73-587: Thésée means Theseus in French. Thésée may also refer to: 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
146-521: 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
219-514: A funeral for him. Soon, Jason reached the court of Phineus of Salmydessus in Thrace . Zeus had sent the harpies to steal the food put out for Phineus each day. Jason took pity on the emaciated king and killed the Harpies when they returned; in other versions, Calais and Zetes chase the harpies away. In return for this favor, Phineus revealed to Jason the location of Colchis and how to pass
292-466: 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
365-414: 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
438-463: A man wearing only one sandal. Many years later, Pelias was holding games in honor of Poseidon when the grown Jason arrived in Iolcus, having lost one of his sandals in the river Anauros ("wintry Anauros") while helping an old woman (actually the goddess Hera in disguise) to cross. She blessed him, for she knew what Pelias had planned. When Jason entered Iolcus (the present-day city of Volos ), he
511-470: 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
584-543: 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
657-484: 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
730-697: 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
803-532: Is situated in the north Aegean Sea , near the Western coast of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey ). The island was inhabited by a race of women who had killed their husbands. The women had neglected their worship of Aphrodite , and as a punishment the goddess made the women so foul in stench that their husbands could not bear to be near them. The men then took concubines from the Thracian mainland opposite, and
SECTION 10
#1732775510077876-642: 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
949-546: The Hercules episode "Hercules and the Argonauts" voiced by William Shatner . He is shown to have been a student of Philoctetes and takes his advice to let Hercules travel with him. In the series The Heroes of Olympus ' s first novel The Lost Hero , there was a reference to the mythical Jason when Jason Grace and his friends encounter Medea. The BBC series Atlantis , which premiered in 2013, featured Jason as
1022-528: The Odyssey . The Sirens lived on three small, rocky islands called Sirenum scopuli and sang beautiful songs that enticed sailors to come to them, which resulted in the crashing of their ship into the islands. When Orpheus heard their voices, he drew his lyre and played music that was more beautiful and louder, drowning out the Sirens' bewitching songs. The Argo then came to the island of Crete , guarded by
1095-566: The Golden Fleece is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson , the rightful king of Iolcos . He was married to the sorceress Medea , the granddaughter of the sungod Helios . Jason appeared in various literary works in the classical world of Greece and Rome , including the epic poem Argonautica and the tragedy Medea . In the modern world, Jason has emerged as a character in various adaptations of his myths, such as
1168-480: The Khalkotauroi , that he had to yoke himself. Medea provided an ointment that protected him from the oxen's flames. Then, Jason sowed the teeth of a dragon into a field. The teeth sprouted into an army of warriors ( spartoi ). Medea had previously warned Jason of this and told him how to defeat this foe. Before they attacked him, he threw a rock into the crowd. Unable to discover where the rock had come from,
1241-640: 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,
1314-492: The Symplegades , or The Clashing Rocks, and then they parted. The only way to reach Colchis was to sail through the Symplegades (Clashing Rocks), huge rock cliffs that came together and crushed anything that traveled between them. Phineus told Jason to release a dove when they approached these islands, and if the dove made it through, to row with all their might. If the dove was crushed, he was doomed to fail. Jason released
1387-571: 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
1460-640: The epic poem has been lost, or if it was never finished. A third version is the Argonautica Orphica , which emphasizes the role of Orpheus in the story. Jason is briefly mentioned in Dante's Divine Comedy in the poem Inferno . He appears in the Canto XVIII. In it, he is seen by Dante and his guide Virgil being punished in Hell's Eighth Circle (Bolgia 1) by being driven to march through
1533-408: The 1963 film Jason and the Argonauts and the 2000 TV miniseries of the same name . Pelias (Aeson's half-brother) was power-hungry and sought to gain dominion over all of Thessaly . Pelias was the progeny of a union between their shared mother, Tyro ("high born Tyro"), the daughter of Salmoneus , and the sea god Poseidon . In a bitter feud, he overthrew Aeson (the rightful king), killing all
SECTION 20
#17327755100771606-526: 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
1679-568: The Gorgon's Head the mythical story of Jason is described. Padraic Colum wrote an adaptation for children, The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles , illustrated by Willy Pogany and published in 1921. The mythical geography of the voyage of the Argonauts has been connected to specific geographic locations by Livio Stecchini but his theories have not been widely adopted. Jason appeared in
1752-411: 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
1825-436: The ages. Theseus 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
1898-428: The bronze man, Talos . As the ship approached, Talos hurled huge stones at the ship, keeping it at bay. Talos had one ichor vessel which went from his neck to his ankle, bound shut by only one bronze nail (as in metal casting by the lost wax method). Medea cast a spell on Talos to calm him; she removed the bronze nail and Talos bled to death. The Argo was then able to sail on. Thomas Bulfinch has an antecedent to
1971-401: The burial of the dead, prophesies the future", and "announces the foundation of a cult". Later Jason and Peleus , father of the hero Achilles , attacked and defeated Acastus, reclaiming the throne of Iolcus for himself once more. Jason's son, Thessalus , then became king. As a result of breaking his vow to love Medea forever, Jason lost his favor with Hera and died lonely and unhappy. He
2044-508: The cauldron. Medea did not add the magical herbs, and Pelias was dead. Pelias' son, Acastus , drove Jason and Medea into exile for the murder, and the couple settled in Corinth. In Corinth, Jason became engaged to marry Creusa (sometimes referred to as Glauce ), a daughter of the King of Corinth, to strengthen his political ties. When Medea confronted Jason about the engagement and cited all
2117-414: 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
2190-438: The circle for all eternity while being whipped by devils . He is included among the panderers and seducers (possibly for his seduction and subsequent abandoning of Medea). The story of Medea 's revenge on Jason is told with devastating effect by Euripides in his tragedy Medea . William Morris wrote an English epic poem, The Life and Death of Jason , published in 1867. In the 1898 short novel The Story of Perseus and
2263-463: 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
Thésée - Misplaced Pages Continue
2336-668: 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
2409-526: 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
2482-467: The definitive telling, on which this account relies, is that of Apollonius of Rhodes in his epic poem Argonautica , written in Alexandria in the late 3rd century BC. Another Argonautica was written by Gaius Valerius Flaccus in the late 1st century AD, eight books in length. The poem ends abruptly with the request of Medea to accompany Jason on his homeward voyage. It is unclear if part of
2555-573: The descendants of Aeson that he could. He spared his half-brother for unknown reasons. Aeson's wife Alcimede I had a newborn son named Jason, whom she saved from Pelias by having female attendants cluster around the infant and cry as if he were stillborn . Fearing that Pelias would eventually notice and kill her son, Alcimede sent him away to be reared by the centaur Chiron . She claimed that she had been having an affair with him all along. Pelias, fearing that his ill-gotten kingship might be challenged, consulted an oracle , who warned him to beware of
2628-488: The dove as advised, which made it through, losing only a few tail feathers. Seeing this, they rowed strongly and made it through with minor damage at the extreme stern of the ship. From that time on, the clashing rocks were forever joined leaving free passage for others to pass. Jason arrived in Colchis (modern Black Sea coast of Georgia ) to claim the fleece as his own. It was owned by King Aeetes of Colchis. The fleece
2701-476: 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
2774-444: The gods on her side. As Bernard Knox points out, Medea's last scene with concluding appearances parallels that of a number of indisputably divine beings in other plays by Euripides. Just like these gods, Medea "interrupts and puts a stop to the violent action of the human being on the lower level, ... justifies her savage revenge on the grounds that she has been treated with disrespect and mockery, ... takes measures and gives orders for
2847-408: 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
2920-468: The help she had given him, he retorted that it was not she that he should thank, but Aphrodite who made Medea fall in love with him. Infuriated with Jason for breaking his vow that he would be hers forever, Medea took her revenge by presenting to Creusa a cursed dress, as a wedding gift, that stuck to her body and burned her to death as soon as she put it on. Creusa's father, Creon , burned to death with his daughter as he tried to save her. Then Medea killed
2993-617: The interaction of Medea and the daughters of Pelias. Jason, celebrating his return with the Golden Fleece, noted that his father was too aged and infirm to participate in the celebrations. He had seen and been served by Medea's magical powers. He asked Medea to take some years from his life and add them to the life of his father. She did so, but at no such cost to Jason's life. Medea withdrew the blood from Aeson's body and infused it with certain herbs; putting it back into his veins, returning vigor to him. Pelias' daughters saw this and wanted
Thésée - Misplaced Pages Continue
3066-440: 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)
3139-510: 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
3212-527: The land beyond Bear Mountain were the Gegeines , which are a tribe of Earthborn giants with six arms who wore leather loincloths. While most of the crew went into the forest to search for supplies, the Gegeines saw that few Argonauts were guarding the ship and raided it. Heracles was among those guarding the ship at the time and managed to kill most of them before Jason and the others returned. Once some of
3285-703: 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,
3358-624: 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
3431-442: 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
3504-490: 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
3577-478: The other Gegeines were killed, Jason and the Argonauts set sail. The Argonauts departed, losing their bearings and landing again at the same spot that night. In the darkness, the Doliones took them for enemies and they started fighting each other. The Argonauts killed many of the Doliones, among them the king Cyzicus. Cyzicus' wife killed herself. The Argonauts realized their horrible mistake when dawn came and held
3650-673: 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
3723-522: 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
SECTION 50
#17327755100773796-463: The queen. Heracles pressured them to leave as he was disgusted by the antics of the Argonauts. He had not taken part, which is truly unusual considering the numerous affairs he had with other women. After Lemnos the Argonauts landed among the Doliones , whose king Cyzicus treated them graciously. He told them about the land beyond Bear Mountain, but forgot to mention what lived there. What lived in
3869-438: The same service for their father. Medea, using her sorcery, claimed to Pelias' daughters that she could make their father smooth and vigorous as a child by chopping him up into pieces and boiling the pieces in a cauldron of water and magical herbs. She demonstrated this remarkable feat with the oldest ram in the flock, which leapt out of the cauldron as a lamb. The girls, rather naively, sliced and diced their father and put him in
3942-464: 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
4015-543: 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
4088-461: The sea; Aeetes stopped to gather them. In another version, Medea lured Apsyrtus into a trap. Jason killed him, chopped off his fingers and toes, and buried the corpse. In any case, Jason and Medea escaped. On the way back to Iolcus, Medea prophesied to Euphemus , the Argo's helmsman, that one day he would rule Cyrene . This came true through Battus , a descendant of Euphemus. Zeus , as punishment for
4161-610: The slaughter of Medea's own brother, sent a series of storms at the Argo and blew it off course. The Argo then spoke and said that they should seek purification with Circe , a nymph living on the island of Aeaea. After being cleansed, they continued their journey home. Chiron had told Jason that without the aid of Orpheus , the Argonauts would never be able to pass the Sirens —the same Sirens encountered by Odysseus in Homer 's epic poem
4234-447: The soldiers attacked and defeated one another. His last task was to overcome the sleepless dragon which guarded the Golden Fleece . Jason sprayed the dragon with a potion, given by Medea, distilled from herbs. The dragon fell asleep, and Jason was able to seize the Golden Fleece. He then sailed away with Medea. Medea distracted her father, who chased them as they fled, by killing her brother Apsyrtus and throwing pieces of his body into
4307-437: The spurned women, angry at Aphrodite, killed all the male inhabitants while they slept. The king, Thoas , was saved by Hypsipyle , his daughter, who put him out to sea sealed in a chest from which he was later rescued. The women of Lemnos lived for a while without men, with Hypsipyle as their queen. During the visit of the Argonauts the women mingled with the men creating a new "race" called Minyae . Jason fathered twins with
4380-520: 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
4453-663: 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
SECTION 60
#17327755100774526-406: The two boys that she bore to Jason, fearing that they would be murdered or enslaved as a result of their mother's actions. When Jason learned of this, Medea was already gone. She fled to Athens in a chariot of dragons sent by her grandfather, the sun-god Helios . Although Jason calls Medea most hateful to gods and men, the fact that the chariot is given to her by Helios indicates that she still has
4599-546: 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
4672-406: 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
4745-407: 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
4818-417: 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
4891-522: 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
4964-418: Was announced as a man wearing only one sandal. Jason, aware that he was the rightful king, so informed Pelias. Pelias replied, "To take my throne, which you shall, you must go on a quest to find the Golden Fleece." Jason readily accepted this condition. Jason assembled for his crew, a number of heroes, known as the Argonauts after their ship, the Argo . The group of heroes included: The isle of Lemnos
5037-423: Was asleep under the stem of the rotting Argo when it fell on him, killing him instantly. Jason's father is invariably Aeson, but there is great variation as to his mother's name. According to various authors, she could be: Jason was also said to have had a younger brother, Promachus . Children by Medea : Children by Hypsipyle : Though some of the episodes of Jason's story draw on ancient material,
5110-404: 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
5183-425: Was given to him by Phrixus . Aeetes promised to give it to Jason only if he could perform three certain tasks. Presented with the tasks, Jason became discouraged and fell into depression. However, Hera had persuaded Aphrodite to convince her son Eros to make Aeetes' daughter, Medea , fall in love with Jason. As a result, Medea aided Jason in his tasks. First, Jason had to plow a field with fire-breathing oxen,
5256-460: 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 Jason Jason ( / ˈ dʒ eɪ s ən / JAY -sən ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Ἰάσων , translit. Iásōn [i.ǎːsɔːn] ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts , whose quest for
5329-418: 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
#76923