Novikov L.B., Apatity, 2013

Part 2: continued.
Theseus (Theseus, Fesey), the mythical hero of Attica, was the son of Aegeus, the king of Athens, and Ephra (Etra), the daughter of Pittheus; later he himself became the king of Attica and the Great Converter of Athens.
The clan of Theseus came from the father's side from Erechtheus (from the first autochthons of Greece), and from the mother's side - from Pelops ("Theseus"). A note to Plutarch's work says that Theseus was considered the sixth descendant of Erechtheus (Erechtheus), whom, oddly enough, the commentator confuses with Erichthonius. Pelops was the son of Tantalus, who arrived on Greek soil from Lydia and gained such influence that the whole peninsula was named after him. According to Plutarch ("Theseus"), Pittheus, the son of Pelops and the grandfather of Theseus, once "founded the small city of Troezen and was famous as the wisest and most learned person in his century."
Regarding the lifetime of Theseus, whom Plutarch compared in importance to the history of Athens with Romulus, the ancient historian wrote the following: "Both of them were born in the darkness of obscurity; both are revered as born of the gods." Both of them combined courage with prudence: "One built Rome, the other inhabited Athens ...; both abducted women; none escaped domestic misfortunes and enmity with relatives; before their death, they incurred the indignation of their citizens." In the lives of both, only that which is least "strange and wonderful" can be recognized as true.
Theseus' father, Aegeus, was married twice, but none of the wives bore him a child. When he turned to the Delphic oracle with a question about how to get an heir, he warned the king not to untie the ends of the wineskin until he returned to Athens, or he would one day have to die of sadness. Aegeus did not understand the meaning of the oracle's divination and on his way back to Athens he stopped at Troezen to see Pittheus ("Theseus")
His wise friend Pittheus understood the meaning of the oracle's prediction and, having drunk the guest who was heading to his home, put him to bed with his daughter Ephra. Some time later that night, Poseidon also took possession of her. Before leaving, Aegeus rolled his sword and sandals with a large boulder and warned Ephra that if a boy was born who, when he grew up, could move this stone and get these things, he should be secretly sent with them to Athens. Until then, Ephra must remain silent so that the nephews of Aegeus, the fifty sons of Pallant (the youngest son of Pandion), do not destroy the child.
Pallas at this time ruled in southern Attica. He had fifty sons (Pallantides) who disputed the power of Aegeus in Athens, despising him for childlessness and not considering him a direct descendant of Erechtheus ("Theseus").
Theseus grew up in Troezen, where his grandfather Pittheus carefully spread the rumor that the boy's father was Poseidon, since this god was especially revered by the Troizens. The name Theseus meant "position" and "adoption". According to Plutarch, "Theseus, during his stay with Pittheus, had as his mentor a certain Connidus, to whom the Athenians still sacrifice a ram the day before the Theseus holiday." Thus, they remembered and revered him, as Plutarch wrote, with more justice than the sculptor Sillanion and the painter Parrhasius, "who made only images and idols of Theseus", i.e. sculpture and image of Theseus.
One day, Hercules, Theseus' cousin, while dining at Troezen with Pittheus, took off his lion skin and hung it on the back of a chair. The boys who entered from the yard, at the sight of the skin, rushed away with a cry, and only seven-year-old Theseus quickly grabbed the ax lying on the woodpile and boldly went to the beast. When Theseus was sixteen years old, Ephra led her son to a boulder, under which Aegeus hid his sword and sandals, and told about his father. Theseus easily rolled away the boulder and took the things left for him. After that, he went to Athens, but not by sea, but by land.
Theseus, as Plutarch wrote, was proud of his cousin and dreamed of performing feats similar to those of Hercules. The mothers of both heroes "were cousins. Etra was the daughter of Pittheus, while Alcmena [mother of Hercules] was the daughter of Lysidice. Lysidice and Pittheus were the children of Pelops and Hippodamia."
However, in classical mythology, the genealogy of Hercules is somewhat different: Alcmena is the daughter of the Mycenaean king Electrion and Anaxo, the wife of the Tirynthian king Amphitrion and the mother of Hercules; and Electryon was the son of Perseus and Andromeda; Electrion married Anaxo, the princess of Tirinth, who bore him eight sons and the beautiful Alcmene. Zeus was seduced by the beauty of Alcmene, and, as expected, nine months later a boy was born, who was named Hercules.
Thus, the relationship of Theseus and Hercules was rather determined not genetically, but mythologically: Theseus was considered the son of Poseidon, and Hercules - the son of Zeus; while Poseidon and Zeus were brothers. Therefore, Theseus, as Plutarch wrote, "considered it shameful for himself to avoid obvious dangers when Hercules was looking everywhere for villains and cleared the seas and lands of them."
According to Plutarch, "the road to Athens by land was very dangerous," but Theseus refused to sail by sea in order, like Hercules, "to prove with bold and laudable labors ... the nobility of his origin." On the way to Athens, Theseus "decided not to offend anyone, but to punish those who would use violence against him" and with such thoughts he performed many feats: he killed the famous robbers of Greece - Perithetus, Sinis, Skiron and Procrustes. The daughter of Sinis, Periguna, hiding in the thickets of wild asparagus and reeds, fell in love with Theseus at one glance, forgave him for the murder of her father and in due time gave birth to his son Melanippus, who became a famous runner who won the Nemean Games, established in honor of the deceased Ophelet at the time campaign of seven against Thebes. Subsequently, as Plutarch wrote, Theseus married Pereguna to Deionaeus, the son of Eurytus, the king of Echalia, and Melanippus gave birth to the son Iox, who set up a settlement in Caria and was the ancestor of the ioxides, "who preserved the custom not to tear or burn reeds and wild asparagus, but hold them sacred."
Near Krommion (a town between Corinth and Megara), Theseus delivered the local population from a ferocious and terrible wild pig, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. In Arcadia, he encountered King Kerkion, who was terrifying with his cruelty: he forced all passers-by to fight him and killed them during the duel, or after it. Theseus grabbed Kerkion by the knees and hit his head on the ground. The death of the Arcadian king Kerkion was instantaneous.
It is important to note here that Theseus, at the time of his journey to Athens and entering into his first marriage, was only sixteen years old.
On the banks of the small river Cefiss, already in Attica, the sons of Fital performed a rite of purification from spilled blood over Theseus and showed him hospitality. Fital himself became famous for having once accepted Demeter into his house, for which he received a fig (fig) from her as a gift, taught the Athenians to plant and process it, for which they rendered him and his offspring great honors.
In ancient times, figs were called a fig tree, or a fig tree, which on the Mediterranean coast reached 8 meters in height and grew wild in Syria and Asia Minor, artificially bred in the Crimea and the Caucasus; it was cultivated in Asia, spread to America and other countries. In Greek mythology, figs and grapes were considered attributes of Dionysus and the phallic god Priapus, the god of fertility, the productive forces of nature, the son of Aphrodite and Dionysus, who was born with an ugly little body and huge genitals. Alien to everyone for his ugliness, Priapus was part of the retinue of Dionysus in his Bacchic wanderings.
After being cleansed by the Phitalids, Theseus entered Athens dressed in clean long clothes, with neatly styled hair. There he found the power of Aegeus in a state of decline. The king did not have a legitimate heir, so the fifty sons of his brother Pallant made plans to seize the throne. Aegeus lived with Medea, who hoped that the throne would go to their son Medu, despite the foreign origin of his mother. The sorceress Medea immediately recognized Theseus and, fearing that her plans for the fate of her own son would be frustrated, convinced Aegeus that the stranger was a hired killer or scout. At the feast, Aegeus was supposed to offer Theseus a cup of wine prepared in advance by Medea. The bowl contained the poison aconite. At the last moment, when Theseus drew his sword to cut off a piece of fried meat served to the table, the king recognized his son by the snakes carved on the hilt of the sword and threw away the bowl of poison. He embraced Theseus, convened a national assembly and declared him his son. Theseus wanted to take revenge on Medea, but she eluded him, wrapping herself in a magical cloud, and left Athens with her son.
The appearance of Theseus deprived the sons of Pallas of the hope of ruling Athens, so they, led by their father, openly opposed Aegeus. Pallas with twenty-five sons and a large army went to the city, while the other 25 sons lay in ambush. Having learned about the plans of the Pallantids, Theseus attacked those who were hiding in an ambush and killed everyone. After that, Pallas and his remaining sons prayed for peace. Having inherited the Athenian throne after the death of Aegeus, Theseus, in order to strengthen his power, executed all his opponents, but did not touch the remaining Pallantides and their father. A few years later, he killed them as a precaution and was acquitted by the court, who regarded this murder as "justified".
The exploits of Theseus did not end there. He learned that the fire-breathing ferocious white bull of Poseidon lives in Marathon, killing people. Among the victims of the bull was even the Cretan prince Androgey, the son of Minos. This bull was brought from Crete by Hercules and set free in the valley of Argos, from where he got to Marathon. Theseus went to Marathon, and along the way he got into a storm and had to stop at an old spinner named Hecale, who promised to sacrifice a ram to Zeus if Theseus remained alive. Theseus found the bull, boldly seized it by its deadly horns, and victoriously dragged it to Athens, where it was sacrificed. He wanted to thank Hekal, but the old woman died without waiting for his victory. Then Theseus established a holiday in her honor - Hekalesia.
The Athenians especially honored Theseus for the liberation of Athens from tribute to Minos. The Cretan king Minos, out of revenge for the murder of his son Androgeus near Athens, undertook a campaign against Athens and forced the Athenians to send seven young men and seven girls every nine years to be eaten by the Minotaur, a monster, half-man and half-bull, born to Queen Pasiphae from a white bull killed by Theseus.
The Minotaur was kept in the Cretan Labyrinth. The boys and girls brought to Crete from Athens, according to the most tragic story, were devoured by the Minotaur in the labyrinth. According to another version ("Theseus"), they wandered around it and, finding no way out, died there. Philochor (a historian who lived 200 BC) argued that the Cretans refuted the legend of the devouring of hostages by the Minotaur and said that the labyrinth was an ordinary dungeon from which the prisoners could not escape, and that they were not subject to any punishment in it ; that Minos held games in memory of his son Androgeus and rewarded the winners with young Athenians who had previously been kept in the labyrinth. In the first games, the commander Taurus won, who was under Minos in great strength, a haughty and cruel man, who treated the Athenian youths contemptuously and sternly. Aristotle himself in his work "The Government of Bottia" [located on the coast of Thrace, near the city of Thessalonica] does not believe that the young men were put to death by Minos, but thinks that they spent their whole lives in slavery. He also tells that the Cretans, fulfilling some ancient vow, once sent their first-born children to Delphi, among whom were the descendants of these Athenian slaves, but they could not feed themselves and went to Italy and settled in Iapigia [now Apulia - a region in Italy] ; from where they moved to Thrace and are called Bottians. For this reason, the maidens of Botti during the sacrifices sing: "Let's go to Athens!"
When Minos for the third time demanded that human victims be sent for the Minotaur, Theseus volunteered to go along with others and promised his father (Aegeus) to kill the Minotaur. The ships on which the fourteen victims were sent were usually equipped with black sails, but this time Aegeus gave his son a white sail (according to another version, purple), which, if successful, he had to raise on his return. On Crete, Theseus defeated the commander of Taurus, and in the labyrinth he defeated the monster and got out of the intricate passages of the labyrinth with the help of a thread he received from the daughter of Minos, Ariadne. Ariadne secretly fled with Theseus from Crete, but he left her alone on the island of Naxos for unknown reasons. According to Plutarch ("Theseus"), Minos was so pleased with the victory of Theseus over Taurus (who, according to rumors, cohabited with Pasiphae), that he returned Theseus to the young men and freed Athens from tribute.
Minos also did not take revenge on Theseus for Ariadne, which indicated the admissibility of his act, which fit into the then existing ethical standards. The Greeks themselves did not understand Theseus: in some sources he seemed brave and fair, in others - an unfaithful lover who abandoned Ariadne on the deserted coast of the island.
Plutarch believed ("Theseus") that all the stories about the relationship between Theseus and Ariadne had little reliability: some said that Ariadne married Onar, a priest of Dionysus, being abandoned by Theseus, who had previously fallen in love, according to Hesiod, with the beautiful Egle; others claimed that Ariadne gave birth to Oenopion and Stafil from Theseus, and Oenopion built himself a new city. Writers from Naxos claimed that there were two Minos and two Ariadnes: one of them was the wife of Dionysus on the island of Naxos and gave birth to Stafil; the other, the youngest, abducted by Theseus and brought by him to the island of Naxos, died there; the second is not given such honors as the first. Holidays in honor of the elder were celebrated with fun and games, the holidays of the latter were mixed with sadness and despondency, for the former was honored with immortality, and the latter underwent a common fate.
Finally, there was another Ariadne, who ruled Crete after the death of Minos and his son Deucalion, and with whom Theseus subsequently concluded a peace treaty (see below). Since she received the throne of Crete by right of inheritance, it can be assumed that she was the daughter of Minos and, therefore, did not die on the island of Naxos, but survived and returned back.
After Naxos, Theseus first went to Delos, and then to Attica ("Theseus"). In Delos, Theseus "made sacrifices to Apollo, dedicated the idol he received from Ariadne to Aphrodite, and together with the young men started a dance, which is still in use among the inhabitants of Delos; this dance represents different twists and turns of the labyrinth: measured movements are made either in one direction or in another, and this dance is called by the Delians "crane." In an explanation to Plutarch's entry, it is said that from this came the custom of the Athenians to send an embassy to Delos every year to offer sacrifices, and the dance that Theseus arranged is called the "crane" because the cranes fly in a circle. The newest travelers have found that it is still used by the Greeks, who call it "candia" and "Cretan dance". In Delos there was also an altar to Keraton, made up of the left horns of animals (Kinthian goats). A distinctive feature of the altar was that the horns were neither tied nor glued together. According to Plutarch, "Theseus also danced in the circle of the altar of Keraton."
Upon returning to Athens, Theseus forgot about his promise to his father to raise a white (purple) sail. Aegeus, who was watching the ship from the acropolis, saw black sails and lost consciousness, and then, recovering himself, rushed down and crashed to death (according to another version, he threw himself from a cliff into the sea, which has since been called the Aegean).
The ship on which Theseus sailed and returned was, according to Plutarch ("Theseus"), thirty-oared; the Athenians kept it intact until the time of Demetrius of Phalers, who lived 280 BC. It was said that the Athenians continued to send this ship to Delos, although Plutarch himself wrote that "the old boards were removed, new ones were put in their place so that this ship served as a philosopher an example" of eternal renewal. In honor of the return of Theseus, the feast of Oschophoria was established, which was celebrated as follows: several young men of a noble tribe were elected with living parents. They took grape branches with bunches in their hands and fled from the temple of Bacchus to the temple of Athena Skyradia near the Falirean pier, to which Theseus' ship moored. Whoever ran there first was given a cup of wine mixed with honey, cheese, flour and butter. They were followed by a choir singing songs in honor of the young men. Several of the richest women accompanied them with baskets in their hands. All were led by a herald, holding a cane entwined with branches.
Having inherited the Athenian throne, Theseus united all of Attica around Athens, previously divided into twelve communities, each of which decided its own affairs, turning to the Athenian king only if necessary. In order for these communities to submit to Athens, Theseus had to turn to each of them separately. Ordinary citizens and the poor were ready to recognize his power, and he brought the rest into submission - some by persuasion, and some by force.
Plutarch wrote on this occasion ("Theseus"): Theseus "gathered all the inhabitants of Attica into one city and made one people out of them. Until that time they lived absent-mindedly and gathered with difficulty when it was necessary to consult about the common good ... Theseus went from village to village, from family to family, persuaded and exhorted them. Simple and poor people willingly accepted his advice; he promised the strong a democratic government, not an autocratic one, giving himself the right to lead in war and be the guardian of laws; have equal rights ... He destroyed various tribunes, councils and courts and built one common tribune and council for all in the place where it still stands today. The commentaries say that feasts were given in the pritaneum on the occasion of some occasion. In the middle of the huge building was a kind of temple dedicated to Hestia, in whose honor an unquenchable fire was kept. Hestia among the Greeks personified the universal Mother Goddess with the world cosmic hearth, around which were located planets bearing the names of other gods.
It was Theseus who gave Athens its current name and, under the patronage of the goddess Athena, grateful to him for this, established the Panathenaic Games *, making them available to all of Attica. In the comments to Plutarch's "Theseus" it is said that some translate this place in a well-known myth differently: "The fortress and the city [he] called Athens." And Plutarch himself wrote: "The whole city [he] called Athens and established a common sacrifice, which is called Panathenea."

*Before, city dwellers used to celebrate Athenaeus in honor of the goddess Athena. Theseus made it common to all of Attica - and therefore he was given the name Panathenay.
In the time of Xenophon (5th-4th centuries BC) ("Feast", 1), this holiday was already called the Panathenaic Games, for which people of "high morality" gathered. In the comments to the work of Xenophon, it is noted that Panathenaia was one of the most important Athenian holidays in honor of the goddess Athena. It was originally held annually; but since the time of Peisistratus (VI century BC), Panatheneas began to be held 1 time in 4 years, were celebrated with special splendor and received the name "Great Panatheneas"; and the annual holiday has since become known as the "Small Panathenays". The Great Panathenaic lasted for several days; in the early days there were various competitions - gymnastic, equestrian and musical; among the first belonged to pankratium - a difficult competition, which consisted of a fight with a fistfight. Competitors were divided by age into three groups: children, "beardless" (i.e. young men) and "husbands" (i.e. adults).
In the comments to Plutarch's Theseus, a slightly different explanation is given: the Great Panathenays were celebrated every five years on the 23rd of the month of the hecatombeon, and the Small ones were celebrated annually on the 20th of the month of fargelion. The mysterious peplos, or the veil of Athens, was carried out on the Bolshoi, on which the victories of the gods over the giants and the memorable deeds of the heroes were depicted.
The Attic months (hecatombeon, metageitnion, boedromion, pianepsion, memacterion, poseideon, gamelion, anthesterion, elaphebolion, munichion, fargelion, skyroforion and the 13th, embolismic, month - 2nd poseideon) began with new moons. The beginning of the year was usually referred to the month of the summer solstice (June). An additional month was inserted before the start of spring.
In the comments to "Theseus" by Plutarch, it is explained that hecatombeon, the first month in the Athenian calendar, fell on June-July; matagitnion (Macedonian horpei) corresponded to August-September, boedromion to September, and munichion corresponded to April-May of the modern calendar.
Hesiod singled out 30 days in each month, of which some days were considered sacred (they were dedicated to the gods: the 4th of each month - Hermes, 7 - Apollo, 8 - Poseidon, 9 - the day of liberation, dedicated to Hera, Prometheus and Persephone). It remained unclear Hesiod's expression "the day before the first number" was considered sacred, and at the same time, the 30th day of each month is "the best day for reviewing the work done," i.e. On the 30th of each month, the Greeks summed up what had been done for the month, and the ancient poet did not write anything about the 31st, the unit was already the number of Zeus. Probably, on the 30th day of each month, the Greeks not only "reviewed what has been done" for the month, but also reported to the Thunderer for what they had done. Therefore, there is no reason to think that the early history of the Greek calendar remains practically unknown, as E. Bickerman believed. The same author noted Homer, from whom it became known that the appearance of the new moon was accompanied by a festival, but he did not mention the names of the months and did not count the number of months in the year, although he counted the number of (lunar) months of pregnancy, as we still do.
Thus, it can be fully assumed, based on the number of Olympic gods, which were 12 according to the number of signs of the Zodiac, that the Greeks counted at least 360 days a year + an additional, reduced, month, although the names of the months themselves are known to us only from ancient times.

In addition, Theseus "established the Metekia, or the feast of migration, and the sacrifices that are still made on the sixteenth day of the month of hecatombeon. After that, he laid down the royal power as he promised the people, and began to organize the government, having consulted in advance with the gods" ("Theseus "). Thucydides called Metekia the feast of the common settlement.
In imitation of Hercules proclaiming his father Zeus the patron saint of the Olympic Games, Theseus declared Poseidon's father the patron saint of the Isthmian Games. Others argued, as explained in the comments to Plutarch's Theseus, that these Games were established by the Corinthian king Sisyphus 550 years before Theseus, and the Athenian king only renewed them and dedicated them to Poseidon. In this dispute, the figure "550 years" is important for us between the establishment of the Games by Sisyphus and their renewal by Theseus, i.e., in fact, the time interval between the reign of Sisyphus and Theseus. The real reason for Theseus' addiction to the Isthmian games is even more complicated. As Plutarch (Theseus) wrote, these Games, previously celebrated in memory of Melikert, who died at sea, "took place at night and were more like sacred rites than disgrace or celebrations." Therefore, some said that Theseus "established Isthmia to purify himself from the murder of Skiron, his relative, who was the son of Kanet and Geniokha, daughter of Pittheus." Others claimed that Theseus "installed these games in memory of the slaying of Sinis." The involvement of the Corinthians in the establishment of the Isthmian Games is evidenced by the phrase according to which Theseus "determined that the Corinthians give way to the chairmanship of the Athenians present in Isthmia, and as much space as the outstretched sail of the ship called Theorida can take" (Theorida was the name of the ship sent annually with several Athenians for their presence at public games or at other sacred celebrations).
Be that as it may, the Isthmian games took root in Greece and continued even in historical time: they were accompanied by a holiday in honor of Poseidon and were held every 2 years in the summer in a grove near Corinth, where the temple of the Isthmian Poseidon was located. At the time of the Isthmian games, a sacred peace was proclaimed, but since some Greek tribes (Eleians) did not take part in the games, their popularity was less than that of the Olympic and Pythian competitions, in which the entire Greek population took part. The Isthmian games consisted of gymnastic, equestrian, poetic and musical competitions. The winners received wreaths of celery or pine (pine), in which a palm branch was woven. The Isthmian games ended with the victory of Christianity.
Theseus annexed Megara, previously owned by his uncle Nisus, to the Athenian kingdom, and also inherited Troezen after his grandfather Pittheus. Theseus became the first Athenian king who began to mint money, and on his coins there was an image of a bull, or an ox as a warning to everyone, as Plutarch ("Theseus") believed that one had to work to acquire them.
"In order to further increase the number of inhabitants, Theseus gave equal rights to everyone. The well-known national proclamation: "Come here, all peoples!" It was established by Theseus, who in some way established universal citizenship. However, he did not leave a disorderly democracy, mixed from people flowing from everywhere, without any distinction of states He was the first to divide the people into eupatrides (noble), into geomors (landowners) and into demiurges (artisans). Eupatridam gave the right to choose rulers, to be mentors in laws, interpreters of everything related to worship and sacred rites, and thus introduced between all balance, for the eupatrides excelled others in dignity, the geomors in their usefulness, and the demiurges in their multitude.The opinion of Aristotle that Theseus was the first to bow to the government of the people and renounced autocracy, is confirmed by Homer, who, counting the Greek ships, calls some Athenians "demos".
"Having attached Megaris to Attica, he erected a pillar so well-known to all in Isthma, on which he inscribed two verses showing the limits of the two regions. On the eastern part it was written": "Ionia is here, not the Peloponnese." On the western: "Here is the Peloponnese, not Ionia", thereby defining the boundaries of their possessions. It was said that this pillar existed before King Codras, during which it was destroyed by the Heraclids, who once found shelter with the Athenians, and subsequently took Megara away from them. Much later, imitating Theseus, the Roman emperor Hadrian (76-138 AD) erected a monument in Athens between the ancient and the new city, on which he inscribed on one side: "Here is Athens, the ancient city of Theseus," and on the other side : "Here is the city of Adrian, not Theseus." These are the jokes the ancients allowed themselves!
One of the glorious deeds of Theseus was a campaign against the Amazons, warlike women, from whom he stole Queen Antiope, and she became his wife. In revenge for this, the Amazons went to war with Attica, led by her sister Hippolyta, laid siege to Athens and entered the city; the decisive battle in which Theseus defeated them was in the middle of the city. However, before besieging Athens, according to Plutarch ("Theseus"), the Amazons had to first take possession of the entire area, and the fact that "they camped in the city itself is confirmed as the names of the places [of their city battle - Museion and Pnyx, - near the Acropolis], and the tombs of the fallen in the battle ... This battle was given in the month of Boedromion, in which the Athenians still send Boedromius "- running and shouting in memory of the joyful exclamations that the Athenians issued when Xuthus came to their aid ruler of the Peloponnese.
Some said that Theseus took part in the campaign of Hercules against the Amazons and received the Amazon queen Antiope as his prey. Others claimed that Theseus visited the land of the Amazons a few months later than Hercules, and that Antiope came to greet him with gifts, but had barely boarded the ship when Theseus weighed anchor and kidnapped her. Plutarch ("Theseus") was more inclined to the second version, according to which Theseus sailed on his ships, landed on their shore, and, being prone to love, the Amazons "not only did not run away ... but also sent him gifts. Theseus asked enter the ship of the Amazon who brought them, and immediately sailed away, taking her with him. According to the main Greek myth, Hercules sailed to the Amazons behind the belt of Ares, and Theseus was not listed in his team, but on the way back, Hercules visited Troy and freed the daughter of the Trojan king Hesion, who was intended as a sacrifice to Poseidon. All these events took place long before the Trojan War, but they served as a prehistory to its history, to which Theseus also had nothing to do.
In the battle between the Athenians and the Amazons, Antiope, who had already given birth to Theseus Hippolyta, fought on the side of Theseus and died from an arrow fired by the Amazon Molpadia, who was subsequently killed by Theseus. However, there is a version according to which Antiope died much later. Her sister Hippolyta was captured and became the wife of Theseus (because some believe that it was she, and not Antiope, who was the mother of his son Hippolytus). Moreover, with Hippolyta in Greek myths, there are also enough layers: one Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons, was killed by Hercules, and the other became the wife of Theseus.
Be that as it may, the Athenians probably did not forgive their king for the war with the Amazons, since with all the further positive transformations of Athens and Ionia as a whole, the story of the gradual fall of Theseus began, in which his closest friend Pirithous, the king of the Thessalian Lapiths (Thessals), played an important role ), who helped him in the fight against the Amazons, because before they got to Attica, they had to go through Thessaly. It should be noted that the Amazons, as well as the Thessalian centaurs, according to Greek myths, knew how to ride horses, while the Achaeans in the time of Hercules and Theseus used mainly chariots, and the riders were called rude and uncouth "centaurs". Theseus helped Pirithous to expel the centaurs from Thessaly to Arcadia, where Hercules later encountered them.
Strengthening ties with neighbors, Theseus sheltered the Theban king Oedipus, attacked Thebes and imprisoned the regent Creon (according to another version, he killed him).
Oedipus attracted the Athenians by the unusualness of his tragic fate. Oedipus himself was highly decent, but his family was cursed, and he had to experience a difficult fate; Oedipus became the unwitting killer of his father and married his own mother. Driven by his sons from his city of Thebes, accompanied by his faithful daughter Antigone, he made his way to the ruler of Athens - Theseus, who greeted him warmly in the sacred grove in Colon. In the tragedy of Sorphocles "Oedipus in Colon", the citizens of Athens valued the dying Oedipus already because his body became a talisman: "Oedipus thanks Theseus and promises him his protection. He says that his grave will always be the true protection of the Athenians."
There is a myth according to which, after the war with the Amazons, Theseus made peace with the Cretan king Deucalion (son of Minos and Pasiphae) and married his sister Phaedra. Jealous Antiope, who was Theseus' illegitimate wife, broke into the wedding feast and began to threaten to kill the guests, for which she was killed by Theseus. According to Plutarch ("Theseus"), others said that Hercules killed Antiope, but in any case, Theseus married Phaedra after the death of Antiope, from whom he had a son, Hippolytus.
According to Plutarch ("Theseus"), before Theseus, the Athenians had merchant ships with a limited crew (no more than five people); only Jason (by general Greek agreement) was allowed to have ships with a larger crew for the extermination of sea robbers - pirates. Having become the Athenian king, Theseus began to build his fleet and after the death of Minos, when the throne went to his son Deucalion, he attacked Crete and killed Deucalion; after that, Cretan rule "passed over to Ariadne, with whom Theseus entered into negotiations, received back the Athenian youths and made peace between the Athenians and the Cretans; both parties pledged an oath never to resume war." Since that time, Theseus is considered the ancestor of the Athenian navy.
Even Hesiod wrote (634) that his ancestors “in search of good incomes traveled on light ships”, but already at one time he recommended to everyone (643-644): “Praise a small ship, but load goods on a large one: put more goods - and you will get more benefits.
Theseus' marriage to Phaedra further cemented the friendship between Athens and Crete. Phaedra bore Theseus two sons - Acamant and Demophon - and she loved her stepson Hippolytus. However, the chaste Hippolytus, who was fond of hunting and revered by Artemis, did not reciprocate Phaedra. It was said that she harassed him, was rejected by him, hanged herself, leaving a note in which she accused him of encroaching on her honor. Having received the note, Theseus cursed his son, prayed to Poseidon to punish Hippolytus, ordered his son to leave Athens and never return to his native city. When Hippolyte was riding along the coast, a giant wave hit the shore, a monster arose from its crest, which chased his chariot; unable to cope with the team Hippolyte crashed to death. It was said that Artemis asked Asclepius to bring him back to life and he defeated death, thereby taking Hippolytus away from Hades and thereby offending the king of the dead.
In this story about Phaedra, Hippolytus and Theseus, what is important is not the slander of the queen and not the irascibility of the head of the family (such phenomena were frequent in the ancient world), but their ability to communicate with each other through a "note". Consequently, in those distant times they already knew how to write and read, and the Greeks used the letter, as follows from Greek mythology, even before the war of the Seven against Thebes. Homer called notes of slanderous content "evil signs", and in the explanation to his phrase it was said that the ancient Greeks and Romans, until the end of antiquity, used in everyday life for writing folding plates smeared with wax, on which letters were scratched out with a sharp stick called "style". Of the ancient peoples of the Mediterranean, only the Etruscan priests claimed that they had "Holy Books" written by the gods.
There were various rumors about the marriages of Theseus. As Plutarch (Theseus) wrote, "these marriages had neither a meritorious beginning nor a happy end. They say that he kidnapped a certain Anaxo from Troesena; that, having killed Sinis and Kerkion, he used violence against their daughters; that he married Peribeus, mother of Ajax, then on Ferebee and on Iop, daughter of Iphicles, that, having fallen in love with Aegla, daughter of Panopea,... left Ariadne - an act contrary to honor and justice. him and perish."
Plutarch described the beginning of Pirithous's friendship with Theseus as follows ("Theseus"): "When the fame of Theseus' great strength and courage spread everywhere, Pirithous, wanting to test it, stole his oxen grazing at Marathon. Learning that Theseus, armed, was pursuing him , he did not flee, but turned against him. Looking at one another, they were surprised at each other's beauty, respected their mutual courage and refrained from fighting. Pirithous was the first to stretch out his hand, asked Theseus to be the judge himself in this kidnapping, promising to voluntarily undergo such a punishment, what he will impose on him. Theseus forgave him and offered him an alliance and friendship, which they confirmed by oath."
Pirithous, son of Ixion, king of the Lapiths (Thessals), was distinguished by his courage. Homer called the Lapiths heroes, and Ovid spoke of their enmity with the centaurs.
Over time, Pirithous's wife Hippodamia (Deidamia) died, and the two widowed heroes decided to remarry the daughters of Zeus: Theseus chose the Spartan princess Helen, the sister of the Dioscuri, and Pirithous helped him kidnap her.
"Theseus was fifty years old ... when he kidnapped Helen, who had not yet reached marriageable age" ("Theseus"). Elena was then only twelve years old (and some said even younger), and although she was already famous for her beauty, it was still too early for her to marry; therefore, Theseus sent her to the village of Afidna (north of Athens, near Marathon), assigned his mother to her, instructing his friend Afidna to guard the girl day and night and keep her place of residence secret (according to another version, Elena gave birth to a daughter, Iphigenia, from Theseus, whom adopted Clytemester, Helen's older and already married sister). Theseus "kept her and did not want to return her Dioscuri brothers, who demanded her back." "Some, wishing to hide this great crime," claimed that Elena was not kidnapped by him.
After that, the friends decided to get Persephone, the wife of Hades, so that she would become the bride of Pirithous. Theseus and Pirithous descended into the underworld and, somehow forcing Chiron, crossed the Styx and, passing the watchdog Cerberus, ended up at the door of the palace of Hades. The lord of the realm of the dead calmly listened to their impudent demand and, pretending to be hospitable, invited them to sit down. Suspecting nothing, they sat where it was suggested, and found themselves on the throne of oblivion. They were rooted to the stone throne so much that they could no longer get up from it without being crippled. They were scourged by Erinyes (goddesses of vengeance) and tormented with teeth by Kerberos, and Hades looked at all this and grinned.
Four years later, Hercules, who came to the kingdom of Hades, so that, at the behest of Eurystheus, the Mycenaean king, to pick up Kerberos, he recognized two friends when they silently stretched out their hands to him, praying for help. Presephone graciously allowed Hercules to free her hapless captors and take them with him if only he could. Hercules tore Theseus off the stone and returned him to the ground, but when he tried to free Pirithous, the earth shook, and Hercules was forced to retreat.
There is a version according to which Theseus and Pirithous never went down to Hades, but tried to kidnap the wife of the king of Thesprot, who, having learned about their plan in time, captured the impudent ones, after which he threw Pirithous to be eaten by dogs, and Theseus imprisoned him, from where he rescued by Hercules.
Plutarch saw another reality in this myth ("Theseus"): Theseus, "in order to render Pirithous a mutual service, went with him to Epirus to kidnap the daughter of Aidoneus, the king of the Molossians, who called his wife Persephone, his daughter - the Virgin, and his dog - Cerberus" . Learning that Pirithous and Theseus arrived in Epirus to kidnap the daughter of the king, he caught them, "Pirithous immediately betrayed Cerberus, and Theseus kept in chains." The commentary explains that the Molossians were a tribe in Epirus that lived near the Amvracian Gulf. Epirus itself was a region in the west of Greece, on the coast of the Ionian Sea.
Returning to Athens, Theseus found that there was no trace of his former popularity in the city. While he was "in the kingdom of Hades," the Spartans, led by the Dioscuri, Helen's brothers, invaded Attica, ravaged Afidna, where they hid Elena, and, together with her sister, took Ephra (Etra), Theseus' mother, to Sparta as a slave. Power in Athens was seized by Menestheus, the great-grandson of Erechtheus, who won the favor of the people by reminding the aristocrats of the power they had lost, and telling the poor that their fatherland and native shrines were stolen from them, and they themselves became a toy in the hands of a rogue of unknown origin according to named after Theseus. Acamant and Demosfon, the sons of Theseus, were forced to flee from Athens and found shelter in Euboea at Elefenor (the king of the Abantes on Euboea).
Describing the new king of Athens, Plutarch wrote ("Theseus"): "Menestheus, the son of Peteoy [Peteus], ​​the grandson of Orney and the great-grandson of Erechtheus, the first of the people, as they say, began to please the people and win them over to his side with flattering words. He tried to revolt strongest Athenians against Theseus, with whom they had long been indignant, being sure that he had taken away from them all the power and strength that they had in different tribes, and, concluding them in the walls of one city, made them his subjects and slaves. , presenting to them that they enjoy only dreamy freedom and that in fact they are deprived of their homelands and sacred rites and instead of many good and legitimate rulers they must obey one - a stranger and a stranger. To help himself, Menestheus called on the Tyndarides from Sparta, otherwise called the Dioscuri, a number that was superior in Attica, thereby betraying not only Theseus, but also Athens and all the Athenians.
It is believed that Plutarch was not entirely accurate in the chronology of the change of power in Athens: the throne was initially usurped by Menestheus' father, Petey, the son of Orneus, the grandson of Erechtheus and Praxithea, and he had already transferred the kingdom to his son, Menestheus.
The policy of Menestheus was repeatedly applied in subsequent times and is still used in our time, when it is required to change this or that power. Of the traitors of the time of Theseus, Plutarch ("Theseus") noted Academ, who, "having learned in some unknown way that Helen was hiding in Afidna, announced that to her brothers. For this reason, the Tyndarides rendered great honors to him during his lifetime and later, when the Lacedaemonians [Spartans ] entered Attica many times and ruined it, spared the Academy out of respect for the Academy. The Academy was located 6 stages (more than 1 km) from Athens, included a gymnasium and a garden surrounded by a wall with covered alleys. Much later, Plato taught at the Academy. The name "Academy", as Plutarch ("Theseus") wrote, did not come from Academ, but from Ekhedim from Arcadia, who in the time of Theseus was an ally of the Tyndarides, and on his behalf the Athenian Academy was called Ekhedemia.
Weakened after Hades, Theseus did not have the strength to fight Menestheus for power and went into exile. It was said that Theseus gave Heracles all the land that the city had previously given him; he dedicated them to Hercules and called them Heracles, and before that they were called Theseus; for himself he left only four inheritances; he sent his children to Euboea to Elefenora, and he himself, having pronounced a curse on the Athenians, sailed to the island of Skyros (located between the islands of Euboea and Lesbos), where he owned a family estate. The Athenians felt the curse of Theseus for a long time and, in order to tame his shadow, decided to bring sacrifices to him and show divine honors.
On Skyros, the local king Lykomeds received a guest. When Theseus asked permission to stay on the island, Lycomedes pretended to want to show Theseus the boundaries of his possessions, lured him to the top of a high cliff and threw him down. The reason for this act is seen in the fact that Lycomedes was a friend of Menestheus. Some say that Lycomedes wanted to appropriate the piece of land that belonged to Theseus. One way or another, but Lykomed presented everything as if Theseus fell drunk, because he drank too much before the walk.
No one paid attention to the death of Theseus. His sons, as ordinary citizens, followed Elefenor near Troy. It seems that Hercules did not outlive Theseus much (he also did not participate in the Trojan War).
Menestheus, who reigned in Athens, remained the only fiance of Helen and, at the head of the Athenian army, went to Troy, where, according to one version, he died, and according to another version, he nevertheless returned from the war, but did not dare to enter Athens, in which Demophon already ruled , son of Theseus; Menestheus crossed over to the island of Melos, whose king had recently died without heirs, and became its ruler.
It is important to note that it was Menestheus, and not Demophon, who was the leader of the Athenian troops in the Trojan War. Consequently, Menestheus was perceived by the Achaeans as the legitimate king of Athens.

Demophon, the son of Theseus, was the first to return from the Trojan War, brought with him from near Troy his grandmother Ephra (Etra), whom Elena had taken to Troy, and seized his father's throne. The Athenians said that Demophon brought palladium from Troy to his hometown and placed it in the local temple of Athena.
It was Demophon who was not afraid of the Mycenaean king Eurystheus and sheltered the Heraclides (children of Hercules), persecuted by Eurystheus out of fear that they could overthrow him when they grow up. The Athenians, with their inherent sense of justice, decided to shelter the Heraclides when they saw them sitting at the altar of mercy. When the Heraclids matured, Eurystheus gathered an army and marched against Athens. Since the oracle announced that the Athenians would be defeated if one of the children of Hercules was not sacrificed to Persephone, Macaria, the only daughter of Hercules, agreed to sacrifice herself (at that time, human sacrifices were still preserved, characteristic of the entire era of demigod heroes). The Athenians defeated Eurystheus and killed his sons and many of his allies. The son of Hercules, Gill, caught up with Eurystheus, who left the battlefield in a chariot, and cut off his head, and the mother of Hercules, Alcmene, gouged out his eyes.
Much later, when the Heraclids expelled Tisamen, the son of Orestes, from Sparta, he also asked the Athenians for asylum, but they no longer accepted him, and Tisamen died in a battle with them (according to another version, Tisamen died in the fight against the Heraclids).
The Trojan War left its mark on all the Achaeans. It was said that Demophon married the Thracian princess Phyllas, but after a while he left her, which is why she took poison and died. When Demophon nevertheless went to her, the horse stumbled, he fell, ran into his own sword and died.
And among the famous Athenians there were those who were descended from Eurisacs, the son of the hero Ajax and his beloved Tekmessa, the daughter of the Phrygian king. The descendants of Eurysaces included Alcibiades, Miltiades, Cimon, and the historian Thucidus. They were proud that Ajax was the son of Aeacus and the grandson of Zeus.

The last king of Athens was Codrus, whose descendants were Solon and Plato. Kodr lived, according to legend, in the 11th century. BC. . They ended the most ancient heroic era of Athens, and after a certain transitional period, the history of the democratic state of Athens began, culminating in the conquest of the Athenians by the Macedonians, and then by the Romans.
According to legend, Kodr sacrificed himself to save his homeland during the invasion of the Dorians (XII-XI centuries BC); according to other sources - at the turn of the IX-VIII centuries. BC. In the comments on Plutarch's work on Solon, it is said that Codrus died in a battle with the Dorians.
According to Greek mythology, Kodr was the son of Melanth, a descendant of Neleus, a representative of the Messenian royal house. When the Dorians captured Messenia, Codrus went to Athens, defeated the Athenians in one decisive battle and killed their king, a descendant of Theseus, after which he reigned in Athens, taking an Athenian as his wife. After the Dorians invaded Attica, the Delphic oracle predicted to them that they would be able to take possession of Athens only if they saved Codru's life. The inhabitants of Delphi, friendly to the Athenians, told them about this prophecy (according to another version, the Athenians learned about the prophecy from their spy in Delphi). Wanting to save his city, Codrus went to battle with the enemy in the clothes of a simple woodcutter and, not recognized by the Dorians, deliberately sacrificed his life. According to another version, Codru, dressed in rags, went outside the city gates allegedly for firewood and died in a skirmish with the enemy. One way or another, having learned about the death of Codrus, the Dorians lifted the siege. Some argued that after Codras, the Athenian throne was inherited by his son Medont, who became the last king of Athens.
To be continued!

How did the last Athenian king Codrus save his city from the enemy?

In Greek mythology, Codrus is the last king of Athens, the son of Melanth, a descendant of Neleus, a representative of the Messenian royal house. When the Dorians captured Messenia, Codrus went to Athens, defeated the Athenians in one decisive battle and killed their king, a descendant of Theseus, after which he reigned in Athens, taking an Athenian as his wife. After the Dorians invaded Attica, the Delphic oracle predicted to them that they would be able to take possession of Athens only if they saved Codru's life. The inhabitants of Delphi, friendly to the Athenians, told them about this prophecy (according to another version, the Athenians learned about the prophecy from their spy in Delphi). Wanting to save his city, Codrus went to battle with the enemy in the clothes of a simple woodcutter and, unrecognized by the Dorians, deliberately sacrificed his life. According to another version, Codru, dressed in rags, went outside the city gates allegedly for firewood and died in a provoked skirmish with the enemy. One way or another, having learned about the death of Codrus, the Dorians lifted the siege.

Theseus, Theseus - in ancient Greek mythology, the son of the Athenian king Aegeus and Ephra, the 10th king of Athens.

The name Theseus indicates strength. Theseus belongs to the generation of heroes before the Trojan War. The birth of Theseus is unusual. On the part of his father, Theseus had among his ancestors the autochthonous Erichthonius, born from the seed of Hephaestus by the earth and raised by Athena, and the autochthonous Kranai and the first Attic king Kekrop. The ancestors of Theseus are wise half-serpents, half-people. However, Theseus himself is a representative of pure heroism, he is at the same time the son of a man and a god. On the mother's side, Theseus is descended from Pelope, the father of Pittheus, Atreus and Fiesta, which means from Tantalus and, finally, from Zeus himself.

Being childless, Aegeus went to the oracle, but could not guess his answer. But the oracle was unraveled by the Troesen king Pittheus, who realized that the power in Athens would belong to the descendants of Aegeus, and, having drunk the guest, put him to bed with his daughter Ephra. On the same night, Poseidon approached her, or combined with her the day before on the island of Spheros. Thus, the son born to Ephra had (as befits a great hero) two fathers - the earthly Aegeus and the divine Poseidon.

Exploits of Theseus

Leaving Ephra, Aegeus asked to raise his future son, without naming his father, and left him his sword and sandals, so that, having matured, Theseus, in his father’s sandals and with his sword, went to Athens to Aegeus, but so that no one would know about it did not know, since Aegeus was afraid of the intrigues of the Pallantides (children of the younger brother of Pallas, who claimed power because of Aegeus's childlessness). Ephra hides the true origin of Theseus and Pittheus spread the rumor that the boy was born from Poseidon (the most revered god in Troezen). When Theseus grew up, Ephra revealed to him the secret of his birth and ordered, taking Aegeus' things, to go to Athens to his father.

Even before leaving Troezen, Theseus, having become a young man, dedicated a lock of hair to the god Apollo in Delphi, thereby, as it were, handing over himself to the god and entering into an alliance with him. Theseus went to Athens not by an easy way - by sea, but by land, through the Isthmus of Corinth, along a particularly dangerous road, where robbers, children and descendants of monsters lay in wait for travelers on the way from Megara to Athens. Theseus killed Peritheth, Sins, the Crommion pig, Skiron, Kerkyon, Procrustes and Damastus. In Athens, King Aegeus fell under the rule of the sorceress Medea, who found shelter with him and hoped that her son Med from Aegeus would receive the right to the throne.

Theseus appeared in Athens as a liberator from monsters, a wonderful young hero, but was not recognized by Aegeus, whom Medea instilled fear of the stranger and forced him to drink the young man with poison. During the meal, Theseus drew his sword to cut the meat. The father recognized his son and threw away the bowl of poison.

Theseus also had to contend with 50 Pallantides, whom he ambushed. Having exterminated his cousins ​​and expelled their allies, Theseus established himself as the son and heir of the Athenian king. Theseus glorified himself as a worthy heir to royal power during the clash between Athens and the Cretan king Minos, who demanded tribute every nine years by 7 young men and 7 girls as atonement for the death of his son Androgey.

When Minos came for the third time for tribute, Theseus decided to go to Crete himself to measure his strength with the monstrous Minotaur, to which the victims were condemned to be eaten. The ship set off under a black sail, but Theseus took with him a spare white one, under which he was supposed to return home after defeating the monster. On the way to Crete, Theseus proved to Minos that he was descended from Poseidon by retrieving a ring thrown by Minos from the bottom of the sea. Theseus and his companions were placed in a labyrinth where Theseus killed the Minotaur. Theseus and his companions got out of the labyrinth thanks to the help of Ariadne, who fell in love with Theseus. At night, Theseus, with the Athenian youth and Ariadne, secretly fled to the island of Naxos. Caught there by a storm, Theseus, not wanting to take Ariadne to Athens, left her when she was sleeping. However, Ariadne was kidnapped by Dionysus, who was in love with her. According to a number of mythographers, Theseus was forced to leave Ariadne on the island, because Dionysus appeared to him in a dream and said that the girl should belong to him. Theseus went on, forgetting to change the sails, which caused the death of Aegeus, who threw himself into the sea when he saw a black sail and thereby assured himself of the death of his son. According to legend, that is why the sea is called the Aegean.

Other exploits of Theseus

Theseus participated in the Calydonian hunt, as well as in the battle with the centaurs who rampaged at the wedding of Pirithous, Theseus's closest friend. But he was not among the Argonauts, since at that time he helped Pirithius get himself the goddess of the kingdom of the dead, Persephone, as his wife. By this act, Theseus crossed the measure of the possible set by the gods for the heroes, and thereby became a disobedient and impudent hero. He remained in Hades, where he was forever chained to the rock of Pirithous, if not for Hercules, who saved Theseus and sent him to Athens.

An equally daring act of Theseus was the abduction of Helen, who was beaten back by the brothers and later became the cause of the Trojan War. Returning from his campaign in the kingdom of Hades, he found the throne occupied by Menestheus. Theseus was forced to go into exile, unable to pacify his enemies. He secretly sent the children to Euboea, and he himself, cursing the Athenians, sailed to the island of Skyros, where Father Theseus once had land. But the king of Skyros, Lycomedes, not wanting to part with his land, treacherously killed Theseus by pushing him off a cliff.

historical prototype

Eusebius of Caesarea in his chronography calls Theseus the 10th king of Athens, who ruled 30 years after Aegeus from 1234 to 1205. BC e. Plutarch, in his biography of Theseus, gives evidence of the real existence of such an ancient king in Athens. Many details are taken by Plutarch from Philochor, an author of the 3rd century BC. e.

During the reign of Theseus, the Athenians killed the son of Minos Androgeus, for which they had to pay tribute to Crete by Athenian boys. However, Theseus himself went to the competition, established by Minos in memory of his dead son, and defeated the Minotaur, the strongest of the Cretans, as a result of which the tribute to the boys was canceled.

Theseus gathered the Athenians, who lived scattered throughout their country, into a single community, and became the real founder of Athens. Here is how Plutarch (Theseus) writes about it:

“He gathered all the inhabitants of Attica, making them one people, citizens of one city, while before they were scattered, they were hardly able to convene, even if it was a matter of common good, and often strife and real wars flared up between them. Going around dem after dem and clan after clan, he explained his plan everywhere, ordinary citizens and the poor quickly bowed to his exhortations, and to influential people he promised a state without a king, a democratic structure that would give him, Theseus, only a place of military leader and guardian of laws, in the rest, he will bring equality to everyone, and he managed to persuade some, while others, fearing his courage and power, by that time already considerable, preferred to give in to kindness rather than submit to coercion. He erected a single pritanei and a council house in the current old part of the city, he called the city Athens (...) In an effort to further increase the city, Theseus called everyone into it, offering citizenship rights (...) But he did not allow disorderly crowds of immigrants caused confusion and disorder in the state - he for the first time singled out the estates of the noble, landowners and artisans, and left the noble to judge the worship of God, occupy the highest positions, as well as teach the laws and interpret the divine and human institutions, although on the whole, as it were, he equalized all three estates among themselves . The fact that Theseus, according to Aristotle, was the first to show favor to the common people and renounced autocracy, is apparently also evidenced by Homer, who in the "List of ships" calls only the Athenians "people".

Theseus kidnapped one of the Amazons, Antiope, because of which the Amazons invaded Attica, and only with great difficulty did the Athenians defeat the warriors. After the death of Antiope, Theseus married Phaedra and had a son, Hippolytus, from her. Then Theseus, at the age of 50, went with friends to Epirus for the daughter of the king of the Molossians (an Epirus tribe), where he was captured and thrown into prison. When he was able to return to Athens, he found a discontented people, incited against him by Menestheus. Having been defeated in the fight against enemies, Theseus retired to the island of Skyros, and died there, either killed by the king of Skyros Lycomedes, or simply falling off a rocky cliff.

According to Eusebius, Theseus was expelled from Athens by ostracism, a rule against tyranny, which he himself first introduced as a law. The Athenian throne was occupied by Menestheus.

In Greek mythology, Athenian hero and king, son of Aegeus and Ephra

First letter "t"

Second letter "e"

Third letter "s"

The last beech is the letter "y"

Answer for the clue "In Greek mythology, Athenian hero and king, son of Aegeus and Ephra", 5 letters:
theseus

Alternative questions in crossword puzzles for the word theseus

Legendary Athenian king

Defeated Procrustes and the Minotaur

Minotaur Slayer

Defeated the Minotaur

To whom did Ariadne give the thread?

The legendary Athenian king who killed the Minotaur and Procrustes

Word definitions for theseus in dictionaries

Wikipedia The meaning of the word in the Wikipedia dictionary
Several meanings are known: Theseus is a character of myths in ancient Greece. Chosei is a village in Japan. Theseus is an upcoming film about a hired killer turned anti-hero, Theseus, who began to kill assassins with their methods.

Mythological dictionary The meaning of the word in the dictionary Mythological Dictionary
(Greek) - the son of the Athenian king Aegeus and the Troesen princess Ephra. King Aegeus, who had been childless for a long time, asked the oracle about his offspring, but received an unclear answer. Having gone on a journey, he came to the Troesen king Pittheus, who unraveled the meaning of the oracle's answer...

Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998 The meaning of the word in the dictionary Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998
THESEUS (Theseus) the legendary Athenian king (c. 13th century BC). He is credited with the Sinoikism of Attica, the division of citizens into Eupatrides, Geomors and Demiurges. According to Greek legends, Theseus accomplished many feats (including defeating Procrustes, the Minotaur, participating ...

Examples of the use of the word theseus in literature.

The impregnable Athens was destroyed, Helen was freed, his mother was in captivity in Sparta, his sons Theseus, Demophon and Acamant, were forced to flee from Athens, and all power was in the hands of the hated Menestheus.

Yes, what kind of Argonaut could he be if Jason had already died, and Theseus still only moving towards his exploits.

Draw her from the unfortunate Aspasia: In everything I am similar to the victim Theseus Although my island is not deserted.

This refers to the seven Athenian boys and seven girls, whom Theseus saved from death by killing the Minotaur in the labyrinth at Knossos.

The great Macedonian accomplished a feat that surpassed the deeds of mythical heroes - Hercules, Theseus and Dionysus.

Codru, Greek - a descendant of Erechtheus and the son of Melanth, the last Athenian king. Pictured above: Acropolis of Athens, 1846 reconstruction by Leo von Klenze.

Codru stands on the "watershed" of myths and historical tradition. His father allegedly was king in the Messenian Pylos, but was ousted from there by the Heraclids, that is, the Dorians, and moved to Athens; for saving the city from the invading Boeotians, the Athenians elected Codrus as their king. However, in the reign of Codras, the Dorians also attacked Attica. Learning that the prophecy foreshadows the salvation of Athens if their king dies, Codrus disguised himself as a simple lumberjack, went into the forest, provoked a quarrel with the Dorian patrol there and was killed. Soon the Dorians retreated from Athens, and Attica remained one of the few regions of European Greece not conquered by the Dorians.

Codras had several sons, of which Androclus founded Ephesus, Nileus founded Miletus, and Medont (Medon) became the ruler of Athens after the death of Codras, but not as a “basileus” (“basileus”), that is, a king, but as “ archon" - "leading", because, out of respect for Codrus, the Athenians stopped assigning the royal title to anyone.

The legend about Codru, which has come down to us with various minor changes, reflects certain historical facts. First of all, the fact that Athens really withstood the Dorian invasion in the 12th-10th centuries. BC e. and thanks to this, they preserved intact the political and cultural continuity of the Mycenaean and pre-Mycenaean eras. And also the fact that in Athens the institution of kings was abolished very early - but, of course, not by a one-time act, but as a result of the gradual restriction of royal power by the aristocracy. At the head of the state was a council of nine archons, elected from aristocratic circles; as democratization progressed, their powers diminished until they were eventually limited to formal legal and religious matters. The chairman of this council had the title of "First Archon", and the calendar year during which he performed his duties was named after him. However, the list of historical Athenian archons is opened not by the son of Codras - Medont, but by Creon (middle of the 7th century BC), unknown to us.

Photos of ancient Athens

Athens Acropolis

Temple of Olympian Zeus