Theseus. Knowing by her arts who he was, and fearing the loss of her influence with
her husband, if Theseus should be acknowledged as his son, she filled the mind of
Aegeus with suspicions of the young stranger, and induced him to present him a cup
of poison; but at the moment when Theseus stepped forward to take it, the sight of the
sword which he wore discovered to his father who he was, and prevented the fatal
draught. Medea, detected in her arts, fled once more from deserved punishment, and
arrived in Asia, where the country afterwards called Media received its name from her.
Theseus was acknowledged by his father, and declared his successor.
The Athenians were at that time in deep affliction, on account of the tribute which
they were forced to pay to Minos, king of Crete. This tribute consisted of seven youths
and seven maidens, who were sent every year to be devoured by the Minotaur, a
monster with a bull's body and a human head. It was exceedingly strong and fierce,
and was kept in a labyrinth constructed by Daedalus, so artfully contrived that whoever
was enclosed in it could by no means find his way out unassisted. Here the Minotaur
roamed, and was fed with human victims.
Theseus resolved to deliver his countrymen from this calamity, or to die in the
attempt. Accordingly, when the time of sending off the tribute came, and the youths
and maidens were, according to custom, drawn by lot to be sent, he offered himself as
one of the victims, in spite of the entreaties of his father. The ship departed under
black sails, as usual, which Theseus promised his father to change for white, in case
of his returning victorious. When they arrived in Crete, the youths and maidens were
exhibited before Minos; and Ariadne, the daughter of the king, being present, became
deeply enamoured of Theseus, by whom her love was readily returned. She furnished
him with a sword, with which to encounter the Minotaur, and with a clew of thread by
which he might find his way out of the labyrinth. He was successful, slew the
Minotaur, escaped from the labyrinth, and taking Ariadne as the companion of his way,
with his rescued companions sailed for Athens. On their way they stopped at the island
of Naxos, where Theseus abandoned Ariadne, leaving her asleep. ^* His excuse for
this ungrateful treatment of his benefactress was, that Minerva appeared to him in a
dream and commanded him to do so.
[Footnote *: One of the finest pieces of sculpture in Italy, the recumbent Ariadne
of the Vatican, represents this incident. A copy is in the Athenaeum gallery, Boston.]
On approaching the coast of Attica, Theseus forgot the signal appointed by his
father, and neglected to raise the white sails, and the old king, thinking his son had
perished, put an end to his own life. Theseus thus became king of Athens.
One of the most celebrated of the adventures of Theseus is his expedition
against the Amazons. He assailed them before they had recovered from the attack of
Hercules, and carried off their queen Antiope. The Amazons in their turn invaded the
country of Athens and penetrated into the city itself; and the final battle in which
Theseus overcame them was fought in the very midst of the city. This battle was one
of the favorite subjects of the ancient sculptors, and is commemorated in several
works of art that are still extant.
The friendship between Theseus and Pirithous was of a most intimate nature, yet
it originated in the midst of arms. Pirithous had made an irruption into the plain of
Marathon, and carried off the herds of the king of Athens. Theseus went to repel the
plunderers. The moment Pirithous beheld him, he was seized with admiration; he
stretched out his hand as a token of peace, and cried, "Be judge thyself, - what
satisfaction dost thou require?" "Thy friendship," replied the Athenian, and they swore
inviolable fidelity. Their deeds corresponded to their professions, and they ever
continued true brothers in arms. Each of them aspired to espouse a daughter of
Jupiter. Theseus fixed his choice on Helen, then but a child, afterwards so celebrated
as the cause of the Trojan war, and with the aid of his friend he carried her off.
Pirithous aspired to the wife of the monarch of Erebus; and Theseus, though aware of
the danger, accompanied the ambitious lover in his descent to the under world. But
Pluto seized and set them on an enchanted rock at his palace gate, where they
remained till Hercules arrived and liberated Theseus, leaving Pirithous to his fate.
After the death of Antiope, Theseus married Phaedra, daughter of Minos, king of
Crete. Phaedra saw in Hippolytus, the son of Theseus, a youth endowed with all the
graces and virtues of his father, and of an age corresponding to her own. She loved
him, but he repulsed her advances, and her love was changed to hate. She used her
influence over her infatuated husband to cause him to be jealous of his son, and he
imprecated the vengeance of Neptune upon him. As Hippolytus was one day driving
his chariot along the shore, a sea-monster raised himself above the waters, and
frightened the horses so that they ran away and dashed the chariot to pieces.
Hippolytus was killed, but by Diana's assistance Aesculapius restored him to life.
Diana removed Hippolytus from the power of his deluded father and false step-mother,
and placed him in Italy under the protection of the nymph Egeria.
Theseus at length lost the favor of his people, and retired to the court of
Lycomedes, king of Scyros, who at first received him kindly, but afterwards
treacherously slew him. In a later age the Athenian general Cimon discovered the
place where his remains were laid, and caused them to be removed to Athens, where
they were deposited in a temple called the Theseum, erected in honor of the hero.
The queen of the Amazons whom Theseus espoused is by some called
Hippolyta. That is the name she bears in Shakspeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, -
the subject of which is the festivities attending the nuptials of Theseus and Hippolyta.
Mrs. Hemans has a poem on the ancient Greek tradition that the "Shade of
Theseus" appeared strengthening his countrymen at the battle of Marathon.
Theseus is a semi-historical personage. It is recorded of him that he united the
several tribes by whom the territory of Attica was then possessed into one state, of
which Athens was the capital. In commemoration of this important event, he instituted
the festival of Panathenaea, in honor of Minerva, the patron deity of Athens. This
festival differed from the other Grecian games chiefly in two particulars. It was peculiar
to the Athenians, and its chief feature was a solemn procession in which the Peplus or
sacred robe of Minerva was carried to the Parthenon, and suspended before the
statue of the goddess. The Peplus was covered with embroidery, worked by select
virgins of the noblest families in Athens. The procession consisted of persons of all
ages and both sexes. The old men carried olive branches in their hands, and the
young men bore arms. The young women carried baskets on their heads, containing
the sacred utensils, cakes, and all things necessary for the sacrifices. The procession
formed the subject of the bas-reliefs which embellished the outside of the temple of the
Pa
rthenon. A considerable portion of these sculptures is now in the British Museum
among those known as the "Elgin marbles."
Olympic And Other Games.
It seems not inappropriate to mention here the other celebrated national games
of the Greeks. The first and most distinguished were the Olympic, founded it was said
by Jupiter himself. They were celebrated at Olympia in Elis. Vast numbers of
spectators flocked to them from every part of Greece, and from Asia, Africa, and Sicily.
They were repeated every fifth year in midsummer, and continued five days. They
gave rise to the custom of reckoning time and dating events by Olympiads. The first
Olympiad is generally considered as corresponding with the year 776 B. C. The
Pythian games were celebrated in the vicinity of Delphi, the Isthmian on the Corinthian
isthmus, the Nemean at Nemea, a city of Argolis.
The exercises in these games were of five sorts, running, leaping, wrestling,
throwing the quoit, and hurling the javelin, or boxing. Besides these exercises of
bodily strength and agility, there were contests in music, poetry, and eloquence. Thus
these games furnished poets, musicians, and authors the best opportunities to present
their productions to the public, and the fame of the victors was diffused far and wide.
Daedalus.
The labyrinth from which Theseus escaped by means of the clew of Ariadne was
built by Daedalus, a most skilful artificer. It was an edifice with numberless winding
passages and turnings opening into one another, and seeming to have neither
beginning nor end, like the river Maeander, which returns on itself, and flows now
onward, now backward, in its course to the sea. Daedalus built the labyrinth for King
Minos, but afterwards lost the favor of the king, and was shut up in a tower. He
contrived to make his escape from his prison, but could not leave the island by sea, as
the king kept strict watch on all the vessels, and permitted none to sail without being
carefully searched. "Minos may control the land and sea," said Daedalus, "but not the
regions of the air. I will try that way." So he set to work to fabricate wings for himself
and his young son Icarus. He wrought feathers together beginning with the smallest
and adding larger, so as to form an increasing surface. The larger ones he secured
with thread and the smaller with wax, and gave the whole a gentle curvature like the
wings of a bird. Icarus, the boy, stood and looked on, sometimes running to gather up
the feathers which the wind had blown away, and then handling the wax and working it
over with his fingers, by his play impeding his father in his labors. When at last the
work was done, the artist, waving his wings, found himself buoyed upwards and hung
suspended, poising himself on the beaten air. He next equipped his son in the same
manner, and taught him how to fly, as a bird tempts her young ones from the lofty nest
into the air. When all was prepared for flight he said, "Icarus, my son, I charge you to
keep at a moderate height, for if you fly too low the damp will clog your wings, and if
too high the heat will melt them. Keep near me and you will be safe." While he gave
him these instructions and fitted the wings to his shoulders, the face of the father was
wet with tears, and his hands trembled. He kissed the boy, not knowing that it was for
the last time. Then rising on his wings he flew off, encouraging him to follow, and
looked back from his own flight to see how his son managed his wings. As they flew
the ploughman stopped his work to gaze, and the shepherd leaned on his staff and
watched them, astonished at the sight, and thinking they were gods who could thus
cleave the air.
They passed Samos and Delos on the left and Lebynthos on the right, when the
boy, exulting in his career, began to leave the guidance of his companion and soar
upward as if to reach heaven. The nearness of the blazing sun softened the wax
which held the feathers together, and they came off. He fluttered with his arms, but no
feathers remained to hold the air. While his mouth uttered cries to his father it was
submerged in the blue waters of the sea, which thenceforth was called by his name.
His father cried, "Icarus, Icarus, where are you?" At last he saw the feathers floating on
the water, and bitterly lamenting his own arts, he buried the body and called the land
Icaria in memory of his child. Daedalus arrived safe in Sicily, where he built a temple
to Apollo, and hung up his wings, an offering to the god.
Daedalus was so proud of his achievements that he could not bear the idea of a
rival. His sister had placed her son Perdix under his charge to be taught the
mechanical arts. He was an apt scholar and gave striking evidences of ingenuity.
Walking on the seashore he picked up the spine of a fish. Imitating it, he took a piece
of iron and notched it on the edge, and thus invented the saw. He put two pieces of
iron together, connecting them at one end with a rivet, and sharpening the other ends,
and made a pair of compasses. Daedalus was so envious of his nephew's
performances that he took an opportunity, when they were together one day on the top
of a high tower, to push him off. But Minerva, who favors ingenuity, saw him falling,
and arrested his fate by changing him into a bird called after his name, the Partridge.
This bird does not build his nest in the trees, nor take lofty flights, but nestles in the
hedges, and mindful of his fall, avoids high places.
The death of Icarus is told in the following lines by Darwin: -
" - with melting wax and loosened strings
Sunk hapless Icarus on unfaithful wings;
Headlong he rushed through the affrighted air,
With limbs distorted and dishevelled hair;
His scattered plumage danced upon the wave,
And sorrowing Nereids decked his watery grave;
O'er his pale corse their pearly sea-flowers shed,
And strewed with crimson moss his marble bed;
Struck in their coral towers the passing bell,
And wide in ocean tolled his echoing knell."
Castor And Pollux.
Castor and Pollux were the offspring of Leda and the Swan, under which
disguise Jupiter had concealed himself. Leda gave birth to an egg, from which sprang
the twins. Helen, so famous afterwards as the cause of the Trojan war, was their sister.
When Theseus and his friend Pirithous had carried off Helen from Sparta, the
youthful heroes Castor and Pollux, with their followers, hasted to her rescue. Theseus
was absent from Attica and the brothers were successful in recovering their sister.
Castor was famous for taming and managing horses, and Pollux for skill in
boxing. They were united by the warmest affection and inseparable in all their
enterprises. They accompanied the Argonautic expedition. During the voyage a storm
arose, and Orpheus prayed to the Samothracian gods, and played on his harp,
whereupon the storm ceased and stars appeared on the heads of the brothers. From
this incident, Castor and Pollux came afterwards to be considered the patron deities of
seamen and voyagers, and the lambent flames, which in certain states of the
atmosphere play round the sails and masts of vessels, were called by their names.
After the Argonautic expedition, we find Castor and Pollux
engaged in a war with
Idas and Lynceus. Castor was slain, and Pollux, inconsolable for the loss of his brother,
besought Jupiter to be permitted to give his own life as a ransom for him. Jupiter so far
consented as to allow the two brothers to enjoy the boon of life alternately, passing one
day under the earth and the next in the heavenly abodes. According to another form of
the story Jupiter rewarded the attachment of the brothers by placing them among the
stars as Gemini, the Twins.
They received divine honors under the name of Dioscuri, (sons of Jove.) They
were believed to have appeared occasionally in later times, taking part with one side or
the other, in hard-fought fields, and were said on such occasions to be mounted on
magnificent white steeds. Thus in the early history of Rome they are said to have
assisted the Romans at the battle of Lake Regillus, and after the victory a temple was
erected in their honor on the spot where they appeared.
Macaulay in his Lays of Ancient Rome thus alludes to the legend: -
"So like they were, no mortal
Might one from other know;
White as snow their armor was,
Their steeds were white as snow.
Never on earthly anvil
Did such rare armor gleam,
And never did such gallant steeds
Drink of an earthly stream.
* * * *
"Back comes the chief in triumph
Who in the hour of fight
Hath seen the great Twin Brethren
In harness on his right.
Safe comes the ship to haven,
Through billows and through gales
If once the great Twin Brethren
Sit shining on the sails."
Chapter XXI: Bacchus - Ariadne
Bacchus.
Bacchus was the son of Jupiter and Semele. Juno to gratify her resentment
against Semele contrived a plan for her destruction. Assuming the form of Beroe, her
Age of Fable or Beauties of Mythology Page 20