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Chapter Fifteen, Lecture Two

Chapter Fifteen, Lecture Two. Theseus. The Begetting of Theseus. The Begetting of Theseus. Aegeus, a king of Athens, had no sons Delphi: do not open the wine skins until you return home At Troezen, Pittheus understands the prophecy Sends his daughter Aethra Poseidon also gets involved.

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Chapter Fifteen, Lecture Two

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  1. Chapter Fifteen, Lecture Two Theseus

  2. The Begetting of Theseus

  3. The Begetting of Theseus • Aegeus, a king of Athens, had no sons • Delphi: do not open the wine skins until you return home • At Troezen, Pittheus understands the prophecy • Sends his daughter Aethra • Poseidon also gets involved

  4. The Begetting of Theseus • The sword and the sandal

  5. The Labors of Theseus • Periphetes, the Clubber • Sinis, the Pinebender • Cormmyonian sow • Sciron • Circyon • Procrustes

  6. Arrival at Athens • Under a spell cast by Medea, Aegeus doesn’t realize that this is his son • Aegeus sends him out to kill a bull on the plains of Marathon • Then she tries to poison him, but Aegeus recognizes his own sword in time – Medea flees

  7. Theseus and Antiopê

  8. Theseus and Antiopê • On his way back from his adventure in Crete with the Minotaur (Chapter 16), Theseus forgets to change the ship’s flag to white • Aegeus drowns himself in the sea (Aegean Sea)

  9. Theseus and Antiopê • Athens is “founded” again with Theseus’s wise reforms • Synoicism • Festival: Panathenaia • social reforms: classes • assembly

  10. Theseus and Antiopê • Goes off in search of more adventure • Abducts the Queen of the Amazons: Hippolyta or Antiopê • Leads to an Amazonomachy in Athens • The Areopagus

  11. The Amazons

  12. The Amazons • Mythic homeland is north of the Black Sea (southern modern-day Russia) • a mazos ? • constructed the temple to Artemis at Ephesus? • A purely myth invention • the world turned upside down

  13. The Amazons • Contrary to the ideal for the Athenian woman • Always defeated by Greek heroes • Given political significance after the Battle of Marathon • The Amazonomachy identified with the Athenian victory over the Persians

  14. Theseus and Hippolytus

  15. Theseus and Hippolytus • Remarries to Phaedra, a daughter of Minos • Their son is Hippolytus • Story told by Euripides in his Hippolytus • Hippolytus worships only Artemis and neglects Aphrodite • Aphrodite makes Phaedra, his mother-in-law, lust after him

  16. Theseus and Hippolytus • The slave intermediary • Hippolytus curses women, but vows not to tell anyone • Phaedra kills herself, but leaves behind a note for Theseus • Theseus orders Poseidon to kill Hippolytus

  17. The Folktale of “Potiphar’s Wife”

  18. Folktale of “Potiphar’s Wife • Story of the Two Brothers • Anubis (not the god) • Bata • Joseph and Potiphar’s wife • Bellerophon and the wife of King Proteus

  19. Exploits of Theseus and Pirithoüs

  20. Exploits of Theseus and Pirithoüs • The Battle of the Centaurs and the Lapiths (at Perithoüs’s wedding to a Hippodamia) • Caeneus (formerly Caenis) • The two now seek appropriate wives

  21. Exploits of Theseus and Pirithoüs • Theseus tries for Helen, but she is too young and is sent away for safekeeping • The two visit the underworld for Pirithoüs’s choice: Persephonê • They are trapped but Theseus is eventually rescued by Heracles

  22. Death of Theseus

  23. Death of Theseus • Lost favor of the people of Athens and expelled by Menestheus of Athens • Fled to Scyros, King Lycomedes • Killed by the king

  24. Myth and Propaganda

  25. Myth and Propaganda • Theseus originally a minor figure • Becomes more important with the rise of Athens beginning in the 6th century • Theseïs • Expansion and popularization begins with Pisistratus • Uses Theseus to glorify his own accomplishments for the city

  26. Myth and Propaganda • After the Pisistratid dynasty fell from popularity, Theseus remade again • To a hero of democracy and the defender of freedom • Cimon (son of Miltiades) • Modeled some of his career leading the Athenian rise to empire after Theseus • The “bones” of Theseus; new festivals to Theseus; leader of Ionian Greeks against Sparta

  27. End

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