Cla 204s
III.7
– Theseus and the Myths of
CECROPS, ERICHTHONIUS, and the DAUGHTERS of CECROPS
- 3 conflicting claims of origin – descent from a mortal, autochthonous, descent from Athena
- compromise – that descended from autochthonous Cecrops (snake below waist)
- golden age of civilization, contest between Poseidon and Athena for patronage of city
ERICHTHONIUS – Hephaestus ejaculated on Athena’s leg, wiped off with wool, thrown
on the ground, “man of wool and earth”, put in basket and given to daughters of Cecrops
- Aglaurus (‘shining’), Herse (‘dew’), and Pandrosus (‘all-dew’) forbidden to look in basket
- Pandrosus obeyed but the other two looked, went insane and jumped off Acropolis
- Myth reflects the ritual of ARREPHORIA (‘dew-carriers’) an annual fertility rite
- 2 virgins live on Acropolis for a year weaving a robe for wooden statue of Athena
- take baskets on their head down secret staircase and climb back with mysterious basket
- myth reflects death of sexual innocence: stay night in grove of Aphrodite
- snake implies phallus, loss of virginity represents the promise of new life
PROCRIS and CEPHALUS – harm of uncontrolled sexual passion to guilty and innocent
- inconsistent version in which Aglaurus and Herse still alive.
- Hermes in love with Herse, bribes Aglaurus but turns her to stone when she interferes
- Hermes + Herse = Cephalus. Cephalus carried away by Eos (dawn) father of Phaëthon
- Cephalus
returns to
- Cephalus suspicious of happiness, disguises himself and repeatedly bribes Procris for sex
- Procris,
ashamed, flees to
- Minos gives her the magic dog LAELAPS and a spear that never misses its target
- Procris, afraid
of Minos’ wife Pasiphaë
returns to
- Cephalus covets her dog and spear – she offers to give them to him in return for sex
- after Cephalus convicted of the same weakness the couple is happily reunited.
- Procris jealous that Cephalus may still be seeing Eos because he goes hunting every day
- misunderstanding of Aura (name) and aura (breeze) [c.f. Gail/gale]
- Procris follows and hides in a bush. Realises innocence, rustles leaves, killed by spear
- Cephalus exiled
to
- Zeus, impatient at the contradiction, turns them both into stone
PROCNE and
TEREUS – After Erichthonius died his son Pandion became king of
- Pandion had 2 daughters – Procne and Philomela.
- war with
- Procne asks to have her sister Philomela visit.
- Tereus rapes Philomela, cuts out her tongue, and imprisons her in a hunting lodge
- Philomela weaves a tapestry depicting the crimes of Tereus and sends it to Procne
- Procne disguises herself as a Bacchanal and breaks Philomela out of prison
- the sisters plot revenge. Procne kills her son Itys and serves him to Tereus
- Metamorphosis – transformation into birds: nightingale, swallow, and hoopoe
OVID’S USE of MYTH – highly rhetorical, descriptions of feelings, melodramatic
- Procris and Cephalus deep in love yet destroyed by suspicion (lovers must trust)
- Procne, Tereus, and Philomela shows the grim result of yielding to irrational desires
THESEUS
BIRTH, CHILDHOOD, and 6 LABOURS
- Kings of
- Children of Erechtheus: Cecrops II, Procris, Orithyia (gave birth to Boreads III.4)
- Pandion II + Creusa = Aegeus and Pallas. Forced to move to
- rival sons
retake
- Aegeus went to
- “do not open
the mouth of the swelling wineskin, until you return to
- Pittheus understood and sent in his daughter AETHRA to seduce him at night
- Aethra had a dream to sacrifice to Poseidon. Sex with mortal and god (1 son - no twins)
- Aegeus understood and told her to raise the child. Hid sword and sandals under a stone
- the son, when strong enough to lift the stone, was to bring
the objects to
- dangerous route to
- PERIPHETES – ‘the clubber’. Theseus disarmed him and killed him
- SINIS – ‘the pine bender’. Tied travelers to a tree and flung them in the air (or 2 trees)
- CROMMYONIAN SOW – Theseus hunted and killed an enormous pig
- SCIRON – Forced travellers to wash his feet and kicked them into the sea, eaten by turtle
- CERCYON – the wrestler. Crushed by Theseus
- PROCRUSTES – made travellers fit his bed(s) – either stretch or chop legs off.
ARRIVAL at
- arrives as a hero, but not recognised by Aegeus. Medea saw him as a threat to her child
- Aegeus sent Theseus after the Marathonian Bull. Killed and sacrificed to Apollo
- Medea attempted to poison Theseus but Aegeus recognised his sword. Medea fled (Medes)
- 50 sons of Pallas attempt to ambush Theseus, but he killed them all instead
- Theseus travelled to
- forgot to change the sails on his return journey, so Aegeus jumped off a cliff
- Theseus as king made democratic political reforms.
- visited the Amazons, well-received but abducted queen Antiope (or Hippolyta).
- AMAZONOMACHY
– Amazons invaded
AMAZONS – recurring figures fought Theseus, Bellerophon, Heracles, Achilles, Dionysus.
- Hated men, used only as menial slaves and to procreate. Exposed male babies to die
- false etymology ‘a-mazon’ led to belief that they cut off their right breast for archery
- simply a good example of ‘mythical inversion’ [c.f. Freud – ‘displacement’]
- embody the fears and suspicions towards women – but on a societal level
- came to represent
HIPPOLYTUS – son of Theseus and Hippolyta (also a famous tragedy by Euripides)
- Theseus took a
new wife Phaedra (from
- Hippolytus no sex, only hunt. Aphrodite takes revenge by making step-mother fall in love
- Phaedra confesses to her nurse. Nurse attempts to arrange an affair
- Hippolytus rejects, Phaedra commits suicide, note that Hippolytus attempted to rape her
- Theseus believes note, exiles and curses Hippolytus, horses frightened by Poseidon
FOLKTALE of POTIPHAR’S WIFE – very old motif, many cultures, different applications
- a wife seduces an innocent man. She is rejected but claims that he attempted to force her
-
- Egyptian “Story of the Two Brothers” (Anubis and Bata political myth)
- Biblical version shows Yahweh protecting his people (religious myth)
- Bellerophon and wife of Proeteus – exile, labours, Chimaera, Amazons (heroic myth)
- Euripdes inverts expectations and shows the women as sympathetic, while Hippolytus is
intolerant. Morality play – unnatural and dangerous to live without sex
THESEUS and PIRITHOÜS – Pirithoüs son of Ixion, king of Lapiths
- tried to steal Theseus’ cattle. Caught and friendship develops (c.f. Gilgamesh + Enkidu)
- Pirithoüs marries Hippodamia. Centaurs invited, but drank too much wine.
- after wives dead the friends decide to help each other remarry. Want daughters of Zeus
- abduct Helen while performing ritual dance to Artemis but too young so left with Aethra
- Pirithoüs wanted Persephone. Go to Hades. Received well but stuck to chairs
- Heracles tore Theseus off his chair but much of his backside was ripped off
DEATH of THESEUS
- Dioscuri (Castor and Polydeuces) took Helen and Theseus’ mother Aethra
- demagogue Menestheus denounced Theseus while he was trapped in the underworld
- after he returned he fled to
- ignoble and treacherous death
MYTH and PROPAGANDA
- 5th
century Theseus official hero of
- Peisistratus (ruled 561-527) used Theseus myths for propaganda purposes
- Panathenaic games, and coinage established by Peisistratus but attributed to Theseus
- Peisistratus returned from exile from
- labours against bandits because Hippias had cleared the gulf of pirates
- 490 ghost of
Theseus seen before the battle of
- Athenian general Cimon found the bones of Theseus
-
Peloponnesian war:
- traditional tales retold to achieve goal of propaganda
SUMMARY
- Cecrops, Erichthonius - 3 differing myths of origin
- daughters of Cecrops: Aglaurus, Herse, Pandrosus - Arrephoria
- Procris and Cephalus, Procne and Tereus
- Theseus – Labours, Minotaur, Amazonomachy, Centauromachy
- Hippolytus – Folktale of Potiphar’s Wife
- Theseus myth as Athenian Propaganda