religious conversion. J. Gordon Melton stated that, in 1970, "one could count the number of active researchers on new religions on one's hands." However, James R. Lewis writes that the "meteoric growth" in this field of study can be attributed to the cult controversy of the early 1970s. Because of "a wave of nontraditional religiosity" in

1974-697: Is his slaying of the Minotaur, half man and half bull. He then goes on to unite Attica under Athenian rule: the synoikismos ('dwelling together'). As the unifying king, he is credited with building a palace on the fortress of the Acropolis . Pausanias reports that after synoikismos , Theseus established a cult of Aphrodite ('Aphrodite of all the People') on the southern slope of the Acropolis. Plutarch 's Life of Theseus makes use of varying accounts of

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2068-577: Is in some contexts a pejorative term, also used for new religious movements and other social groups which are defined by their unusual religious , spiritual , or philosophical beliefs and rituals , or their common interest in a particular person, object, or goal . This sense of the term is weakly defined – having divergent definitions both in popular culture and academia – and has also been an ongoing source of contention among scholars across several fields of study. According to Susannah Crockford, "[t]he word ‘cult’

2162-428: Is mostly evangelical protestants. The Christian countercult movement asserts that Christian groups whose teachings deviate from the belief that the bible is inerrant, but also focuses on non-Christian religions like Hinduism. Christian countercult activist writers also emphasize the need for Christians to evangelize to followers of cults. Starting in the late 1960s, a different strand of anti-cult groups arose, with

2256-416: Is sometimes described as the son of Aegeus , king of Athens, and sometimes as the son of the god Poseidon . He is raised by his mother, Aethra , and upon discovering his connection to Aegeus, travels overland to Athens, having many adventures on the way. When he reaches Athens, he finds that Aegeus is married to Medea (formerly wife of Jason ), who plots against him. The most famous legend about Theseus

2350-435: Is sometimes presented in contrast to a "benign cult", which implies that not all "cults" would be harmful, though others apply it to all cults. Psychologist Michael Langone , executive director of the anti-cult group International Cultic Studies Association , defines a destructive cult as "a highly manipulative group which exploits and sometimes physically and/or psychologically damages members and recruits." In Cults and

2444-642: The Argonautica that Theseus was still in the underworld at this time. Both statements are inconsistent with Medea being Aegeus' wife by the time Theseus first came to Athens. With Phaedra, Theseus fathered Acamas , who was one of those who hid in the Trojan Horse during the Trojan War . Theseus welcomed the wandering Oedipus and helped Adrastus to bury the Seven against Thebes . Lycomedes of

2538-555: The APA Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Methods of Persuasion and Control , literature from previous court cases in which brainwashing theories were used, and expert testimonies which were delivered by scholars such as Dick Anthony . The governments of France and Belgium have taken policy positions which accept "brainwashing" theories uncritically, while the governments of other European nations, such as those of Sweden and Italy, are cautious with regard to brainwashing and as

2632-442: The Eupatridae and leading members of the other two classes resulted in a temporary change. Ten archons were appointed, five of whom were to be Eupatridae , three Agroeci (i.e. Geomori ), and two Demiurgi ( Aristotle , Ath. Pol. xiii.2). This arrangement, though short-lived, is evidence of the decay of the political influence of the Eupatridae , and it is not likely that they recovered, even in practice, any real control of

2726-437: The Eupatridae is a gradual curtailment of privilege. They were at the height of their power in the period during the limitation of the monarchy. They alone held the two offices, those of polemarch and archon , which were instituted during the 8th century BC to restrict the powers of the kings. In 712 BC, the office of the king was itself thrown open to all Eupatrids. Thus, they had the entire administration control and were

2820-534: The Eupatridae to the other two classes has been a matter of dispute. It seems probable that the Eupatridae were the governing class, the only recognized nobility, the Geomori —the country inhabitants of all ranks, and the Demiurgi —the commercial and artisan population. The division attributed to Theseus is always spoken of by ancient authorities as a division of the entire population; but Georg Busolt maintained

2914-484: The Jehovah's Witnesses , and other sects which were loosely referred to as " neo-Pentecostals ". In the 1970s, the scientific status of the " brainwashing theory " became a central topic in U.S. court cases where the theory was used to try to justify the use of the forceful deprogramming of cult members Meanwhile, sociologists who were critical of these theories assisted advocates of religious freedom in defending

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3008-640: The Panathenaic Games , which were held there every four years. Being strong and skillful, he did very well, winning some events outright. He soon became a crowd favorite, much to the resentment of the Pallantides, who assassinated him, incurring the wrath of Minos. When King Minos heard what had befallen his son, he ordered the Cretan fleet to set sail for Athens. Minos asked Aegeus for his son's assassins, saying that if they were to be handed to him,

3102-841: The Russian Interior Ministry prepared a list of "extremist groups". At the top of the list were Islamic groups outside of "traditional Islam", which is supervised by the Russian government. Next listed were " Pagan cults ". In 2009 the Russian Ministry of Justice created a council which it named the "Council of Experts Conducting State Religious Studies Expert Analysis." The new council listed 80 large sects which it considered potentially dangerous to Russian society, and it also mentioned that there were thousands of smaller ones. The large sects which were listed included: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ,

3196-571: The Underworld , each guarded by a chthonic enemy. Young, brave, and ambitious, Theseus decided to go alone by the land route and defeated many bandits along the way. The six entrances to the underworld, more commonly known as the Six Labours, are as follows: When Theseus arrived in Athens, he did not reveal his true identity immediately. Aegeus gave him hospitality but was suspicious of

3290-530: The court case of United States v. Fishman (1990) ended the usage of brainwashing theories by expert witnesses such as Margaret Singer and Richard Ofshe . In the case's ruling, the court cited the Frye standard , which states that the scientific theory which is utilized by expert witnesses must be generally accepted in their respective fields. The court deemed brainwashing to be inadmissible in expert testimonies, using supporting documents which were published by

3384-463: The 1930s, new religious movements perceived as cults became an object of sociological study within the context of the study of religious behavior . The term saw its origins in the work of sociologist Max Weber (1864–1920). Weber is an important theorist in the academic study of cults, which often draws on his theorizations of charismatic authority , and of the distinction he drew between churches and sects . This concept of church-sect division

3478-532: The 1940s, the Christian countercult movement has opposed some sects and new religious movements, labeling them cults because of their unorthodox beliefs . Since the 1970s, the secular anti-cult movement has opposed certain groups, which they call cults, accusing them of practicing brainwashing . Groups labelled cults are found around the world and range in size from small localized groups to some international organizations with up to millions of members. In

3572-433: The 1940s, the long-held opposition by some established Christian denominations to non-Christian religions and supposedly heretical or counterfeit Christian sects crystallized into a more organized Christian countercult movement in the United States. For those belonging to the movement, all religious groups claiming to be Christian, but deemed outside of Christian orthodoxy , were considered cults. The countercult movement

3666-455: The 1950s, American social psychologist Leon Festinger and his colleagues observed members of a small UFO religion called the Seekers for several months, and recorded their conversations both prior to and after a failed prophecy from their charismatic leader. Their work was later published in the book When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted

3760-581: The Athenians and was successful. He then demanded that, at nine-year intervals, seven Athenian boys and seven Athenian girls were to be sent to Crete to be devoured by the Minotaur , a half-man, half-bull monster that lived in the Labyrinth created by Daedalus . On the third occasion, Theseus volunteered to talk to the monster to stop this horror. He took the place of one of the youths and set off with

3854-513: The Destruction of the World . In the late 1980s, doomsday cults were a major topic of news reports, with some reporters and commentators considering them a serious threat to society. A 1997 psychological study by Festinger, Riecken, and Schachter found that people turned to a cataclysmic world view after they had repeatedly failed to find meaning in mainstream movements. A political cult

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3948-539: The English-speaking world, the term cult often carries derogatory connotations. The word "cult" is derived from the Latin term cultus , which means worship. An older sense of the word cult, which is not pejorative, indicates a set of religious devotional practices that is conventional within its culture, is related to a particular figure, and is frequently associated with a particular place, or generally

4042-454: The Family , the authors cite Shapiro, who defines a destructive cultism as a sociopathic syndrome , whose distinctive qualities include: "behavioral and personality changes , loss of personal identity , cessation of scholastic activities, estrangement from family, disinterest in society and pronounced mental control and enslavement by cult leaders." Writing about Bruderhof communities in

4136-411: The Labyrinth, and Theseus promised that if he returned from the Labyrinth he would take Ariadne with him. As soon as Theseus entered the Labyrinth, he tied one end of the ball of string to the doorpost and brandished his sword which he had kept hidden from the guards inside his tunic. Theseus followed Daedalus' instructions given to Ariadne: go forwards, always down, and never left or right. Theseus came to

4230-605: The activities of Unification Church members in California in trying to promote their beliefs and win new members. Lofland noted that most of their efforts were ineffective and that most of the people who joined did so because of personal relationships with other members, often family relationships. Lofland published his findings in 1964 as a doctoral thesis entitled "The World Savers: A Field Study of Cult Processes", and in 1966 in book form by as Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization and Maintenance of Faith . It

4324-671: The activities of a very small minority of new religious groups, mass culture often extends them to any religious group viewed as culturally deviant , however peaceful or law abiding it may be. While some psychologists were receptive to these theories, sociologists were for the most part sceptical of their ability to explain conversion to NRMs . In the late 1980s, psychologists and sociologists started to abandon theories like brainwashing and mind control. While scholars may believe that various less dramatic coercive psychological mechanisms could influence group members, they came to see conversion to new religious movements principally as an act of

4418-611: The book Misunderstanding Cults , Julius H. Rubin said that American religious innovation created an unending diversity of sects. These "new religious movements…gathered new converts and issued challenges to the wider society. Not infrequently, public controversy, contested narratives and litigation result." In his work Cults in Context author Lorne L. Dawson writes that although the Unification Church "has not been shown to be violent or volatile," it has been described as

4512-414: The childless Aegeus would be lost if they did not get rid of Theseus (the Pallantides were the sons of Pallas and nephews of King Aegeus , who was then living at the royal court in the sanctuary of Delphic Apollo). So they set a trap for him. One band of them would march on the town from one side while another lay in wait near a place called Gargettus in ambush. The plan was that after Theseus, Aegeus, and

4606-463: The city would be spared. However, not knowing who the assassins were, King Aegeus surrendered the whole city to Minos' mercy. His retribution was to stipulate that at the end of every Great Year , which occurred after every seven cycles on the solar calendar, the seven most courageous youths and the seven most beautiful maidens were to board a boat and be sent as tribute to Crete, never to be seen again. In another version, King Minos had waged war with

4700-453: The claims of the Eupatridae to political influence on a level with those of the wealthier citizens of all classes. The most highly coveted office at this time was not that of basileus , which, like that of the rex sacrorum in Rome, had been stripped of all save its religious authority, but that of the archon ; soon after the legislation of Solon, repeated struggles for this office between

4794-423: The classification of a religion as xiejiao did not necessarily mean that a religion's teachings were believed to be false or inauthentic; rather, the label was applied to religious groups that were not authorized by the state, or it was applied to religious groups that were believed to challenge the legitimacy of the state. Groups branded xiejiao face suppression and punishment by authorities. In 2008

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4888-470: The collective participation in rites of religion. References to the imperial cult of ancient Rome , for example, use the word in this sense. A derived sense of "excessive devotion" arose in the 19th century, and usage is not always strictly religious. The term is variously applied to abusive or coercive groups of many categories, including gangs, organized crime, and terrorist organizations. Sociological classifications of religious movements may identify

4982-668: The daughter of King Minos, bore Theseus two sons, Demophon and Acamas . While these two were still in their infancy, Phaedra fell in love with Hippolytus , Theseus' son by the Amazon queen Hippolyta . According to some versions of the story, Hippolytus had scorned Aphrodite to become a follower of Artemis , so Aphrodite made Phaedra fall in love with him as punishment. He rejected her out of chastity. Alternatively, in Euripides' version, Hippolytus , Phaedra's nurse told Hippolytus of her mistress's love and he swore he would not reveal

5076-526: The death of the Minotaur, Theseus's escape, and his romantic involvement with and betrayal of Ariadne , daughter of King Minos . Plutarch's avowed purpose is to construct a life that parallels the Life of Romulus , the founding myth of Rome. Plutarch's sources, not all of whose texts have survived independently, include Pherecydes (mid-fifth century BC), Demon (c. 400 BC), Philochorus , and Cleidemus (both fourth century BC). As

5170-567: The formation of the secular anti-cult movement (ACM). This was in response to the rise of new religions in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly the events at Jonestown and the deaths of nearly 1000 people. The organizations that formed the secular anti-cult movement (ACM) often acted on behalf of relatives of "cult" converts who did not believe their loved ones could have altered their lives so drastically by their own free will . A few psychologists and sociologists working in this field suggested that brainwashing techniques were used to maintain

5264-476: The god. To preserve the purity of the occasion, no executions were permitted between the time when the religious ceremony began to when the ship returned from Delos, which took several weeks. To preserve the ship, any wood that wore out or rotted was replaced; it was thus unclear to philosophers how much of the original ship remained, giving rise to the philosophical question of whether it should be considered "the same" ship or not. Such philosophical questions about

5358-485: The government. By the middle of the 6th century BC, the political influence of birth was at an end. The name Eupatridae survived in historical times, but the Eupatridae were then excluded from the cult of the Semnae at Athens, and also held the hereditary office of an expounder of the law in connection with purification from the guilt of murder. The combination of these two characteristics suggests some connection with

5452-622: The groups. Since the 2000s, some governments have again distanced themselves from such classifications of religious movements. While the official response to new religious groups has been mixed across the globe, some governments aligned more with the critics of these groups to the extent of distinguishing between "legitimate" religion and "dangerous", "unwanted" cults in public policy . For centuries, governments in China have categorized certain religions as xiéjiào ( 邪教 ), translated as "evil cults" or " heterodox teachings ". In imperial China ,

5546-408: The heart of the Labyrinth and upon the sleeping Minotaur. The beast awoke and a tremendous fight occurred. Theseus overpowered the Minotaur with his strength and stabbed the beast in the throat with his sword (according to one scholium on Pindar's Fifth Nemean Ode, Theseus strangled it). After decapitating the beast, Theseus used the string to escape the Labyrinth and managed to escape with all of

5640-555: The height of the counter-cult movement and ritual abuse scare of the 1990s, some governments published lists of cults. Groups labelled "cults" are found around the world and range in size from local groups with a few members to international organizations with millions. While these documents utilize similar terminology, they do not necessarily include the same groups nor is their assessment of these groups based on agreed criteria. Other governments and world bodies also report on new religious movements but do not use these terms to describe

5734-406: The hero, who was above all a benefactor of his father. The word will well bear this sense in the two passages in which Sophocles ( Electra , 162, 859) applies it to Orestes; and it is likely enough that after the disappearance of the old Eupatridae as a political corporation, the name was adopted in a different sense, but not without a claim to the distinction inherent in the older sense, by one of

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5828-440: The island of Skyros threw Theseus off a cliff after he had lost popularity in Athens. In 475 BC, in response to an oracle, Cimon of Athens, having conquered Skyros for the Athenians, identified as the remains of Theseus "a coffin of a great corpse with a bronze spear-head by its side and a sword." (Plutarch, Life of Theseus ). The remains found by Cimon were reburied in Athens. The early modern name Theseion (Temple of Theseus)

5922-510: The island of Sphairia that lay close to Troezen's shore. There, she poured a libation to Sphairos (Pelops's charioteer) and Poseidon and was possessed by the sea god in the night. The mix gave Theseus a combination of divine as well as mortal characteristics in his nature; such double paternity, with one immortal and one mortal, was a familiar feature of other Greek heroes . After Aethra became pregnant, Aegeus decided to return to Athens. Before leaving, however, he buried his sandals and sword under

6016-435: The late 1960s and early 1970s, academics perceived new religious movements as different phenomena from previous religious innovations. Destructive cult is a term frequently used by the anti-cult movement . Members of the anti-cult movement typically define a destructive cult as a group that is unethical, deceptive, and one that uses "strong influence" or mind control techniques to affect critical thinking skills. This term

6110-559: The legend of Orestes . Again, Isocrates (xvi.25) says of Alcibiades that his grandfather was a Eupatrid and his grandmother an Alcmaeonid , which suggests that in the 5th century, BC the Eupatrids were a single clan, like the Alcmaeonids, and that the name had acquired a new signification. Pursuing these two suggestions has established the probability that this, Eupatrid, clan traced its origin to Orestes, and derived its name from

6204-619: The legitimacy of new religious movements in court. In the United States the religious activities of cults are protected under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution , which prohibits governmental establishment of religion and protects freedom of religion , freedom of speech , freedom of the press , and freedom of assembly ; however, no members of religious groups or cults are granted any special immunity from criminal prosecution . In 1990,

6298-703: The literary epic. Later, Pirithous was preparing to marry Hippodamia . The centaurs were guests at the wedding feast, but got drunk and tried to abduct the women, including Hippodamia. The Lapiths won the ensuing battle. In Ovid 's Metamorphoses Theseus fights against and kills Eurytus , the "fiercest of all the fierce centaurs" at the wedding of Pirithous and Hippodamia . Also according to Ovid, Phaedra, Theseus' wife, felt left out by her husband's love for Pirithous and she used this as an excuse to try to convince her stepson, Hippolytus, to accept being her lover, as Theseus also neglected his son because he preferred to spend long periods with his companion. Theseus,

6392-609: The loyalty of cult members. The belief that cults brainwashed their members became a unifying theme among cult critics and in the more extreme corners of the anti-cult movement techniques like the sometimes forceful " deprogramming " of cult members was practised. In the mass media , and among average citizens, "cult" gained an increasingly negative connotation, becoming associated with things like kidnapping , brainwashing, psychological abuse , sexual abuse , and other criminal activity , and mass suicide . While most of these negative qualities usually have real documented precedents in

6486-624: The nature of identity are sometimes referred to as the " Ship of Theseus " paradox. Regardless of these issues, the Athenians preserved the ship. They believed that Theseus had been an actual, historical figure and the ship gave them a tangible connection to their divine provenance. Theseus's best friend was Pirithous , king of the Lapiths . Pirithous had heard stories of Theseus's courage and strength in battle but wanted proof so he rustled Theseus's herd of cattle and drove it from Marathon and Theseus set out in pursuit. Pirithous took up his arms and

6580-442: The nurse as his source of information. To ensure that she would die with dignity , Phaedra wrote to Theseus on a tablet claiming that Hippolytus had raped her before hanging herself. Theseus believed her and used one of the three wishes he had received from Poseidon against his son. The curse caused Hippolytus' horses to be frightened by a sea monster, usually a bull, and drag their rider to his death. Artemis would later tell Theseus

6674-490: The old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their place... The ship had to be maintained in a seaworthy state, for, in return for Theseus's successful mission, the Athenians had pledged to honor Apollo every year henceforth. Thus, the Athenians sent a religious mission to the island of Delos (one of Apollo's most sacred sanctuaries) on the Athenian state galley—the ship itself—to pay their fealty to

6768-462: The oldest of the clans. Theseus Theseus ( UK : / ˈ θ iː sj uː s / , US : / ˈ θ iː s i ə s / ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Θησεύς [tʰɛːsěu̯s] ) was a divine hero in Greek mythology , famous for slaying the Minotaur . The myths surrounding Theseus, his journeys, exploits, and friends, have provided material for storytelling throughout the ages. Theseus

6862-673: The pair met to do battle but were so impressed with each other's gracefulness, beauty and courage they took an oath of friendship and joined the Calydonian boar hunt . In Iliad I, Nestor numbers Pirithous and Theseus "of heroic fame" among an earlier generation of heroes of his youth, "the strongest men that Earth has bred, the strongest men against the strongest enemies, a savage mountain-dwelling tribe whom they utterly destroyed." No trace of such an oral tradition, which Homer's listeners would have recognized in Nestor's allusion, survived in

6956-522: The palace guards had been forced out the front, the other half would surprise them from behind. However, Theseus was not fooled. Informed of the plan by a herald named Leos, he crept out of the city at midnight and surprised the Pallantides. "Theseus then fell suddenly upon the party lying in ambush, and slew them all. Thereupon the party with Pallas dispersed," Plutarch reported. Pasiphaë , wife of King Minos of Crete, had several children. The eldest of these, Androgeus , set sail for Athens to take part in

7050-537: The private nature of personal beliefs. Later sociological formulations built on such characteristics, placing an additional emphasis on cults as deviant religious groups, "deriving their inspiration from outside of the predominant religious culture." This is often thought to lead to a high degree of tension between the group and the more mainstream culture surrounding it, a characteristic shared with religious sects. According to this sociological terminology, sects are products of religious schism and therefore maintain

7144-416: The royal stock. Philippides of Paiania , son of Philomelos, hailed from Attica nobility and was one of the richest Athenians in the age of Lycurgus of Athens . It is probable that, after the time of the synoecism, the nobles who had hitherto governed the various independent communities were obliged to reside in Athens, now the seat of government; and at the beginning of Athenian history the noble clans form

7238-464: The sandals and the sword and knocked the poisoned wine cup from Theseus's hands. Thus father and son were reunited, and Medea fled to Asia . When Theseus appeared in the town, his reputation had preceded him, as a result of his having traveled along the notorious coastal road from Troezen and slain some of the most feared bandits there. It was not long before the Pallantides ' hopes of succeeding

7332-543: The sea, causing this body of water to be named the Aegean Sea. According to Plutarch 's Life of Theseus , the ship Theseus used on his return from Minoan Crete to Athens was kept in the Athenian harbor as a memorial for several centuries. The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus , for they took away

7426-441: The sole dispensers of justice in the state. At this later privilege, which perhaps formed the strongest bulwark of the authority of the Eupatridae , a severe blow was struck (c. 621 BC) by the publication of a criminal code by Draco , which was followed by the more detailed and permanent code of Solon (c. 594 BC), who further threw open the highest offices to any citizen possessed of a certain amount of landed property, thus putting

7520-520: The subject of myth, the existence of Theseus as a real person has not been proven, but scholars believe that he may have been alive during the Late Bronze Age, or possibly as a king in the 8th or 9th century BC. Aegeus , one of the primordial kings of Athens , was childless. Desiring an heir, he asked the Oracle of Delphi for advice. Her cryptic words were "Do not loosen the bulging mouth of

7614-405: The term "new religion" or " new religious movement ". Other proposed alternative terms that have seen use were "emergent religion", "alternative religious movement", or "marginal religious movement", though new religious movement is the most popular term. The anti-cult movement mostly regards the term "new religious movement" as a euphemism for cult that hides their harmful nature. Beginning in

7708-504: The term is overgeneralized. Saliba sees the Peoples Temple as the "paradigm of a destructive cult", where those that use the term are implying that other groups will also commit mass suicide . Doomsday cult is an expression which is used to describe groups that believe in apocalypticism and millenarianism , and it can also be used to refer both to groups that predict disaster , and groups that attempt to bring it about. In

7802-663: The truth, promising to avenge her loyal follower on another follower of Aphrodite. In a version recounted by the Roman playwright Seneca , entitled Phaedra , after Phaedra told Theseus that Hippolytus had raped her, Theseus called upon Neptune (as he did Poseidon in Euripides' interpretation) to kill his son. Upon hearing the news of Hippolytus' death at the hands of Neptune's sea monster, Phaedra committed suicide out of guilt, for she had not intended for Hippolytus to die. In yet another version, Phaedra simply told Theseus Hippolytus had raped her and did not kill herself. Dionysus sent

7896-546: The underworld for his 12th task. There he persuaded Persephone to forgive him for the part he had taken in the rash venture of Pirithous. So Theseus was restored to the upper air but Pirithous never left the kingdom of the dead, for when Heracles tried to free Pirithous, the underworld shook. They then decided the task was beyond any hero and left. When Theseus returned to Athens, he found that the Dioscuri had taken Helen and Aethra to Sparta . Phaedra , Theseus' second wife and

7990-437: The view that the three classes represent three elements in the Attic nobility, namely, the city nobility, the landed nobility and the commercial nobility, and exclude altogether the mass of the population. At any rate, it seems certain from the little we know of the early constitutional history of Athens, that the Eupatridae represent the only nobility that had any political recognition in early times. The political history of

8084-406: The wineskin until you have reached the height of Athens, lest you die of grief." Aegeus did not understand the prophecy and was disappointed. He asked the advice of his host Pittheus , king of Troezen . Pittheus understood the prophecy, got Aegeus drunk, and gave Aegeus his daughter Aethra . But following the instructions of Athena in a dream, Aethra left the sleeping Aegeus and waded across to

8178-399: The word "cult", unlike most other academics; however Bainbridge later stated he regretted having used the word at all. Stark and Bainbridge, in discussing the process by which individuals join new religious groups, have even questioned the utility of the concept of conversion , suggesting that affiliation is a more useful concept. In the early 1960s, sociologist John Lofland studied

8272-407: The young Athenians a dance still performed by the inhabitants of the island, consisting of twisting and twisted movements that reproduce the shapes of the labyrinth. Dicearchos states that this dance is called 'Crane'." Theseus forgot to put up the white sails instead of the black ones, so his father, the king, believing he was dead, committed suicide, throwing himself off a cliff of Sounion and into

8366-417: The young Athenians and Ariadne as well as her younger sister Phaedra . Then he and the rest of the crew fell asleep on the beach of the island of Naxos, where they stopped on their way back, looking for water. Theseus then abandoned Ariadne, where Dionysus eventually found and married her. On his way back from Crete, he also stopped on the island of Delos , where, according to Plutarch , "Theseus danced with

8460-522: The young, powerful stranger's intentions. Aegeus's consort Medea recognized Theseus immediately as Aegeus' son and worried that Theseus would be chosen as heir to Aegeus' kingdom instead of her son Medus . She tried to arrange to have Theseus killed by asking him to capture the Marathonian Bull , an emblem of Cretan power. On the way to Marathon , Theseus took shelter from a storm in the hut of an ancient woman named Hecale . She swore to make

8554-404: Was crying out. Around him gathered the terrible band of Furies with snakes in their hair, torches, and long whips in their hands. Before these monsters, the hero's courage failed and he was led away to eternal punishment. For many months in half-darkness, Theseus sat immovably fixed to the rock, mourning for both his friend and for himself. In the end, he was rescued by Heracles who had come to

8648-469: Was further elaborated upon by German theologian Ernst Troeltsch , who added a "mystical" categorization to define more personal religious experiences. American sociologist Howard P. Becker further bisected Troeltsch's first two categories: church was split into ecclesia and denomination ; and sect into sect and cult . Like Troeltsch's "mystical religion", Becker's cult refers to small religious groups that lack in organization and emphasize

8742-478: Was mistakenly applied to the Temple of Hephaestus which was thought to be the actual site of the hero's tomb . Primary sources Secondary sources Cult Cult is a term often applied to new religious movements and other social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious , spiritual , or philosophical beliefs and rituals . Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal

8836-418: Was rescued by the Dioscuri . On Pirithous's behalf they rather unwisely traveled to the underworld, domain of Persephone and her husband Hades . As they wandered through the outskirts of Tartarus , Theseus sat down to rest on a rock. As he did so he felt his limbs change and grow stiff. He tried to rise but could not. He was fixed to the rock. As he turned to cry out to his friend, he saw that Pirithous too

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