Theseus' name indicates strength (perhaps from pre-Greek Pelasgian: tēu- thēso, "to be strong"). Theseus belongs to the generation of heroes before the Trojan War (the sons of the great heroes of the past are already participating in it). For the old Nestor, Theseus, “like the immortals”, is stronger and braver than the heroes of the period of the Trojan War (Hom. Il. I 260-274). Theseus is more of an Athenian than a general Greek hero (as Hercules), but the transformational activity attributed to him, as the ancients believed, became a model for all of Greece and laid the foundation for the democratic spirit and primacy of Athens among the policies for which they were famous in historical time. The mythological hero Theseus acquired the features of a legendary-historical personality (the ancient tradition refers Theseus' activity to approximately the 13th century BC).
The birth of Theseus is unusual, although it was not prepared so grandiosely as that of Hercules. 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 Kranay and the first Attic king Kekrop. The ancestors of Theseus are mixanthropic monsters, wise half-serpents, half-humans. However, Theseus himself is a representative of pure heroism, he is at the same time the son of a man and a god (and one of the wildest and most chthonic, Poseidon). On the mother's side, Theseus is descended from Pelops, the father of Pittheus, Atreus and Fiesta, and therefore 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 Trezen king Pittheus, who realized that the power in Athens would belong to the descendants of Aegeus, and, having drunk the guest drunk, put him to bed with his daughter Ephra. On the same night, Poseidon approached her (Apollod. III 15, 6-7) or combined with her the day before on the island of Spheros (Paus. II 33, 1). Thus, the son born to Ephra had (as befits a great hero) two fathers - the earthly Aegeus and the divine Poseidon.
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 hid 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 (armed with the sword of Aegeus, Theseus, as it were, joined the magical power of previous generations who owned this sword and now directs his actions). Even before leaving Troezen, Theseus, having become a young man, dedicated a lock of hair to the god Apollo in Delphi (Plut. Thes. 5), thereby, as it were, handing over himself to the god and entering into an alliance with him. Theseus went to Athens not by the easy way - by sea, but by land, through the Isthmus of Corinth, along a particularly dangerous road, where robbers, children and descendants of chthonic monsters lay in wait for travelers on the way from Megara to Athens. Theseus killed Perithetus, Sinis, the Krommian pig, Skiron, Kercyon and Damastus (aka Polypemon) (Apollod. epit. I 1; Plut. Thes. 8-11). The path of Theseus, sent by his mother to his unknown father, is one of the variants of a common folklore motif - the son's search for his father (cf. the search for Odysseus by Telemachus). On the way to Athens, Theseus, as it were, performs the functions of Hercules (who was at that time in Lydia with Queen Omphala).
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 on the eighth day of the month of hecatombeon in Athens as a liberator from monsters, a wonderful young hero, but was not recognized by Aegeus, whom Medea inspired fear of the stranger and forced Aegeus to intoxicate 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 (Plut. Thes. 12). According to another version, Aegeus sent a stranger first to hunt for a marathon bull that was devastating the fields. When Theseus defeated him and returned, Aegeus presented him with a bowl of poison at the feast, but he immediately recognized his son and expelled Medea (Apollod. epit. I 5-6). This campaign of Theseus includes his meeting with Hecala, in honor of which Theseus established festivities - hecalesia (Collim frg. 230-377 Pf.).
Theseus also had to contend with 50 Pallantis, 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 of Athens with King Minos, who demanded tribute every nine years by seven young men and seven girls as atonement for the death of his son Androgeus, as if treacherously arranged by Aegeus (Apollod. III 15-7). 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 (Plut. Thes. 17). On the way to Crete, Theseus proved to Minos his origin from Poseidon by taking from the bottom of the sea a ring thrown by Minos (Bacchyl. XVII Maehl). Theseus and his companions were placed in a labyrinth, where Theseus, born of Poseidon, killed the Minotaur - a monster born of the bull of Poseidon or even Poseidon himself, if the bull is considered the hypostasis of God. Theseus and his companions got out of the labyrinth thanks to the help Ariadne who fell in love with Theseus. At night, Theseus, with the Athenian youth and Ariadne, secretly fled to the island of Naxos. However, there Ariadne was kidnapped by Dionysus, who was in love with her (according to one version, she was left by Theseus). Disappointed, 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 (Apollod. epit. I 7-11).
Like other heroes, Theseus fought the Amazons who attacked Attica. He either participated in the campaign of Hercules, or he himself went on a campaign against the Amazons, kidnapping Queen Antiope (option: Melanippe or Hippolyta). The Amazons, wanting to free the queen, attacked Athens and would have taken them by storm, if not for the mediation of Theseus' wife, the Amazon (Plut. Thes. 27). She bore Theseus a son Hippolyta with whom the second wife of Theseus, the sister of Ariadne, fell in love - Phaedra, who gave birth to Theseus two sons - Acamant and Demophon.
Theseus participated in the battle with the centaurs, who were outrageous at the wedding of the Lapith Pirithous, Theseus's closest friend. (Apollod. epit. I 21). Theseus - member Calydonian hunting(Ovid. Met. 303). But he was not among the Argonauts, since at that time he helped Pirithous get the goddess of the kingdom of the dead, Persephone, as his wife (Apoll. Rhod. I 101-104). 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 (ύβριστής). He would have remained in the form where he was forever chained to the rock of Pirithous, if not for Hercules, who saved Theseus and sent him to Athens (Apollod. epit. I 23). An equally daring act of Theseus was the abduction of Helen by him. However, in the absence of Theseus, who went with Pirithous after Persephone, the Dioscuri recaptured their sister, capturing Ephra, Theseus' mother, and transferring power in Athens to his kinsman Menestheus (I 23), expelled by Theseus. Returning from his campaign to the kingdom of the species, he found the throne occupied by Menestheus (I 24). 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, Lykomed, not wanting to part with his land, treacherously killed Theseus by pushing him off a cliff (just as Theseus himself threw the villain Skiron, the son of Poseidon, into the sea).
Ancient tradition ascribes to Theseus the unification of all the inhabitants of Attica into a single people (Sinoikism) and a single state (polis) of Athens, the establishment of the Panathenaic and Sinoic holidays, the first social division of the citizens of Athens into Eupatrides, Geomors and Demiurges (Plut. Thes. 24-25). All these reforms were carried out by Theseus in the prime of life. He gained a reputation among the Greeks as an incorruptible and fair arbiter in the most difficult disputes. He helped bury the bodies of the seven chiefs (cf. Seven against Thebes), helped Hercules, who fell into madness, and cleansed him of innocently shed blood, gave shelter to the persecuted Oedipus and his daughters (Plut. Thes. 29). Only having entered the mature age of fifty, Theseus found himself carried away by the element of unlawful acts that led to the collapse of his life. The Athenians remembered Theseus and recognized him as a hero during the Greco-Persian wars, when during the battle of Marathon (490 BC) he appeared to the soldiers in full armor (35). The Pythia ordered the Greeks to find the ashes of Theseus and bury him with dignity. In 476 BC The remains of Theseus with a spear and sword were transferred from the island of Skyros and solemnly buried in Athens. The burial place of Theseus was considered in Athens as a refuge for slaves, the poor and the oppressed. In honor of Theseus, the festival of the eighth Pianepsion was established (i.e., on the day of the liberation of the Athenian youth from the Minotaur), as well as monthly holidays on the eighth of Theseus as the son of Poseidon, the god to whom sacrifices are made at this particular time (since the eight is a symbol of the cube the first of even numbers and the doubled first square signifies, according to Plutarch, the reliability and inviolability characteristic of Poseidon the Unshakable and the Earth-holder; Plut. Thes. 36).
The image of Theseus is a complex mythological complex, which includes the rudiments of the early classic period associated with the origin of Theseus from Poseidon, the features of mature classics (the exploits of Theseus) and, finally, going beyond strict mythologism and gradually entering the system of polis ideology with its democratic ideas and firm legislation, when Theseus' state activity receives a semi-historical and symbolic interpretation.
Lit.: Wolgensinger F.H., Theseus, Z., 1935; Herter H., Theseus der Jonier, “Rheishes Museum fur Philologie.” 1936, Bd 85; his own, Theseus der Athener, ibid., 1939, Bd. 88; Radermacher L., Mythos und Sage bei den Griechen, 2 Autl., Brünn-Münch. - W., .
BUT.BUT. Tahoe Godi
Myths of the peoples of the world. Encyclopedia. (In 2 volumes). Ch. ed. S.A. Tokarev. - M .: "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1982. T. II, p. 502-504.
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 Gaia and raised by Athena, and the autochthonous Kranay and the first Attic king Kekrop. The ancestors of Theseus are wise half-snakes, 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 Pelops, the father of Pittheus, Atreus and Fiesta, and therefore from Tantalus and, finally, from Zeus himself.
exploits
Leaving Ephra, Aegeus asked to raise his future son, without naming his father, and left him his sword and sandals, placing them under a large stone, so that, having matured, Theseus, in his father’s sandals and with his sword, went to Athens to Aegeus, but so that no one knew about it, since Aegeus was afraid of the intrigues of the Pallantides (children of his younger brother Pallant), 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 strand of hair in front, like abantes, to the god Apollo in Delphi, thereby, as it were, handing over himself to the god and entering into an alliance with him. This kind of haircut was called "Teseev". When he was in his sixteenth year, he took out his father's sandals and sword from under the stone. The rock of Theseus (formerly the altar of Zeus Sthenius) was on the way from Troezen to Epidaurus.
Theseus went to Athens not by the easy way - by sea, but by land, through the Isthmus of Corinth, along a particularly dangerous road, where robbers and descendants of monsters lay in wait for travelers on the way from Megara to Athens. On the way, Theseus defeated and killed:
- Robber Perifeth, son of Hephaestus, who killed travelers with a copper club.
- Robber Sinis, (nicknamed the Bender of the pines), who lived in a pine grove and cracked down on travelers, tying them to two bent pines.
- The robber Skiron, who forced travelers to wash his feet at the cliff and kicked them into the abyss, where the unfortunate ones were eaten by a giant tortoise.
- The robber Kerkion, who forced travelers to fight to the death.
- Robber Damast (nicknamed Procrustes).
When Minos came for the third time for tribute, Theseus decided to go himself to Creteto measure strength with the monstrous Minotaur, to which the victims were condemned to be eaten. As Isocrates writes: "Theseus was indignant to such an extent that he preferred to die rather than remain alive as the head of the state, forced to pay such a mournful tribute to the enemies." According to Hellanic, there was no lot, and Minos himself arrived in Athens and chose Theseus.
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 his origin from Poseidonby taking from the bottom of the sea a ring thrown by Minos. 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. According to the version, he escaped from the labyrinth thanks to the radiance emitted by the crown of Ariadne. 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. There is also a version that Minos made sacrifices to the gods and the god Apollo managed to arrange a sudden storm that carried away the “victorious” white sail - that is why Theseus was forced to return under a black sail and Aegeus' long-standing curse came true. According to Simonides, Aegeus was not waiting for white, but "purple sail, painted with the juice of flowers of a branchy oak." Returning from Crete, Theseus erected a temple to Artemis Sotere at Troezen. The 30-oared ship of Theseus, according to legend, was kept in Athens until the era of Demetrius of Phaler, giving rise to the paradox of the same name by the fact of its storage.
Other activities
Established the state system and democracy in 1259/58 BC. e. .
According to some reports, he arranged the Isthmian Games in honor of Melikert.
Poseidon promised him three wishes.
According to the Athenian version, at the head of the Athenian army, he defeated the Thebans of Creon, who refused to hand over the corpses of the fallen.
Together with Hercules, he participated in the campaign for the belt of the Amazons.
Participated in the battle with the centaurs who rampaged at the wedding of Pirithous, Theseus' closest friend. Signs of friendship between Theseus and Pirithous are buried near the Hollow Chalice in Colon. But he was not among the Argonauts, since at that time he helped Pirithous to 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 would have 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. Hercules freed him from Hades, part of his seat remained on the rock.
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. Taking Elena as his wife, Theseus built a temple to Aphrodite Nymphia in the region of Troezen. 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. When the Athenians drove him away, he went to Crete to Deucalion, but due to the winds he was brought to Skyros. 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. Theseus was buried at Skyros. 
A separate story is the story of how Phaedra, Theseus' wife, falling in love with her stepson Hippolytus, unsuccessfully persuaded him to love. Unable to achieve Hippolytus, she slandered him before her father, after which Theseus cursed his son and he died. Then Phaedra hanged herself, and Theseus found out the truth.
historical prototype
Ancient authors have long sought to consider the image of Theseus not as a mythical hero, but as a real historical character (Plutarch is the main source). Their interpretation is as follows:
Veneration in Attica
The cult of Theseus, as an ancestor hero, existed in Attica. Its special surge in the historical era occurred after the appearance of the shadow of the king at the Battle of Marathon, which is believed to have helped the Greeks to win.
Image in literature and art
According to Hegesianact, became the constellation of the Kneeling One, and Theseus' lyre became the constellation of Lyra.
In 1923, M. Tsvetaeva conceived the dramatic trilogy "The Wrath of Aphrodite". The main character of the trilogy is Theseus. Parts of the trilogy were to be named after the women whom Theseus loved: the first part - "Ariadne", the second - "Phaedra", the third - "Helen". "Ariadne: Theseus' early youth: eighteen years old; Phaedra: Theseus' maturity, forty years; Elena: Theseus' old age: sixty years old," wrote Tsvetaeva. The first part of the trilogy - "Ariadne" - Tsvetaeva finished in 1924, "Phaedra" - in 1927, "Elena" was not written.
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Notes
- Diodorus Siculus. Historical Library IV 59, 1
- // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
- centant.spbu.ru/centrum/publik/kafsbor/mnemon/2008/37.pdf
- Diodorus Siculus. Historical Library IV 59, 1
- Pausanias. Description of Hellas II 32, 9
- Plutarch. Comparative biographies, Theseus, V: text in other Greek. and
- Pausanias. Description of Hellas I 27, 8
- Pausanias. Description of Hellas II 32, 7
- Pausanias. Description of Hellas I 19, 1
- Plutarch. Comparative biographies, Theseus, XII: text in other Greek. and
- Plutarch. Comparative biographies, Theseus, XVIII: text in other Greek. and
- Plutarch. Comparative biographies, Theseus, XXII: text in other Greek. and , a reference to Diodorus the Traveler
- Euripides. Hercules 1327
- Plutarch. Comparative biographies, Theseus, XVI: text in other Greek. and
- Virgil. Aeneid VI 21
- First Vatican Mythographer I 43, 6
- Plutarch. Comparative biographies, Theseus, XVII: text in other Greek. and
- Pseudo-Eratosthenes. Catasterisms 5; Hygin. Astronomy II 5, 1
- Scholia to Homer. Iliad XVIII 590; Eustathius // Losev A.F. Mythology of the Greeks and Romans. M., 1996. S.246
- Plutarch. Comparative biographies, Theseus, XXI: text in other Greek. and , a reference to Dikearchus; Table Talk VIII 4, 3; Pausanias. Description of Hellas VIII 48, 3
- Pausanias. Description of Hellas IX 40, 3-4
- Pausanias. Description of Hellas II 31, 1
- Plutarch. Comparative biographies, Theseus, XXIII: text in other Greek. and
- Parian Chronicle 20
- Hygin. Myths 273
- Euripides. Ippolit 46
- Euripides. Pleading 650-724
- Euripides. Heracleides 216
- Pseudo Apollodorus. Mythological Library I 8, 2; Pausanias. Description of Hellas VIII 45, 6; Ovid. Metamorphoses VIII 303; Hygin. Myths 173
- Pseudo Apollodorus. Mythological Library I 9, 16; Hygin. Myths 14 (p.25)
- Pseudo-Hesiod. Shield of Hercules 182; Pausanias. Description of Hellas I 17, 2
- Sophocles. Oedipus at Colon 1593
- Apollonius of Rhodes. Argonautica I 100-103
- Euripides. Hercules 619
- First Vatican Mythographer I 48, 8
- Pausanias. Description of Hellas I 17, 6
- Lycophron. Alexandra 1326
- Hygin. Astronomy II 6, 2
- Plutarch. Theseus 29
Links
- Myths of the peoples of the world. M., 1991-92. In 2 vols. T.2. P.502-504, Lübker F. Real Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. M., 2001. In 3 volumes. T.3. pp.393-394
- Plutarch. Comparative biographies, Theseus: text in other Greek. and
- Gushchin V. R. 2000: // Political history and historiography from antiquity to the present. Issue. 3. Petrozavodsk, 34-46.
- Gushchin V. R. 2002: // Antiquity and the Middle Ages of Europe: interuniversity. Sat. scientific tr. / I. L. Mayak, A. Z. Nyurkaeva (ed.). Perm, 10-18.
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An excerpt characterizing Theseus
Natasha ran into the house and tiptoed in through the half-open door of the sofa room, from which there was a smell of vinegar and Hoffmann's drops.Are you sleeping, mom?
- Oh, what a dream! said the countess, who had just dozed off, waking up.
“Mom, my dear,” said Natasha, kneeling in front of her mother and putting her face close to hers. - I'm sorry, I'll never be, I woke you up. Mavra Kuzminishna sent me, they brought the wounded here, officers, will you? And they have nowhere to go; I know that you will allow ... - she said quickly, without taking a breath.
What officers? Who was brought? I don’t understand anything,” said the countess.
Natasha laughed, the countess also smiled faintly.
- I knew that you would allow ... so I will say so. - And Natasha, kissing her mother, got up and went to the door.
In the hall she met her father, who returned home with bad news.
- We sat down! said the Count with involuntary annoyance. “And the club is closed, and the police are coming out.
- Dad, is it okay that I invited the wounded to the house? Natasha told him.
“Nothing, of course,” the Count said absently. “That’s not the point, but now I ask you not to deal with trifles, but to help pack and go, go, go tomorrow ...” And the count gave the butler and people the same order. At dinner, Petya returned and told his news.
He said that today the people were dismantling weapons in the Kremlin, that although Rostopchin’s poster said that he would call the cry in two days, but that an order had probably been made that tomorrow all the people would go to the Three Mountains with weapons, and that there there will be a big fight.
The Countess looked with timid horror at the cheerful, heated face of her son while he was saying this. She knew that if she said a word that she asked Petya not to go to this battle (she knew that he rejoiced at this upcoming battle), then he would say something about men, about honor, about the fatherland - something like that. meaningless, masculine, stubborn, against which one cannot object, and the matter will be spoiled, and therefore, hoping to arrange so that she could leave before that and take Petya with her as a protector and patron, she did not say anything to Petya, and after dinner called the count and with tears she begged him to take her away as soon as possible, on the same night, if possible. With a feminine, involuntary cunning of love, she, who had shown perfect fearlessness until now, said that she would die of fear if they did not leave that night. She, without pretending, was now afraid of everything.
Mme Schoss, who visited her daughter, increased the Countess's fear even more with stories about what she had seen on Myasnitskaya Street in a pub. Returning down the street, she could not get home from the drunken crowd of people raging at the office. She took a cab and drove around the lane home; and the driver told her that the people were breaking barrels in the drinking office, which was so ordered.
After dinner, all the Rostov households with enthusiastic haste set to work packing their things and preparing for departure. The old count, suddenly set to work, continued to walk from the yard to the house and back after dinner, stupidly shouting at the people in a hurry and hurrying them even more. Petya was in charge in the yard. Sonya did not know what to do under the influence of the count's conflicting orders, and was completely at a loss. People, shouting, arguing and making noise, ran around the rooms and the yard. Natasha, with her characteristic passion in everything, suddenly also set to work. At first, her intervention in the matter of packing was met with disbelief. Everyone expected a joke from her and did not want to listen to her; but with stubbornness and passion she demanded obedience to herself, became angry, almost wept that they did not listen to her, and finally achieved that they believed in her. Her first feat, which cost her great effort and gave her power, was laying carpets. The count had expensive gobelins and Persian rugs in his house. When Natasha got down to business, there were two open boxes in the hall: one almost to the top with porcelain, the other with carpets. There was still a lot of porcelain set on the tables, and everything was still being carried from the pantry. It was necessary to start a new, third box, and people followed him.
“Sonya, wait, let’s put everything in this way,” said Natasha.
“It’s impossible, young lady, they already tried it,” said the barmaid.
– No, stop, please. - And Natasha began to get dishes and plates wrapped in paper from the drawer.
“The dishes should be here, in the carpets,” she said.
“Yes, and God forbid, put the carpets into three boxes,” said the barman.
- Wait, please. - And Natasha quickly, deftly began to disassemble. “It’s not necessary,” she said about Kyiv plates, “yes, it’s in carpets,” she said about Saxon dishes.
- Yes, leave it, Natasha; Well, that’s enough, we’ll put it down, ”Sonya said reproachfully.
- Oh, young lady! the butler said. But Natasha did not give up, threw out all the things and quickly began to pack again, deciding that bad home carpets and extra dishes should not be taken at all. When everything was taken out, they began to lay again. And indeed, throwing out almost everything cheap, what was not worth taking with you, everything of value was put into two boxes. Only the lid of the carpet box did not close. It was possible to take out a few things, but Natasha wanted to insist on her own. She packed, shifted, pressed, forced the barman and Petya, whom she dragged along into the business of packing, to press the lid and herself made desperate efforts.
“Come on, Natasha,” Sonya told her. - I see you're right, take out the top one.
“I don’t want to,” Natasha shouted, holding her loose hair over her sweaty face with one hand, pressing the carpets with the other. - Yes, press it, Petka, press it! Vasilyich, press! she screamed. The carpets pressed down and the lid closed. Natasha, clapping her hands, squealed with joy, and tears gushed from her eyes. But it lasted for a second. She immediately set to work on another matter, and they completely believed her, and the count was not angry when they told him that Natalya Ilyinishna had canceled his order, and the servants came to Natasha to ask: should the cart be tied or not and was it enough imposed? The matter was argued thanks to Natasha's orders: unnecessary things were left and the most expensive things were packed in the most cramped way.
But no matter how hard all the people fussed, by late night not everything could be packed. The countess fell asleep, and the count, postponing his departure until morning, went to bed.
Sonya and Natasha slept without undressing in the sofa room. That night, a new wounded man was being transported through Povarskaya, and Mavra Kuzminishna, who was standing at the gate, turned him around to the Rostovs. This wounded man, according to Mavra Kuzminishna, was a very significant person. He was carried in a carriage completely covered with an apron and with the top down. An old man, a respectable valet, was sitting on the goats with the driver. Behind the cart were a doctor and two soldiers.
- Come to us, please. The gentlemen are leaving, the whole house is empty,” said the old woman, turning to the old servant.
- Yes, - answered the valet, sighing, - and not to bring tea! We have our own house in Moscow, but far away, and no one lives.
“We are welcome, our masters have a lot of everything, please,” said Mavra Kuzminishna. - Are you very unhealthy? she added.
The valet waved his hand.
- Do not bring tea! You need to ask the doctor. And the valet got off the goat and went up to the wagon.
“Good,” said the doctor.
The valet again went up to the carriage, looked into it, shook his head, ordered the coachman to turn into the yard, and stopped beside Mavra Kuzminishna.
- Lord Jesus Christ! she said.
Mavra Kuzminishna offered to bring the wounded man into the house.
“The Lord won’t say anything…” she said. But it was necessary to avoid climbing the stairs, and therefore the wounded man was carried into the wing and laid in the former room of m me Schoss. This wounded man was Prince Andrei Bolkonsky.
The last day of Moscow has come. It was clear, cheerful autumn weather. It was Sunday. As on ordinary Sundays, the gospel was announced for mass in all churches. No one, it seemed, could yet understand what awaited Moscow.
Only two indicators of the state of society expressed the situation in which Moscow was: the mob, that is, the class of poor people, and the prices of objects. Factory workers, servants and peasants in a huge crowd, in which officials, seminarians, noblemen got involved, on this day, early in the morning, went to the Three Mountains. After standing there and not waiting for Rostopchin and making sure that Moscow would be surrendered, this crowd scattered around Moscow, to drinking houses and taverns. Prices that day also indicated the state of affairs. The prices of weapons, gold, carts and horses kept going up, while the prices of paper money and city things kept going down, so that in the middle of the day there were cases when cabbies took out expensive goods, like cloth, from the floor, and for a peasant horse paid five hundred rubles; furniture, mirrors, bronzes were given away for free.
In the sedate and old house of the Rostovs, the disintegration of the former living conditions expressed itself very weakly. With regard to people, it was only that three people from a huge household disappeared during the night; but nothing was stolen; and with regard to the prices of things, it turned out that the thirty carts that came from the villages were enormous wealth, which many envied and for which Rostov was offered huge money. Not only did they offer a lot of money for these carts, from the evening and early morning of September 1, orderlies and servants from wounded officers came to the Rostovs’ courtyard and dragged the wounded themselves, placed at the Rostovs and in neighboring houses, and begged the Rostovs’ people to take care of that they were given carts to leave Moscow. The butler, who was approached with such requests, although he felt sorry for the wounded, resolutely refused, saying that he would not even dare to report this to the count. No matter how pitiful the remaining wounded were, it was obvious that if you gave up one cart, there was no reason not to give up another, that's all - to give up your crews. Thirty carts could not save all the wounded, and in the general disaster it was impossible not to think about yourself and your family. So thought the butler for his master.
Waking up on the morning of the 1st, Count Ilya Andreich quietly left the bedroom, so as not to wake the countess who had just fallen asleep by morning, and in his purple silk dressing gown went out onto the porch. The carts, tied up, stood in the yard. The carriages were at the porch. The butler stood at the entrance, talking to an old batman and a young, pale officer with a bandaged arm. The butler, seeing the count, made a significant and stern sign to the officer and orderly to leave.
- Well, is everything ready, Vasilich? - said the count, rubbing his bald head and looking good-naturedly at the officer and orderly and nodding his head to them. (The count liked new faces.)
- At least harness now, Your Excellency.
- Well, that's nice, the countess will wake up, and with God! What are you, gentlemen? he turned to the officer. - In my house? The officer moved closer. His pale face suddenly flushed bright red.
- Count, do me a favor, let me ... for God's sake ... shelter somewhere on your carts. I don’t have anything with me here ... I don’t care in the cart ... - the officer had not yet managed to finish, as the batman turned to the count with the same request for his master.
- BUT! yes, yes, yes,” said the count hastily. - I'm very, very happy. Vasilyich, you order, well, clear one or two carts there, well, there ... what ... what is needed ... - with some kind of vague expressions, ordering something, the count said. But at the same moment, the officer's warm expression of gratitude already confirmed what he ordered. The count looked around him: in the yard, at the gate, in the window of the wing, one could see the wounded and orderlies. They all looked at the count and moved towards the porch.
- Please, Your Excellency, to the gallery: what do you want about the paintings there? the butler said. And the count entered the house with him, repeating his order not to refuse the wounded who ask to go.
“Well, then, you can put something together,” he added in a low, mysterious voice, as if afraid that someone would hear him.
At nine o'clock the countess woke up, and Matrena Timofeevna, her former maid, who had acted as chief of the gendarmes in relation to the countess, came to report to her former young lady that Marya Karlovna was very offended and that the young lady's summer dresses should not stay here. When asked by the countess why mme Schoss was offended, it was revealed that her chest was removed from the cart and all the carts were being untied - they were taking off the good and taking the wounded with them, whom the count, in his simplicity, ordered to take with him. The countess ordered to ask her husband.
- What is it, my friend, I hear things are being filmed again?
- You know, ma chere, I wanted to tell you this ... ma chere countess ... an officer came to me, asking me to give a few carts for the wounded. After all, this is all a matter of gain; But what is it like for them to stay, think! .. Really, in our yard, we ourselves invited them, there are officers here. You know, I think it’s right, ma chere, here, ma chere… let them take them… where is the hurry?.. – The count said this timidly, as he always said when it came to money. The Countess, however, was accustomed to this tone, which always preceded the deed that ruined the children, like some kind of construction of a gallery, a greenhouse, the installation of a home theater or music - and she was used to, and considered it her duty to always oppose what was expressed in this timid tone.
She assumed her meekly deplorable air and said to her husband:
“Listen, Count, you have brought it to the point that they don’t give anything for the house, and now you want to ruin all of our - children’s fortune. After all, you yourself say that there is a hundred thousand good in the house. I, my friend, disagree and disagree. Your will! There is government on the wounded. They know. Look: over there, at the Lopukhins, everything was taken out clean on the third day. That's how people do it. We alone are fools. Have pity at least not on me, but on the children.
The count waved his hands and, without saying anything, left the room.
- Dad! what are you talking about? Natasha told him, following him into her mother's room.
- About nothing! What do you care! said the Count angrily.
“No, I heard,” Natasha said. Why doesn't mommy want to?
– What is your business? shouted the count. Natasha went to the window and thought.
“Papa, Berg has come to visit us,” she said, looking out the window.
Berg, the son-in-law of the Rostovs, was already a colonel with Vladimir and Anna around his neck and occupied the same quiet and pleasant position of assistant chief of staff, assistant to the first department of the chief of staff of the second corps.
On September 1, he came from the army to Moscow.
He had nothing to do in Moscow; but he noticed that everyone from the army asked to go to Moscow and did something there. He also considered it necessary to take time off for household and family affairs.
Berg, in his neat little droshky, on a pair of well-fed, savras little ones, exactly the same as one prince had, drove up to his father-in-law's house. He looked attentively into the yard at the carts and, entering the porch, took out a clean handkerchief and tied a knot.
From the ante-room Berg, with a floating, impatient step, ran into the drawing-room and embraced the count, kissed the hands of Natasha and Sonya, and hurriedly asked about mother's health.
What is your health now? Well, tell me, - said the count, - what about the troops? Are they retreating or will there be more fighting?
“One eternal god, father,” said Berg, “can decide the fate of the fatherland. The army is burning with the spirit of heroism, and now the leaders, so to speak, have gathered for a meeting. What will happen is unknown. But I’ll tell you in general, dad, such a heroic spirit, truly ancient courage of the Russian troops, which they - it, - he corrected, - showed or showed in this battle on the 26th, there are no words worthy to describe them ... I’ll tell you, dad (he hit himself in the chest in the same way as one general who spoke in front of him hit himself, although a little late, because it was necessary to hit himself in the chest at the word "Russian army") - I will tell you frankly that we, the bosses, not only did we not have to urge the soldiers or anything like that, but we could hardly hold on to these, these ... yes, courageous and ancient feats, ”he said quickly. “General Barclay before Tolly sacrificed his life everywhere in front of the troops, I'll tell you. Our body was placed on the slope of the mountain. Can you imagine! - And then Berg told everything that he remembered from the various stories he had heard during this time. Natasha, not lowering her gaze, which confused Berg, as if looking for the solution of some question on his face, looked at him.
- Such heroism in general, which Russian soldiers showed, cannot be imagined and deservedly praised! - Berg said, looking back at Natasha and as if wanting to appease her, smiling at her in response to her stubborn look ... - "Russia is not in Moscow, it is in the hearts of all sons!" So, papa? Berg said.
At that moment, the Countess came out of the sofa-room, looking tired and displeased. Berg hastily jumped up, kissed the countess's hand, inquired about her health, and, expressing his sympathy by shaking his head, stopped beside her.
- Yes, mother, I will tell you truly, hard and sad times for every Russian. But why worry so much? You still have time to leave...
“I don’t understand what people are doing,” said the countess, turning to her husband, “they just told me that nothing is ready yet. After all, someone has to take care of it. So you will regret Mitenka. Will this end?
The count wanted to say something, but apparently refrained. He got up from his chair and walked to the door.
Berg at this time, as if to blow his nose, took out a handkerchief and, looking at the bundle, fell into thought, shaking his head sadly and significantly.
“And I have a big request for you, dad,” he said.
- Hm? .. - said the count, stopping.
“I’m driving past Yusupov’s house right now,” Berg said, laughing. - The manager is familiar to me, ran out and asked if you could buy something. I came in, you know, out of curiosity, and there was only a wardrobe and a toilet. You know how much Verushka wanted this and how we argued about it. (Berg involuntarily turned into a tone of joy about his well-being when he began to talk about a chiffonier and a toilet.) And such a charm! comes forward with the English secret, you know? And Verochka has long wanted to. So I want to surprise her. I saw so many of these men in your yard. Give me one, please, I'll pay him well and...
The Count winced and sighed.
“Ask the countess, but I don’t order.
“If it’s difficult, please don’t,” Berg said. - I would only really like for Verushka.
“Ah, get out of here, all of you, to hell, to hell, to hell, to hell!” shouted the old count. - My head is spinning. And he left the room.
The Countess wept.
- Yes, yes, mama, very hard times! Berg said.
Natasha went out with her father and, as if thinking something with difficulty, first followed him, and then ran downstairs.
On the porch stood Petya, who was engaged in arming people who were traveling from Moscow. In the yard, the laid wagons were still standing. Two of them were untied, and an officer, supported by a batman, climbed onto one of them.
- Do you know why? - Petya asked Natasha (Natasha realized that Petya understood: why father and mother quarreled). She didn't answer.
“Because papa wanted to give all the carts to the wounded,” said Petya. “Vassilyitch told me. In my…
Theseus saves people from bloodthirsty robbers and predatory animals. The Minotaur is a bull-headed monster that eats young men and children, kills Theseus, and so Athens gets rid of this terrible monster.
Theseus' childhood
The Athenian king Aegeus had a son, Theseus. The child spent all his childhood with his mother, Princess Ephra of Troesen. The father, who lived away from Theseus, was afraid of dirty tricks from his nephews, who also aspired to power. Before parting with Efa, Aegeus hides his sword and sandals under a stone with the words: "When my son grows up and can move this stone, tell him who his father is." At the age of sixteen, Theseus moves the stone away, takes the sword and sandals and goes to Athens to his father. Theseus performs enough feats while he goes to his father. Aegeus recognizes his son by the sword.
Travel to Crete
Once every nine years, the Athenians had to send seven young men and the same number of girls for the Minotaur. Theseus goes to Crete and kills the sleeping Minotaur with his bare hands.
tragic return
Theseus killed the Minotaur in an underground labyrinth, from where it is very difficult to get out. But he was given a guiding thread by the daughter of the Cretan king Ariadne. And thanks to this thread, Tesla finds a way out of the labyrinth. Then Tesla kidnaps Ariadne, and they sail away to Greece. But on the way they part, perhaps this happened at the behest of Poseidon. Frustrated, Tesla forgets to change the flag from black to white, as requested by his father. Aegeus, seeing a ship with a black flag, thinks that his son died in a fight with the Minotaur and throws himself into the sea. Since then, the Sea has been called the Aegean.
Character of ancient Greek mythology. Son of Ephra, daughter of King Pittheus. Theseus has two fathers at the same time - the king of the city of Athens and the god of the sea, both lay down with Ephra on the same night. One of the most famous characters in the mythology of ancient Greece, mentioned in the Odyssey and the Iliad.
History of appearance
Ancient authors interpret the image of Theseus, trying to find the historical basis of the myth and "discover" a person who once really existed, which became the prototype of the mythological hero. In the chronography of the Roman historian Eusebius of Caesarea, Theseus is named the tenth king of Athens. The hero is believed to have ruled after his own father, Aegeus, from 1234 to 1205 BC. The ancient Greek writer provides evidence that the ancient king, named in myths as Theseus, the son of Aegeus, really existed and ruled Athens.
The myth about the supporters of the real existence of King Theseus is interpreted as follows. The son of the king was killed by the Athenians during the reign of Theseus, for which Crete imposed tribute on Athens. Minos instituted competitions in memory of his murdered son, and ordered the Athenians to pay tribute in boys. The king personally went to Crete, where he took part in the competition. The minotaur in this version is not a mythical monster, but the strongest among the Cretan warriors, whom Theseus defeats in a fight. After that, the tribute by the Athenian boys no longer came to Crete and was canceled.
According to legend, the "historical" Theseus was the first to establish the procedure for ostracism. This is a mechanism to protect society from tyranny, when free citizens gather to vote and write on potsherds the name of someone who, in their opinion, threatens democracy. If the name of the same person turned out to be written on more than 6000 shards, he was expelled from the city. It was in this way that Theseus himself was expelled from Athens.
The myth of Theseus and the Minotaur
The Cretan king Minos laid a heavy tribute on the Athenians in retaliation for the fact that Androgey, the son of Minos, died in Athens. Every nine years the Athenians had to send seven girls and seven boys to Crete. According to other versions, tribute was paid once a year or once every seven years, the number of boys and girls also varies.
Under Theseus, such a tribute was sent twice, and when this was to happen for the third time, Theseus decided to sail to Crete himself along with another batch of victims. Athenian boys and girls in Crete were given to be devoured by the Minotaur - a monster with a human body and a bull's head.
The Minotaur was born by the wife of King Minos Pasiphae, who got along with the bull. Especially for the queen, they made a wooden cow, in which she lay down to seduce the bull. King Minos locked the monstrous fruit of this passion in the Knossos labyrinth and fed the criminals who were thrown into the labyrinth, as well as the "tribute" that was sent from Athens.
For Theseus, this tribute seemed so insulting that the hero decided to risk his own life and fight the monster in order to save Athens from having to send her young citizens to be devoured. According to another version, King Minos, who arrived in Athens, himself chose Theseus as the next victim.
The ship left Athens under a black sail. However, Theseus took with him a white one. It was assumed that in the event of a successful completion of the “operation”, Theseus would change the black sail to white, so that those waiting for the hero on the shore would know in advance that he was returning with a victory.
During the voyage, Minos threw a ring into the sea, and Theseus pulled it out from the bottom, thereby proving that he was descended from the god of the seas, Poseidon.
Upon arrival in Crete, Theseus, along with his companions, was thrown into a labyrinth. There, the hero killed the Minotaur with his bare hands (or, according to another version, with a sword).
The daughter of King Minos and Pasiphae helped Theseus to get out of the labyrinth. The girl fell in love with the hero and presented him with a ball of thread as a gift, advising him to tie the end of the thread at the entrance to the labyrinth. Passing through the labyrinth, Theseus unwound the thread, thus marking the path, and then went back along the same thread with his companions. At night, the Athenian youth saved from the Minotaur, together with the hero and Ariadne, fled from Crete to the island of Naxos.
There, the fugitives are overtaken by a storm and Theseus leaves Ariadne, and he leaves the island while she is sleeping, because he does not want to take the girl with him to Athens. The god of winemaking is in love with Ariadne, who kidnaps the girl left by Theseus. According to one version, Dionysus even appears to Theseus in a dream to claim his rights to Ariadne, and this is what forces the hero to leave the girl on the island.
Returning home, Theseus forgets to change the black sail to white. Aegeus, the father of the hero, sees a black sail on the horizon and, thinking that his son is dead, throws himself into the sea from grief. According to another version, the loss of the white sail contributed. King Minos made sacrifices to the gods, and by the will of Apollo, a storm happened, which carried away the white sail, symbolizing victory, so Theseus had to return under black.
The hero did not work out with Ariadne, but Theseus married Phaedra, another daughter of King Minos. Phaedra became the second wife of the hero, the first was the Amazon Antiope.
Screen adaptations
In 1971, the Soviet animator Alexandra Snezhko-Blotskaya created the animated film Labyrinth. The exploits of Theseus. The cartoon runs for 19 minutes. Theseus voices there. The cartoon begins with the fact that the young son of the Athenian king Theseus, who was raised by a centaur, goes back to Athens, to his father. On the way, the young man performs feats. The boar wins, which instilled fear in the neighborhood. Dealing with the robber Procrustes, cutting off his head.
Returning to Athens, the hero learns about the arrival of a ship from Crete. Once every nine years, this ship comes to Athens to collect tribute - fourteen Athenian girls and boys who will be eaten by the monster Minotaur. Theseus volunteers to sail to Crete along with the rest of the unfortunate victims in order to destroy the Minotaur. Having dealt with the monster, Theseus leaves the labyrinth using the thread of Ariadne, and then sails home to Athens with her.
The offended king Minos appeals for help to the god of winemaking Dionysus, so that he would return the daughter to the king. Dionysus makes a storm and takes Ariadne straight from the ship. Theseus returns home without his beloved and without a white sail that blows away during a storm. Theseus' father stands on a rock above the sea and looks out for his son's ship, and when he sees a mourning black sail instead of a white one, he throws himself into the sea.
In 2011, the adventure thriller "War of the Gods: Immortals" was released. Theseus was played by an English actor who in 2017 appeared on the screens in the role in the film "Justice League". The script of the film was created based on ancient Greek myths, but is very different from them.
Theseus here is a peasant youth who lives with his mother in a seaside village. The hero is taught how to wield weapons by a local old man, who later turns out to be a god of thunder. But Theseus himself does not believe in gods. Meanwhile, King Hyperion wants to free the titans from Tartarus so that they destroy the gods he hates, who let his family perish. To carry out his plan, the king needs an artifact - the Epirus bow.
When the troops of Hyperion ravage the village where Theseus lived, the hero finds himself in the salt mines. In the mines, the young man meets an oracle maiden who calls him the chosen one, and together the characters flee.
Later, Theseus finds the Epirus bow that Hyperion needs, defeats the Minotaur, who is sent by the evil king. Some of the gods enter the war on the side of Theseus. At the end of the film, the victorious Theseus ascends to Olympus.
Theseus and the Minotaur He also took possession of her. The sea lord, however, generously ceded to Aegeus the right to be called the father of any child that Ephra would give birth to. When Aegeus woke up and saw that he was in Ephra's bed, he remembered a dream in which Poseidon spoke to him. He decided that if a son was born, he should not be abandoned to the mercy of fate or sent somewhere, but secretly brought up in Troezen.
Before leaving, Aegeus left his sword and sandals under a hollow rock, known as the Altar of Strong Zeus, leaning on a large boulder. If the boy can, when he grows up, move this stone and get these things, he should be sent along with them to Athens. Until then, Ephra must remain silent so that the nephews of Aegeus, the fifty sons of Pallas, do not destroy the child.
Childhood and youth of Theseus
Theseus grew up in Troezen, where his grandfather Pittheus carefully spread the rumor that Poseidon was the boy's father. Once Hercules, who was 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 "lion" rushed away with a cry, and only one seven-year-old Theseus quickly grabbed an ax lying on a woodpile and boldly moved towards the beast.
When Theseus was sixteen years old, Ephra took her son to a boulder, under which Aegeus hid his sword and sandals, and told about the mortal father. Theseus easily rolled away the boulder and took the things left for him. After that, he went to Athens, but, contrary to the warnings of Pittheus and the entreaties of his mother, not by a safe sea route, but by land, because he wanted to repeat the exploits of his cousin Hercules, whom he had always admired, and clear the coastal road leading from Troezen to Athens. He decided not to engage in a skirmish, but also not to give anyone a descent. Act like Hercules - so that the punishment of the villains corresponds to the crime.
Exploits of Theseus
Near Epidaurus, he jostled with a robber periphery who killed travelers with his iron club. Theseus snatched the club from the hands of the robber and beat Peritheth with it. Theseus liked the club so much that since then he always carried it with him; although he himself managed to repel her deadly blow, in his hands she struck without a miss.
On the Corinthian Isthma, a young hero met a robber Sinis, which, possessing great strength, could bend pine trees so that their tops touched the ground. He often asked unsuspecting passers-by to help him in this matter, and he himself unexpectedly released the pine tree. The tree unbent, throwing a passerby high, and he was smashed to death. Sometimes Sinis bent the tops of two adjacent trees to the ground and tied his victim with one hand to one tree, and with the other to another. The released trees tore the unfortunate man in half. Theseus defeated Sinis and did to him exactly as he did to his victims. Daughter of Sinis named Perigune at first sight she fell in love with Theseus, forgave him for the murder of her hated father, and in due time gave birth to his son Melanippe.
In Crommion, Theseus saved the local population from a ferocious and terrible wild pig. The inhabitants of Crommion, many of whom were victims of the monster, did not dare to leave their homes and work in the fields.
Moving along the coastal road, Theseus came to sheer cliffs protruding directly from the sea, in which he settled Skiron. This robber forced passers-by to wash his feet; when the traveler leaned at his feet, Skiron pushed him off the cliff into the sea, where a huge turtle was swimming, ready to devour another victim. But instead of washing the robber’s feet, Theseus lifted him over the rock and threw him into the sea.
The next opponent of Theseus was the Arcadian king Kerkion, terrified by its cruelty. Kerkion forced all passers-by to fight him and killed them either during the duel or after it. Theseus grabbed Kerkion by the knees and, to the delight of Demeter watching the fight, struck his head on the ground. Kerkion's death was instantaneous.
Having already entered Attica, Theseus met another famous robber - Procrustes. There were two lodges in Procruste's house - one large and the other small. Offering lodging for the night to travelers, he laid the short ones on a large bed and, tying the limbs, stretched the unfortunate until the huge bed fit, and offered the tall ones a short bed, chopping off or sawing off those parts of the body that did not fit on it. Theseus acted with Procrustes in exactly the same way as he did with others - he “shortened” him by the head.
Only on the banks of the Kefiss river did the young hero receive a friendly welcome for the first time since he left Troezen. The sons of Fital performed a rite of purification from the spilled blood over Theseus and showed him hospitality. He entered Athens dressed in clean long clothes, with neatly styled hair.
Theseus in Athens
Theseus found Athens in a state of ferment. The king did not have a legitimate heir, so the fifty sons of his brother Pallant made plans to seize the throne. At that time, King Aegeus lived with Medea. When she fled from Corinth, he gave her asylum in Athens and then married her, as she assured him that her witchcraft would help him find an heir, since Aegeus did not know that Ephra had already given Theseus to him. Medea hoped that the throne would go to their son medu despite the foreign origin of his mother.
Although the exploits performed by Theseus on the way to Athens aroused great interest in him and provided a warm welcome, the hero has not yet told anyone who he is and where he came from. However, the sorceress Medea immediately recognized Theseus and, fearing that her plans for the fate of her own son might fail, convinced Aegeus that the stranger was a hired killer or scout. At the feast, Aegeus was supposed to offer Theseus a cup of poisoned wine, prepared in advance by Medea. At the last moment, when Theseus drew a sword to cut off a piece of fried meat served to the table, the king recognized his son by it and threw away the bowl of poison. He embraced Theseus, convened a national assembly and declared him his son. In Athens, fun reigned, what a city has not yet known. 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 Pallant, who claimed the Athenian throne, of any hope of ever 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 twenty-five sons lay in ambush. Having learned of the plans of the Pallantids from their herald named Leos from the Agnes clan, Theseus attacked those who hid in an ambush and killed everyone. After that, Pallas and his remaining sons prayed for peace. The Pallantides never forgot the betrayal of Leos and never married the Agnes afterwards.
Subsequently, having inherited the Athenian throne after the death of Aegeus, Theseus, in order to strengthen his power, immediately 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".
It is not known whether Aegeus sent his son against the ferocious white bull Poseidon at the instigation of Medea, or whether Theseus himself decided to kill this fire-breathing monster in order to gain even greater favor with the Athenians, but this is what happened. Brought by Hercules from Crete and released into the wild in the valley of Argos, the bull went to Marathon and began to kill people there, and among the dead was the Cretan prince Androgey, the son of Minos. Theseus found the bull, boldly seized it by its deadly horns, and victoriously dragged it to Athens, where he sacrificed it.
Theseus in Crete
Having dealt with the bull, Theseus learned about the heavy tribute that the Cretan king Minos imposed on Athens as punishment for the death of his son - once every nine years the Athenians sent seven boys and seven girls to Crete, who were devoured in the labyrinth by the bull-headed Minotaur, born of Queen Pasiphae from white bull killed by Theseus. Theseus undertook to free his compatriots and future subjects from this terrible tribute and decided to go to Crete among the youths destined to be eaten by the monster - despite the most sincere attempts of Aegeus to dissuade him. The hero, however, did not neglect useful preparations: he donated to Apollo an olive branch entwined with white wool from all, and also replaced the two girls with a pair of feminine young men who, nevertheless, possessed remarkable courage and a sound mind. 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, which, if successful, he was to raise on his return.
When the ship reached Crete, Minos descended into the bay in his chariot to count the victims. He really liked one of the girls he brought, and he was already ready to take possession of her, but Theseus stood up for the young compatriot. In the ensuing verbal squabble, each of them called the other fatherless, after which Minos declared Zeus his father, and Theseus declared that he was the son of Poseidon. Throwing a ring with a seal into the waves, Minos suggested that Theseus get it from the seabed and thereby confirm his relationship with Poseidon. To this, Theseus demanded that Minos be the first to prove that he was the son of Zeus. Turning to his father with a prayer, the Cretan king received in response a blinding lightning and a deafening peal of thunder. Then Theseus dived into the sea, where a flock of dolphins honorably escorted him to Amphitrite, the wife of Poseidon. The sea queen sent the Nereids in all directions, they quickly found the ring of Minos and gave it to Theseus, and Amphitrite herself (they say, after violent bed games with which the goddess was pleased) handed him a golden crown decorated with stones; emerging from the sea, Theseus held in his hands both a ring and a crown of divine beauty (which he later presented to Ariadne).
Ariadne. Labyrinth of the Minotaur.
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Even before leaving for Crete, Theseus, on the advice of the oracle, made sacrifices to Aphrodite, and the goddess made it so that the beautiful Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, fell in love with the Athenian prince at first sight. The beauty secretly promised him to help him kill the Minotaur if Theseus vowed to take her with him to Athens and make her his wife. Theseus gladly accepted this offer and promised to marry Ariadne. The famous labyrinth builder Daedalus had previously given Ariadne a magical ball of thread and taught her how to enter and exit the labyrinth. She had to open the door and tie the free end of the thread to the door lintel, the ball would roll ahead of her and lead through tricky turns and passages to the inner room where the Minotaur lives. Ariadne gave this ball to Theseus and ordered him to follow the ball until it leads him to a sleeping monster, who should be grabbed by the hair and sacrificed to Poseidon. He will find his way back by winding the thread into a ball. By this time, two young men, disguised as girls, killed the guards of the women's quarters and freed the captives, and Theseus freed the rest of the young men. They pierced the bottoms of the Cretan ships to prevent the pursuit, and then together they leaned on the oars and slipped out into the open sea. Ariadne secretly fled with Theseus.
A few days later, having landed on the island of Naxos, Theseus left the sleeping Ariadne on the shore, and he sailed away. The motives for this action are variously explained. Some say that he left her because of a new lover named Egla, the daughter of Panopaeus, others - that he was afraid of the trouble that Ariadne's arrival in Athens could cause, others - that the god Dionysus, who fell in love with Ariadne, appeared to Theseus in a dream and demanded to give the girl to him. Be that as it may, but the priests of Dionysus in Athens confirm that when Ariadne discovered that she was left alone, abandoned on the island, she began to lament bitterly, cursing Theseus, for whom she left her parents and homeland. Then, to save Ariadne, the gentle and affectionate Dionysus appeared with his cheerful retinue of satyrs and maenads. He married her without delay, and she bore him many children.
The gods heard the curses of Ariadne, and theseus overtook her revenge. It is possible that he lost Ariadne, perhaps from joy at the sight of his native shore, but he forgot about his promise to his father to raise a white sail. Aegeus, who was watching the ship from the acropolis, saw a black sail and, out of grief, threw himself off a cliff into the sea, which has since been called the Aegean.
Further deeds of Theseus
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 renounce their independence, Theseus had to turn to each of them individually. Ordinary citizens and the poor were ready to recognize his authority, and he brought the rest into submission - some by persuasion, and some by force. Theseus established the Panathenaic Games in honor of the patroness of the city - the goddess Athena, making them available to all of Attica. He became the first Athenian king to mint money, and his coins had the image of a bull.
He also annexed Megara, previously owned by his uncle Nisus, to the Athenian kingdom, and also inherited Troezen after his grandfather Pittheus.
When, intoxicated by the victory over the seven leaders (epigons) who opposed Thebes, the Theban regent Creon refused to give the bodies of their loved ones to the wives and mothers of the dead Argossians, Theseus as a result suddenly attacked Thebes, captured them, imprisoned Creon, and handed over the bodies of the dead to their relatives, who set up a large funeral pyre. Earlier, Theseus granted Oedipus and his daughter Antigone asylum in Athens, and when people sent by Creon tried to force Oedipus to return to Thebes (the oracle predicted a special luck for the area where Oedipus would spend last years lives and dies), thwarted these attempts.
Theseus' closest friend was Pirithous, king of the Thessalian Lapiths. Pirithous received reports of Theseus' strength and courage, and he decided to test them by attacking Attica and stealing a herd of cows. When Theseus rushed in pursuit of the kidnappers, Pirithous boldly turned to face him - and they were so amazed by the beauty and courage of each other that they even forgot about the cattle, hugged and swore to each other in eternal friendship. Together they participated in the Calydonian hunt and together went on an expedition to the land of the Amazons, where they kidnapped their queen. Antiope. The Amazons were overjoyed at the arrival of so many beautiful and strong warriors. Antiope herself came to greet Theseus with gifts, but when she boarded the ship, her beauty went to his head, he suddenly raised the anchor and kidnapped her. However, it is unlikely that her fate was, as many believe, unfortunate, because she gave the city of Themiscyra on the River Thermodon to the possession of Theseus as proof of the feeling that he managed to kindle in her heart.
After a while, Antiope's sister Orithyia decided to take revenge on Theseus. She made an alliance with the Scythians and led a large Amazon army to Athens. The battle at the city walls lasted four months. Antiope, now the wife of Theseus, who bore him a son Hippolyta, fought heroically at his side, but was killed by an Amazon Molpadia, which Theseus subsequently killed. At that time, the Athenians for the first time repulsed the attack of strangers. The wounded Amazons who remained on the battlefield were sent to Chalkis for treatment. Orithia fled with a handful of her men to Megara, where she lived out the rest of her days.
When Pirithous married hippodamia, Theseus was the bridesmaid at the wedding. A myriad of guests were invited to the festive feast, including centaur neighbors. The centaurs, who previously did not know wine, but only sour milk, greedily began to drink it, without diluting it, out of ignorance, with water, and got so drunk that they began to grab the girls and women present. Theseus was the first to rush to the defense of the bride, whom the centaur tried to kidnap Eurytion. The ensuing fight continued until dark. Thus began a long feud between the centaurs and their neighbors the Lapiths, in which the centaurs were defeated, and Theseus drove them from their ancient hunting grounds on Mount Pelion.
Despite the failed alliance with Ariadne, Theseus married another daughter of Minos - Phaedre. Minos was no longer alive by this time, and this marriage cemented the friendship between Theseus and Deucalion, who inherited the Cretan throne. Phaedra bore her husband two sons - Acamantha and Demophon. It so happened that she passionately fell in love with her stepson Hippolytus and, rejected by him, hanged herself, leaving a note in which she accused him of monstrous attacks on her honor. Having received the note, Theseus cursed his son and ordered him to immediately leave Athens and never return, and then begged Poseidon to send a beast to Hippolytus. When Hippolytus rode along the shore, a giant wave hit the shore, a monster arose from its crest and rushed after the chariot; Ippolit, unable to cope with the team, crashed to death.
Elena's kidnapping. Theseus in the kingdom of Hades.
Around the same time, Hippodamia, the wife of Pirithous, died, and the two widowed heroes decided to marry the daughters of Zeus. They chose the Spartan princess Helen, sister of the Dioscuri, swearing to each other that if they get her, then let one of them get it by lot, and the loser they get some other daughter of Zeus, no matter what it threatens them. Together they kidnapped Helen while she was performing sacrifices at the Temple of Artemis in Sparta. Elena was then only twelve years old, and although she was already famous for her beauty, it was too early for her to marry; so Theseus sent her to the village of Afidna, punishing his friend Afidnu guard the girl day and night and keep her whereabouts secret. After that, the friends decided to turn to the oracle of Zeus, who was called to witness their oath, whom to choose as Pirithous's wife, and received an ironic answer: "Why not visit the kingdom of the dead and demand Persephone as a bride? She is the noblest of my daughters." Theseus was angry when Pirithous took this proposal seriously, but, bound by an oath, could not refuse.
Theseus and Pirithous descended into the underworld in a roundabout way through the crevices in the Laconian Tenar, and soon knocked on the doors of the palace of Hades. The lord of the realm of the dead calmly listened to their unprecedentedly brazen 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. Erinyes scourged them and tormented them with their teeth Kerberus, and Hades looked at all this and grinned grimly.
Four years later, Hercules, who came to the kingdom of Hades, in order, at the behest of Eurystheus, to pick up Cerberus, recognized them when they silently held out their hands to him, praying for help. Persephone graciously allowed Hercules to free her hapless kidnappers and take them with him if only he could. Hercules tore Theseus off the stone and returned him to earth, but all attempts to free Pirithous were unsuccessful, because he was a mere mortal, he did not have the blood of the gods, which helped Theseus overcome captivity, and besides, it was Pirithous who was the instigator of this blasphemous enterprise , and Hercules was forced to retreat.
Theseus in exile. Death of a hero.
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 Helen was hiding, and, together with her sister, took Ephra, Theseus' mother, to Sparta as a slave. Seized power in Athens 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 named Theseus. Acamant and Demophon, the sons of Theseus, were forced to flee from Athens and found shelter in Euboea near Elefenor. Too weakened after suffering torments, Theseus did not have the strength to fight Menestheus for power and went into exile. He landed on the island of Skyros, where he owned a piece of land. The local king Lycomedes received the noble guest with a splendor worthy of his fame and origin. After 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 treacherously pushed him down. The reason for the vile act of Lycomedes was his desire to please his friend Menestheus, who usurped the Athenian throne after the expulsion of Theseus, as well as the fear that Theseus might seize power on the island. Some say that Lycomedes was simply accustomed to consider the piece of land that belonged to Theseus to be his. One way or another, but Lycomedes presented the whole thing as if Theseus had fallen drunk, because he drank too much before the walk.
Menestheus, whose power was no longer threatened, became one of Helen's suitors and, at the head of the Athenian army, went near Troy, where he died. The throne was inherited by Demophon, the son of Theseus, who returned from Troy with his grandmother Ephra. Around 475 BC the Athenian commander Kimon, having captured Skyros, found the remains of Theseus, which were reverently transported to Athens and placed in a specially built temple of the hero, who, as the Athenians believed, helped them defeat the Persian army in the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. e.
