Legendary Passages - Greek/Roman Myths
Legendary Passages
Short summaries and readings of classical mythology (Hercules, Atlantis, Trojan War, etc.) Email: [email protected]
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LP0110 plLoT17 The Black Sail
Legendary Passages - Greek/Roman Myths
09/30/19 • -1 min
Legendary Passages #0110,
Plutarch's Life of Theseus,
Section [XVII.],
The Black Sail.
Previously, the time had come for the third tribute of Athenian youths to be sent to Crete, with no hope of return. In this passage are many different versions of their adventures, not one ending happily ever after.
First of all, Theseus promised his father that if they returned safe and sound, he would replace the ship's black sail with a white one. After prayers and sacrifices to Aphrodite by the sea shore, they set sail for Crete.
Theseus competed in games against Minos' general named Taurus, and then it was love at first sight for Princess Ariadne. She gave Theseus the thread to find his way out of the Labyrinth, and after crippling the Cretan fleet they escaped on the tribute ship.
After the ship made landfall on the island of Naxos, it departed again without Princess Ariadne. Some say she she married the god Dionysus; others that Theseus left her for another woman and she died of grief. The worst story was that she went ashore while sick and the tides pushed the ship out to sea, but by the time Theseus returned to her side, she had died in childbirth.
Nevertheless, when they sailed back home to Athens, Theseus had forgotten to take down the black sail. So then King Aegeus, thinking his son and heir dead at the hands of the Minotaur, leapt off the cliff into the sea that bears his name.
The Black Sail
a Legendary Passage from,
Bernadotte Perrin translating,
Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus,
Life of Theseus,
Sections [XVII.] - [XXII.]
https://www.theoi.com/Text/PlutarchTheseus.html
On the two former occasions, then, no hope of safety was entertained, and therefore they sent the ship with a black sail, convinced that their youth were going to certain destruction; but now Theseus encouraged his father and loudly boasted that he would master the Minotaur, so that he gave the pilot another sail, a white one, ordering him, if he returned with Theseus safe, to hoist the white sail, but otherwise to sail with the black one, and so indicate the affliction.
Simonides, however, says that the sail given by Aegeus was not white, but “a scarlet sail dyed with the tender flower of luxuriant holm-oak,” and that he made this a token of their safety. Moreover, the pilot of the ship was Phereclus, son of Amarsyas, as Simonides says; but Philochorus says that Theseus got from Scirus of Salamis Nausithous for his pilot, and Phaeax for his look-out man, the Athenians at that time not yet being addicted to the sea, and that Scirus did him this favour because one of the chosen youths, Menesthes, was his daughter's son. And there is evidence for this in the memorial chapels for Nausithous and Phaeax which Theseus built at Phalerum near the temple of Scirus, and they say that the festival of the Cybernesia, or Pilot's Festival, is celebrated in their honor.
XVIII. When the lot was cast, Theseus took those upon whom it fell from the prytaneium and went to the Delphinium, where he dedicated to Apollo in their behalf his suppliant's badge. This was a bough from the sacred olive-tree, wreathed with white wool. Having made his vows and prayers, he went down to the sea on the sixth day of the month Munychion, on which day even now the Athenians still send their maidens to the Delphinium to propitiate the god. And it is reported that the god at Delphi commanded him in an oracle to make Aphrodite his guide, and invite her to attend him on his journey, and that as he sacrificed the usual she-goat to her by the sea-shore, it became a he-goat (tragos) all at once, for which reason the goddess has the surname Epitragia.
XIX. When he reached Crete on his voyage, most historians and poets tell us that he got from Ariadne, who had fallen in love with him, the famous thread, and that having been instructed by her how to make his way through the intricacies of the Labyrinth, he slew the Minotaur and sailed off with Ariadne and the youths. And Pherecydes says that Theseus also staved in the bottoms of the Cretan ships, thus depriving them of the power to pursue. And Demon says also that Taurus, the general of Minos, was killed in a naval battle in the harbor as Theseus was sailing out. But as Philochorus tells the story, Minos was holding the funeral games, and Taurus was expected to conquer all his competitors in them, as he had done before, and was grudged his success. For his disposition made his power hateful, and he was accused of too great intimacy with Pasiphae. Therefore when Theseus asked the privilege of entering the lists, it was granted him by Minos. And since it was the custom in Crete for women to view the games, Ariadne was present, and was smitten with the appearance of Theseus, as well as filled with admiration for his athletic prowess,...
Plutarch's Life of Theseus,
Section [XVII.],
The Black Sail.
Previously, the time had come for the third tribute of Athenian youths to be sent to Crete, with no hope of return. In this passage are many different versions of their adventures, not one ending happily ever after.
First of all, Theseus promised his father that if they returned safe and sound, he would replace the ship's black sail with a white one. After prayers and sacrifices to Aphrodite by the sea shore, they set sail for Crete.
Theseus competed in games against Minos' general named Taurus, and then it was love at first sight for Princess Ariadne. She gave Theseus the thread to find his way out of the Labyrinth, and after crippling the Cretan fleet they escaped on the tribute ship.
After the ship made landfall on the island of Naxos, it departed again without Princess Ariadne. Some say she she married the god Dionysus; others that Theseus left her for another woman and she died of grief. The worst story was that she went ashore while sick and the tides pushed the ship out to sea, but by the time Theseus returned to her side, she had died in childbirth.
Nevertheless, when they sailed back home to Athens, Theseus had forgotten to take down the black sail. So then King Aegeus, thinking his son and heir dead at the hands of the Minotaur, leapt off the cliff into the sea that bears his name.
The Black Sail
a Legendary Passage from,
Bernadotte Perrin translating,
Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus,
Life of Theseus,
Sections [XVII.] - [XXII.]
https://www.theoi.com/Text/PlutarchTheseus.html
On the two former occasions, then, no hope of safety was entertained, and therefore they sent the ship with a black sail, convinced that their youth were going to certain destruction; but now Theseus encouraged his father and loudly boasted that he would master the Minotaur, so that he gave the pilot another sail, a white one, ordering him, if he returned with Theseus safe, to hoist the white sail, but otherwise to sail with the black one, and so indicate the affliction.
Simonides, however, says that the sail given by Aegeus was not white, but “a scarlet sail dyed with the tender flower of luxuriant holm-oak,” and that he made this a token of their safety. Moreover, the pilot of the ship was Phereclus, son of Amarsyas, as Simonides says; but Philochorus says that Theseus got from Scirus of Salamis Nausithous for his pilot, and Phaeax for his look-out man, the Athenians at that time not yet being addicted to the sea, and that Scirus did him this favour because one of the chosen youths, Menesthes, was his daughter's son. And there is evidence for this in the memorial chapels for Nausithous and Phaeax which Theseus built at Phalerum near the temple of Scirus, and they say that the festival of the Cybernesia, or Pilot's Festival, is celebrated in their honor.
XVIII. When the lot was cast, Theseus took those upon whom it fell from the prytaneium and went to the Delphinium, where he dedicated to Apollo in their behalf his suppliant's badge. This was a bough from the sacred olive-tree, wreathed with white wool. Having made his vows and prayers, he went down to the sea on the sixth day of the month Munychion, on which day even now the Athenians still send their maidens to the Delphinium to propitiate the god. And it is reported that the god at Delphi commanded him in an oracle to make Aphrodite his guide, and invite her to attend him on his journey, and that as he sacrificed the usual she-goat to her by the sea-shore, it became a he-goat (tragos) all at once, for which reason the goddess has the surname Epitragia.
XIX. When he reached Crete on his voyage, most historians and poets tell us that he got from Ariadne, who had fallen in love with him, the famous thread, and that having been instructed by her how to make his way through the intricacies of the Labyrinth, he slew the Minotaur and sailed off with Ariadne and the youths. And Pherecydes says that Theseus also staved in the bottoms of the Cretan ships, thus depriving them of the power to pursue. And Demon says also that Taurus, the general of Minos, was killed in a naval battle in the harbor as Theseus was sailing out. But as Philochorus tells the story, Minos was holding the funeral games, and Taurus was expected to conquer all his competitors in them, as he had done before, and was grudged his success. For his disposition made his power hateful, and he was accused of too great intimacy with Pasiphae. Therefore when Theseus asked the privilege of entering the lists, it was granted him by Minos. And since it was the custom in Crete for women to view the games, Ariadne was present, and was smitten with the appearance of Theseus, as well as filled with admiration for his athletic prowess,...
LP0108 pDoG1-26-4 Marathonian Bull
Legendary Passages - Greek/Roman Myths
07/01/19 • -1 min
Legendary Passages #0108,
Pausanias' Description of Greece,
Book [1.26.4],
Marathonian Bull.
Previously, Theseus found his father's sword and sandals, killed the Marathonian Bull, and volunteered for the Tribute of Minos. In this passage we hear more of those stories, as well as exploring the Acropolis of Athens.
After the Erectheum and the image of Athena is a golden lamp that burns for an entire year without being refilled. After the Temple of Athena, Pausanias describes the strange ritual of the Bearers of the Sacred Offerings. Next are statues of Tolmides, a burned Athena, and Cycnus fighting Heracles.
Many legends of Theseus are chronicled here. When Heracles was visiting Troezen and set aside his lion skin, a seven-year-old Theseus attacked it with an axe. When he was sixteen, he rolled away the rock and found his father's tokens. After Heracles had conquered the Cretan Bull, it was set loose on the mainland, killing the son of Minos before being sacrificed by Theseus. Minos went to war with Athens, and ultimately demanded seven girls and seven boys to be taken to the Minotaur in the Labyrinth at Knossos.
Marathonian Bull,
a Legendary Passage from,
W. H. S. Jones translating,
Pausanias,
Description of Greece,
Book [1.26.4] - [1.27.10].
https://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias1B.html#3
Endoeus was an Athenian by birth and a pupil of Daedalus, who also, when Daedalus was in exile because of the death of Talos, followed him to Crete. Made by him is a statue of Athena seated, with an inscription that Callias dedicated the image, but Endoeus made it.
There is also a building called the Erechtheum. Before the entrance is an altar of Zeus the Most High, on which they never sacrifice a living creature but offer cakes, not being wont to use any wine either. Inside the entrance are altars, one to Poseidon, on which in obedience to an oracle they sacrifice also to Erechtheus, the second to the hero Butes, and the third to Hephaestus. On the walls are paintings representing members of the clan Butadae; there is also inside – the building is double – sea-water in a cistern. This is no great marvel, for other inland regions have similar wells, in particular Aphrodisias in Caria. But this cistern is remarkable for the noise of waves it sends forth when a south wind blows. On the rock is the outline of a trident. Legend says that these appeared as evidence in support of Poseidon's claim to the land.
Both the city and the whole of the land are alike sacred to Athena; for even those who in their parishes have an established worship of other gods nevertheless hold Athena in honor. But the most holy symbol, that was so considered by all many years before the unification of the parishes, is the image of Athena which is on what is now called the Acropolis, but in early days the Polis (City). A legend concerning it says that it fell from heaven; whether this is true or not I shall not discuss.
A golden lamp for the goddess was made by Callimachus.
Having filled the lamp with oil, they wait until the same day next year, and the oil is sufficient for the lamp during the interval, although it is alight both day and night. The wick in it is of Carpasian flax, the only kind of flax which is fire-proof, and a bronze palm above the lamp reaches to the roof and draws off the smoke. The Callimachus who made the lamp, although not of the first rank of artists, was yet of unparalleled cleverness, so that he was the first to drill holes through stones, and gave himself the title of Refiner of Art, or perhaps others gave the title and he adopted it as his.
XXVII. In the temple of Athena Polias (Of the City) is a wooden Hermes, said to have been dedicated by Cecrops, but not visible because of myrtle boughs. The votive offerings worth noting are, of the old ones, a folding chair made by Daedalus, Persian spoils, namely the breastplate of Masistius, who commanded the cavalry at Plataea, and a scimitar said to have belonged to Mardonius. Now Masistius I know was killed by the Athenian cavalry. But Mardonius was opposed by the Lacedaemonians and was killed by a Spartan; so the Athenians could not have taken the scimitar to begin with, and furthermore the Lacedaemonians would scarcely have suffered them to carry it off.
About the olive they have nothing to say except that it was testimony the goddess produced when she contended for their land. Legend also says that when the Persians fired Athens the olive was burnt down, but on the very day it was burnt it grew again to the height of two cubits.
Adjoining the temple of Athena is the temple of Pandrosus, the only one of the sisters to be faithful to the trust.
I was much amazed at something which is not generally known, and so I will describe the circumstances. Two mai...
Pausanias' Description of Greece,
Book [1.26.4],
Marathonian Bull.
Previously, Theseus found his father's sword and sandals, killed the Marathonian Bull, and volunteered for the Tribute of Minos. In this passage we hear more of those stories, as well as exploring the Acropolis of Athens.
After the Erectheum and the image of Athena is a golden lamp that burns for an entire year without being refilled. After the Temple of Athena, Pausanias describes the strange ritual of the Bearers of the Sacred Offerings. Next are statues of Tolmides, a burned Athena, and Cycnus fighting Heracles.
Many legends of Theseus are chronicled here. When Heracles was visiting Troezen and set aside his lion skin, a seven-year-old Theseus attacked it with an axe. When he was sixteen, he rolled away the rock and found his father's tokens. After Heracles had conquered the Cretan Bull, it was set loose on the mainland, killing the son of Minos before being sacrificed by Theseus. Minos went to war with Athens, and ultimately demanded seven girls and seven boys to be taken to the Minotaur in the Labyrinth at Knossos.
Marathonian Bull,
a Legendary Passage from,
W. H. S. Jones translating,
Pausanias,
Description of Greece,
Book [1.26.4] - [1.27.10].
https://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias1B.html#3
Endoeus was an Athenian by birth and a pupil of Daedalus, who also, when Daedalus was in exile because of the death of Talos, followed him to Crete. Made by him is a statue of Athena seated, with an inscription that Callias dedicated the image, but Endoeus made it.
There is also a building called the Erechtheum. Before the entrance is an altar of Zeus the Most High, on which they never sacrifice a living creature but offer cakes, not being wont to use any wine either. Inside the entrance are altars, one to Poseidon, on which in obedience to an oracle they sacrifice also to Erechtheus, the second to the hero Butes, and the third to Hephaestus. On the walls are paintings representing members of the clan Butadae; there is also inside – the building is double – sea-water in a cistern. This is no great marvel, for other inland regions have similar wells, in particular Aphrodisias in Caria. But this cistern is remarkable for the noise of waves it sends forth when a south wind blows. On the rock is the outline of a trident. Legend says that these appeared as evidence in support of Poseidon's claim to the land.
Both the city and the whole of the land are alike sacred to Athena; for even those who in their parishes have an established worship of other gods nevertheless hold Athena in honor. But the most holy symbol, that was so considered by all many years before the unification of the parishes, is the image of Athena which is on what is now called the Acropolis, but in early days the Polis (City). A legend concerning it says that it fell from heaven; whether this is true or not I shall not discuss.
A golden lamp for the goddess was made by Callimachus.
Having filled the lamp with oil, they wait until the same day next year, and the oil is sufficient for the lamp during the interval, although it is alight both day and night. The wick in it is of Carpasian flax, the only kind of flax which is fire-proof, and a bronze palm above the lamp reaches to the roof and draws off the smoke. The Callimachus who made the lamp, although not of the first rank of artists, was yet of unparalleled cleverness, so that he was the first to drill holes through stones, and gave himself the title of Refiner of Art, or perhaps others gave the title and he adopted it as his.
XXVII. In the temple of Athena Polias (Of the City) is a wooden Hermes, said to have been dedicated by Cecrops, but not visible because of myrtle boughs. The votive offerings worth noting are, of the old ones, a folding chair made by Daedalus, Persian spoils, namely the breastplate of Masistius, who commanded the cavalry at Plataea, and a scimitar said to have belonged to Mardonius. Now Masistius I know was killed by the Athenian cavalry. But Mardonius was opposed by the Lacedaemonians and was killed by a Spartan; so the Athenians could not have taken the scimitar to begin with, and furthermore the Lacedaemonians would scarcely have suffered them to carry it off.
About the olive they have nothing to say except that it was testimony the goddess produced when she contended for their land. Legend also says that when the Persians fired Athens the olive was burnt down, but on the very day it was burnt it grew again to the height of two cubits.
Adjoining the temple of Athena is the temple of Pandrosus, the only one of the sisters to be faithful to the trust.
I was much amazed at something which is not generally known, and so I will describe the circumstances. Two mai...
LP0104 plLoT6 Labors of Theseus
Legendary Passages - Greek/Roman Myths
04/08/19 • -1 min
Legendary Passages #0104,
Plutarch's Life of Theseus,
Section [VI.],
Labors of Theseus.
Previously, Theseus learned that he was the son of Aegeus, king of Athens. In this passage, Theseus makes his way to Athens to be recognized as his father's heir.
Theseus retrieved his father's sword and sandals from under a boulder, but then refused to sail to Athens, wanting to go by land instead. His grandfather told him of the terrible bandits and beasts that lay on the road around the Saronic Gulf, but Theseus wanted to earn some glory for himself in the manner of his cousin Heracles.
The first bandit was the Club-Bearer Periphetes; Theseus killed him and kept the club thereafter. Second was the Pine-Bender Sinis; his daughter Perigune bore Theseus a son named Melanippus. Third was the Crommyonian Sow called Phaea, either a gigantic pig or a monstrous lady. Fourth may have been Sciron of Megara, who was either a bandit with dirty feet, or an enemy general killed in war sometime later. After killing the Wrestler Cercyon, Theseus slew Damastes via his own Procrustean Bed.
Finally, after being purified of bloodshed, Theseus arrived in Athens to discover that Aegeus had married the sorceress Medea. She planned to poison Theseus' wine, but when he pulled out his sword to carve meat, Aegeus recognized it and pushed the goblet away from his son's lips. Because of his deeds and valor, when Aegeus announced that Theseus was his heir, the citizens of Athens received him gladly.
Labors of Theseus,
a Legendary Passage from,
Bernadotte Perrin translating,
Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus,
Life of Theseus,
Sections [VI.] - [XII.]
https://www.theoi.com/Text/PlutarchTheseus.html
Theseus put his shoulder to the rock and easily raised it up, but he refused to make his journey by sea, although safety lay in that course, and his grandfather and his mother begged him to take it. For it was difficult to make the journey to Athens by land, since no part of it was clear nor yet without peril from robbers and miscreants.
For verily that age produced men who, in work of hand and speed of foot and vigor of body, were extraordinary and indefatigable, but they applied their powers to nothing that was fitting or useful. Nay rather, they exulted in monstrous insolence, and reaped from their strength a harvest of cruelty and bitterness, mastering and forcing and destroying everything that came in their path. And as for reverence and righteousness, justice and humanity, they thought that most men praised these qualities for lack of courage to do wrong and for fear of being wronged, and considered them no concern of men who were strong enough to get the upper hand. Some of these creatures Heracles cut off and destroyed as he went about, but some escaped his notice as he passed by, crouching down and shrinking back, and were overlooked in their abjectness. And when Heracles met with calamity and, after the slaying of Iphitus, removed into Lydia and for a long time did slave's service there in the house of Omphale, then Lydia indeed obtained great peace and security; but in the regions of Hellas the old villainies burst forth and broke out anew, there being none to rebuke and none to restrain them.
The journey was therefore a perilous one for travellers by land from Peloponnesus to Athens, and Pittheus, by describing each of the miscreants at length, what sort of a monster he was, and what deeds he wrought upon strangers, tried to persuade Theseus to make his journey by sea. But he, as it would seem, had long since been secretly fired by the glorious valor of Heracles, and made the greatest account of that hero, and was a most eager listener to those who told what manner of man he was, and above all to those who had seen him and been present at some deed or speech of his. And it is altogether plain that he then experienced what Themistocles many generations afterwards experienced, when he said that he could not sleep for the trophy of Miltiades. In like manner Theseus admired the valor of Heracles, until by night his dreams were of the hero's achievements, and by day his ardor led him along and spurred him on in his purpose to achieve the like.
VII. And besides, they were kinsmen, being sons of cousins-german. For Aethra was daughter of Pittheus, as Alcmene was of Lysidice, and Lysidice and Pittheus were brother and sister, children of Hippodameia and Pelops. Accordingly, he thought it a dreadful and unendurable thing that his famous cousin should go out against the wicked everywhere and purge land and sea of them, while he himself ran away from the struggles which lay in his path, disgracing his reputed father by journeying like a fugitive over the sea, and bringing to his real father as proofs of his birth only sandals and a sword unstained with blood, ...
Plutarch's Life of Theseus,
Section [VI.],
Labors of Theseus.
Previously, Theseus learned that he was the son of Aegeus, king of Athens. In this passage, Theseus makes his way to Athens to be recognized as his father's heir.
Theseus retrieved his father's sword and sandals from under a boulder, but then refused to sail to Athens, wanting to go by land instead. His grandfather told him of the terrible bandits and beasts that lay on the road around the Saronic Gulf, but Theseus wanted to earn some glory for himself in the manner of his cousin Heracles.
The first bandit was the Club-Bearer Periphetes; Theseus killed him and kept the club thereafter. Second was the Pine-Bender Sinis; his daughter Perigune bore Theseus a son named Melanippus. Third was the Crommyonian Sow called Phaea, either a gigantic pig or a monstrous lady. Fourth may have been Sciron of Megara, who was either a bandit with dirty feet, or an enemy general killed in war sometime later. After killing the Wrestler Cercyon, Theseus slew Damastes via his own Procrustean Bed.
Finally, after being purified of bloodshed, Theseus arrived in Athens to discover that Aegeus had married the sorceress Medea. She planned to poison Theseus' wine, but when he pulled out his sword to carve meat, Aegeus recognized it and pushed the goblet away from his son's lips. Because of his deeds and valor, when Aegeus announced that Theseus was his heir, the citizens of Athens received him gladly.
Labors of Theseus,
a Legendary Passage from,
Bernadotte Perrin translating,
Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus,
Life of Theseus,
Sections [VI.] - [XII.]
https://www.theoi.com/Text/PlutarchTheseus.html
Theseus put his shoulder to the rock and easily raised it up, but he refused to make his journey by sea, although safety lay in that course, and his grandfather and his mother begged him to take it. For it was difficult to make the journey to Athens by land, since no part of it was clear nor yet without peril from robbers and miscreants.
For verily that age produced men who, in work of hand and speed of foot and vigor of body, were extraordinary and indefatigable, but they applied their powers to nothing that was fitting or useful. Nay rather, they exulted in monstrous insolence, and reaped from their strength a harvest of cruelty and bitterness, mastering and forcing and destroying everything that came in their path. And as for reverence and righteousness, justice and humanity, they thought that most men praised these qualities for lack of courage to do wrong and for fear of being wronged, and considered them no concern of men who were strong enough to get the upper hand. Some of these creatures Heracles cut off and destroyed as he went about, but some escaped his notice as he passed by, crouching down and shrinking back, and were overlooked in their abjectness. And when Heracles met with calamity and, after the slaying of Iphitus, removed into Lydia and for a long time did slave's service there in the house of Omphale, then Lydia indeed obtained great peace and security; but in the regions of Hellas the old villainies burst forth and broke out anew, there being none to rebuke and none to restrain them.
The journey was therefore a perilous one for travellers by land from Peloponnesus to Athens, and Pittheus, by describing each of the miscreants at length, what sort of a monster he was, and what deeds he wrought upon strangers, tried to persuade Theseus to make his journey by sea. But he, as it would seem, had long since been secretly fired by the glorious valor of Heracles, and made the greatest account of that hero, and was a most eager listener to those who told what manner of man he was, and above all to those who had seen him and been present at some deed or speech of his. And it is altogether plain that he then experienced what Themistocles many generations afterwards experienced, when he said that he could not sleep for the trophy of Miltiades. In like manner Theseus admired the valor of Heracles, until by night his dreams were of the hero's achievements, and by day his ardor led him along and spurred him on in his purpose to achieve the like.
VII. And besides, they were kinsmen, being sons of cousins-german. For Aethra was daughter of Pittheus, as Alcmene was of Lysidice, and Lysidice and Pittheus were brother and sister, children of Hippodameia and Pelops. Accordingly, he thought it a dreadful and unendurable thing that his famous cousin should go out against the wicked everywhere and purge land and sea of them, while he himself ran away from the struggles which lay in his path, disgracing his reputed father by journeying like a fugitive over the sea, and bringing to his real father as proofs of his birth only sandals and a sword unstained with blood, ...
LP0103 plLoT1 The Parallel Lives
Legendary Passages - Greek/Roman Myths
03/27/19 • -1 min
Legendary Passages #0103,
Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus,
Life of Theseus [I. - VI.]
The Parallel Lives.
This passage begins Plutarch's comparison between the Life of Theseus and the Life of Romulus, founder of Rome.
There are a few notable parallels, including questionable or divine parentage, strength and cunning, foundation of empires, terrible relationships, and feuds with family and countrymen.
The story of Theseus began with wise Pittheus, son of Pelops, and King Aegeus, descendant of Erectheus. Aegeus went to an oracle to find out how to become a father, and then went to Pittheus to understand the strange reply. After a night of wine and romance, Aegeus suspected he had gotten Pittheus' daughter Aethra with child. He hid his sword and sandals under a rock for his son to retrieve when he came of age.
Aethra had a son named Theseus, whose father was rumored to be the sea god Poseidon, and he was raised by his grandfather Pittheus. After visiting Delphi and sacrificing some of his hair to Apollo, Aethra told Theseus to retrieve his father's tokens and set out for the city of Athens.
The Parallel Lives,
a Legendary Passage from,
Bernadotte Perrin translating,
Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus,
Life of Theseus,
[I. - VI.]
https://www.theoi.com/Text/PlutarchTheseus.html
I. Just as geographers, O Socius Senecio, crowd on to the outer edges of their maps the parts of the earth which elude their knowledge, with explanatory notes that “What lies beyond is sandy desert without water and full of wild beasts,” or “blind marsh,” or “Scythian cold,” or “frozen sea,” so in the writing of my Parallel Lives, now that I have traversed those periods of time which are accessible to probable reasoning and which afford basis for a history dealing with facts, I might well say of the earlier periods “What lies beyond is full of marvels and unreality, a land of poets and fabulists, of doubt and obscurity.” But after publishing my account of Lycurgus the lawgiver and Numa the king, I thought I might not unreasonably go back still farther to Romulus, now that my history had brought me near his times. And as I asked myself,
"With such a warrior” (as Aeschylus says) “who will dare to fight?
"Whom shall I set against him? Who is competent?”
it seemed to me that I must make the founder of lovely and famous Athens the counterpart and parallel to the father of invincible and glorious Rome. May I therefore succeed in purifying Fable, making her submit to reason and take on the semblance of History. But where she obstinately disdains to make herself credible, and refuses to admit any element of probability, I shall pray for kindly readers, and such as receive with indulgence the tales of antiquity.
II. It seemed to me, then, that many resemblances made Theseus a fit parallel to Romulus. For both were of uncertain and obscure parentage, and got the reputation of descent from gods;
"Both were also warriors,
as surely the whole world knoweth,”
and with their strength, combined sagacity. Of the world's two most illustrious cities, moreover, Rome and Athens, Romulus founded the one, and Theseus made a metropolis of the other, and each resorted to the rape of women. Besides, neither escaped domestic misfortunes and the resentful anger of kindred, but even in their last days both are said to have come into collision with their own fellow-citizens, if there is any aid to the truth in what seems to have been told with the least poetic exaggeration.
III. The lineage of Theseus, on the father's side, goes back to Erechtheus and the first children of the soil; on the mother's side, to Pelops. For Pelops was the strongest of the kings in Peloponnesus quite as much on account of the number of his children as the amount of his wealth. He gave many daughters in marriage to men of highest rank, and scattered many sons among the cities as their rulers. One of these, named Pittheus, the grandfather of Theseus, founded the little city of Troezen, and had the highest repute as a man versed in the lore of his times and of the greatest wisdom. Now the wisdom of that day had some such form and force as that for which Hesiod was famous, especially in the sententious maxims of his Works and Days. One of these maxims is ascribed to Pittheus, namely
"Payment pledged to a man who is dear
must be ample and certain."
At any rate, this is what Aristotle the philosopher says, and Euripides, when he has Hippolytus addressed as “nursling of the pure and holy Pittheus,” shows what the world thought of Pittheus.
Now Aegeus, king of Athens, desiring to have children, is said to have received from the Pythian priestess the celebrated oracle in which she bade him to have intercourse with no woman until he came to Athens. But Aegeus thought ...
Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus,
Life of Theseus [I. - VI.]
The Parallel Lives.
This passage begins Plutarch's comparison between the Life of Theseus and the Life of Romulus, founder of Rome.
There are a few notable parallels, including questionable or divine parentage, strength and cunning, foundation of empires, terrible relationships, and feuds with family and countrymen.
The story of Theseus began with wise Pittheus, son of Pelops, and King Aegeus, descendant of Erectheus. Aegeus went to an oracle to find out how to become a father, and then went to Pittheus to understand the strange reply. After a night of wine and romance, Aegeus suspected he had gotten Pittheus' daughter Aethra with child. He hid his sword and sandals under a rock for his son to retrieve when he came of age.
Aethra had a son named Theseus, whose father was rumored to be the sea god Poseidon, and he was raised by his grandfather Pittheus. After visiting Delphi and sacrificing some of his hair to Apollo, Aethra told Theseus to retrieve his father's tokens and set out for the city of Athens.
The Parallel Lives,
a Legendary Passage from,
Bernadotte Perrin translating,
Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus,
Life of Theseus,
[I. - VI.]
https://www.theoi.com/Text/PlutarchTheseus.html
I. Just as geographers, O Socius Senecio, crowd on to the outer edges of their maps the parts of the earth which elude their knowledge, with explanatory notes that “What lies beyond is sandy desert without water and full of wild beasts,” or “blind marsh,” or “Scythian cold,” or “frozen sea,” so in the writing of my Parallel Lives, now that I have traversed those periods of time which are accessible to probable reasoning and which afford basis for a history dealing with facts, I might well say of the earlier periods “What lies beyond is full of marvels and unreality, a land of poets and fabulists, of doubt and obscurity.” But after publishing my account of Lycurgus the lawgiver and Numa the king, I thought I might not unreasonably go back still farther to Romulus, now that my history had brought me near his times. And as I asked myself,
"With such a warrior” (as Aeschylus says) “who will dare to fight?
"Whom shall I set against him? Who is competent?”
it seemed to me that I must make the founder of lovely and famous Athens the counterpart and parallel to the father of invincible and glorious Rome. May I therefore succeed in purifying Fable, making her submit to reason and take on the semblance of History. But where she obstinately disdains to make herself credible, and refuses to admit any element of probability, I shall pray for kindly readers, and such as receive with indulgence the tales of antiquity.
II. It seemed to me, then, that many resemblances made Theseus a fit parallel to Romulus. For both were of uncertain and obscure parentage, and got the reputation of descent from gods;
"Both were also warriors,
as surely the whole world knoweth,”
and with their strength, combined sagacity. Of the world's two most illustrious cities, moreover, Rome and Athens, Romulus founded the one, and Theseus made a metropolis of the other, and each resorted to the rape of women. Besides, neither escaped domestic misfortunes and the resentful anger of kindred, but even in their last days both are said to have come into collision with their own fellow-citizens, if there is any aid to the truth in what seems to have been told with the least poetic exaggeration.
III. The lineage of Theseus, on the father's side, goes back to Erechtheus and the first children of the soil; on the mother's side, to Pelops. For Pelops was the strongest of the kings in Peloponnesus quite as much on account of the number of his children as the amount of his wealth. He gave many daughters in marriage to men of highest rank, and scattered many sons among the cities as their rulers. One of these, named Pittheus, the grandfather of Theseus, founded the little city of Troezen, and had the highest repute as a man versed in the lore of his times and of the greatest wisdom. Now the wisdom of that day had some such form and force as that for which Hesiod was famous, especially in the sententious maxims of his Works and Days. One of these maxims is ascribed to Pittheus, namely
"Payment pledged to a man who is dear
must be ample and certain."
At any rate, this is what Aristotle the philosopher says, and Euripides, when he has Hippolytus addressed as “nursling of the pure and holy Pittheus,” shows what the world thought of Pittheus.
Now Aegeus, king of Athens, desiring to have children, is said to have received from the Pythian priestess the celebrated oracle in which she bade him to have intercourse with no woman until he came to Athens. But Aegeus thought ...
LP0097 -XXIII ARGO- Fables of the Argo, from the Fables of Hyginus
Legendary Passages - Greek/Roman Myths
11/05/18 • -1 min
Legendary Passages #0097 -XXIII ARGO-
Fables of the Argo, from the Fables of Hyginus.
Previously, the Argonauts launched from Iolcus, getting sidetracked by the women of Lemnos. In this passage they sail all the way to Colchis, and leave with Medea, who is eventually betrayed, exiled, and returns home.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/HyginusFabulae1.html#16
Fables of the Argo,
a Legendary Passage from,
GAIUS JULIUS HYGINUS,
FABLES XVI - XXVII,
translated by MARY GRANT.
[16] - [27]
[16] XVI. CYZICUS
Cyzicus, son of Eusorus, king in an island of the Propontis, received the Argonauts with generous hospitality, but when they had left him, and had sailed a whole day, by a storm that arose in the night they were brought unaware to the same island. Cyzicus, thinking they were Pelasgican enemies attacked them on the shore at night, and was slain by Jason. On the next day, when he had come near the shore and saw that he had killed the king, he gave him burial and handed over the kingdom to his sons.
[17] XVII. AMYCUS
Amycus, son of Neptune and Melie, king of Bebrycia, compelled whoever came to his kingdom to contend with him in boxing, and slew the vanquished. When he had challenged the Argonauts to a boxing match, Pollux fought with him and killed him.
[18] XVIII. LYCUS
Lycus, king of an island of the Propontis, received the Argonauts hospitably, grateful because they had killed Amycus, who had often attacked[?] him. While the Argonauts were staying with Lycus, and had gone out to gather straw, Idmon, son of Apollo, was wounded by a wild boar and died.
[19] XIX. PHINEUS
Phineus, a Thracian, son of Agenor, had two sons by Cleopatra. Because of their stepmother’s charges, these two were blinded by their father. Now to this Phineus, Apollo is said to have given the gift of prophecy. But he, since he revealed the deliberations of the gods, was blinded by Jove, and Jove set over him the Harpies, who are called the hounds of Jove, to take the food from his lips. When the Argonauts came there and asked him to show them the way, he said he would show them if they would free him from the punishment. Then Zetes and Calais, sons of the North Wind and Orithyia, who are said to have had wings on head and feet, drove the Harpies to the Strophades Islands, and freed Phineus from the punishment. He showed them how to pass the Symplegades by sending out a dove; when the rocks rushed together, in their rebound . . . [they would pass through if the dove went through, and they exerted all their strength in rowing. But if she perished,] they should turn back. By the help of Phienus the Argonauts passed the Symplegades.
[20] XX. STYMPHALIDES
When the Argonauts had come to the island of Dia, and the birds were wounding them, using their feathers as arrows, they were not able to cope with the great numbers of birds. Following Phineus’ advice they seized shields and spears, and dispersed them by the noise, after the manner of the Curetes.
[21] XXI. SONS OF PHRIXUS
When the Argonauts had entered the sea called Euxine through the Cyanean Cliffs, which are called Rocks of the Symplegades, and were wandering there, by the will of Juno they were borne to the island of Dia. There they found shipwrecked men, naked and helpless – the sons of Phrixus and Chalciope – Argus, Phrontides, Melas, and Cylindrus. These told their misfortunes to Jason, how they had suffered shipwreck and been cast there when they were hastening to go to their grandfather Athamas, and Jason welcomed and aided them. They led Jason to Colchis, bade the Argonauts conceal the ship. They themselves went to their mother Chalciope, Medea’s sister, and made known the kindness of Jason, and why they had come. Then Chalciope told about Medea, and brought her with her sons to Jason. When she saw him, she recognized him as the one whom in dreams she had loved deeply by Juno’s urging, and promised him everything. They brought him to the temple.
[22] XXII. AEETES
An oracle told Aeetes, son of Sol, that he would keep his kingdom as long as the fleece which Phrixus had dedicated should remain at the shrine of Mars. And so Aeetes appointed this task for Jason, if he wished to take away the golden fleece – to yoke with yoke of adamant the bronze-footed bulls which breathed flames from their nostrils, and plow, and sow from a helmet the dragon’s teeth, from which a tribe of armed men should arise and slay each other. Juno, however, whished to save Jason, because once when she had come to a river and wished to test the minds of men, she assumed an old woman’s form, and asked to be carried across. He had carried her across when others who had passed over despised her. And so since she knew that Jason could not perform the commands without help of Medea,...
Fables of the Argo, from the Fables of Hyginus.
Previously, the Argonauts launched from Iolcus, getting sidetracked by the women of Lemnos. In this passage they sail all the way to Colchis, and leave with Medea, who is eventually betrayed, exiled, and returns home.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/HyginusFabulae1.html#16
Fables of the Argo,
a Legendary Passage from,
GAIUS JULIUS HYGINUS,
FABLES XVI - XXVII,
translated by MARY GRANT.
[16] - [27]
[16] XVI. CYZICUS
Cyzicus, son of Eusorus, king in an island of the Propontis, received the Argonauts with generous hospitality, but when they had left him, and had sailed a whole day, by a storm that arose in the night they were brought unaware to the same island. Cyzicus, thinking they were Pelasgican enemies attacked them on the shore at night, and was slain by Jason. On the next day, when he had come near the shore and saw that he had killed the king, he gave him burial and handed over the kingdom to his sons.
[17] XVII. AMYCUS
Amycus, son of Neptune and Melie, king of Bebrycia, compelled whoever came to his kingdom to contend with him in boxing, and slew the vanquished. When he had challenged the Argonauts to a boxing match, Pollux fought with him and killed him.
[18] XVIII. LYCUS
Lycus, king of an island of the Propontis, received the Argonauts hospitably, grateful because they had killed Amycus, who had often attacked[?] him. While the Argonauts were staying with Lycus, and had gone out to gather straw, Idmon, son of Apollo, was wounded by a wild boar and died.
[19] XIX. PHINEUS
Phineus, a Thracian, son of Agenor, had two sons by Cleopatra. Because of their stepmother’s charges, these two were blinded by their father. Now to this Phineus, Apollo is said to have given the gift of prophecy. But he, since he revealed the deliberations of the gods, was blinded by Jove, and Jove set over him the Harpies, who are called the hounds of Jove, to take the food from his lips. When the Argonauts came there and asked him to show them the way, he said he would show them if they would free him from the punishment. Then Zetes and Calais, sons of the North Wind and Orithyia, who are said to have had wings on head and feet, drove the Harpies to the Strophades Islands, and freed Phineus from the punishment. He showed them how to pass the Symplegades by sending out a dove; when the rocks rushed together, in their rebound . . . [they would pass through if the dove went through, and they exerted all their strength in rowing. But if she perished,] they should turn back. By the help of Phienus the Argonauts passed the Symplegades.
[20] XX. STYMPHALIDES
When the Argonauts had come to the island of Dia, and the birds were wounding them, using their feathers as arrows, they were not able to cope with the great numbers of birds. Following Phineus’ advice they seized shields and spears, and dispersed them by the noise, after the manner of the Curetes.
[21] XXI. SONS OF PHRIXUS
When the Argonauts had entered the sea called Euxine through the Cyanean Cliffs, which are called Rocks of the Symplegades, and were wandering there, by the will of Juno they were borne to the island of Dia. There they found shipwrecked men, naked and helpless – the sons of Phrixus and Chalciope – Argus, Phrontides, Melas, and Cylindrus. These told their misfortunes to Jason, how they had suffered shipwreck and been cast there when they were hastening to go to their grandfather Athamas, and Jason welcomed and aided them. They led Jason to Colchis, bade the Argonauts conceal the ship. They themselves went to their mother Chalciope, Medea’s sister, and made known the kindness of Jason, and why they had come. Then Chalciope told about Medea, and brought her with her sons to Jason. When she saw him, she recognized him as the one whom in dreams she had loved deeply by Juno’s urging, and promised him everything. They brought him to the temple.
[22] XXII. AEETES
An oracle told Aeetes, son of Sol, that he would keep his kingdom as long as the fleece which Phrixus had dedicated should remain at the shrine of Mars. And so Aeetes appointed this task for Jason, if he wished to take away the golden fleece – to yoke with yoke of adamant the bronze-footed bulls which breathed flames from their nostrils, and plow, and sow from a helmet the dragon’s teeth, from which a tribe of armed men should arise and slay each other. Juno, however, whished to save Jason, because once when she had come to a river and wished to test the minds of men, she assumed an old woman’s form, and asked to be carried across. He had carried her across when others who had passed over despised her. And so since she knew that Jason could not perform the commands without help of Medea,...
LP0093 -XIX ARGO- Aegeus (Part 4) of Euripides' Medea
Legendary Passages - Greek/Roman Myths
07/28/18 • -1 min
Legendary Passages #0093 -XIX ARGO-
Aegeus (Part 4) of Euripides' Medea.
Previously, Medea decided not to take vengeance on Jason or his new wife until she could secure some safe haven for herself.
In this passage, Aegeus, father of Theseus, offers Medea safe haven in Athens.
http://sacred-texts.com/cla/eurip/medea.htm
Aegeus (Part 4),
a Legendary Passage,
from Euripides' Medea,
trans. by E. P. Coleridge.
CHORUS (singing, strophe 1)
When in excess and past all limits Love doth come, he brings not
glory or repute to man; but if the Cyprian queen in moderate might
approach, no goddess is so full of charm as she. Never, O never, lady
mine, discharge at me from thy golden bow a shaft invincible, in passion's
venom dipped.
(antistrophe 1)
On me may chastity, heaven's fairest gift, look with a favouring
eye; never may Cypris, goddess dread, fasten on me a temper to dispute,
or restless jealousy, smiting my soul with mad desire for unlawful
love, but may she hallow peaceful married life and shrewdly decide
whom each of us shall wed.
(strophe 2)
O my country, O my own dear home! God grant I may never be an outcast
from my city, leading that cruel helpless life, whose every day is
misery. Ere that may I this life complete and yield to death, ay,
death; for there is no misery that doth surpass the loss of fatherland.
(antistrophe 2)
I have seen with mine eyes, nor from the lips of others have I the
lesson learnt; no city, not one friend doth pity thee in this thine
awful woe. May he perish and find no favour, whoso hath not in him
honour for his friends, freely unlocking his heart to them. Never
shall he be friend of mine. (MEDEA has been seated in despair on
her door-step during the choral song. AEGEUS and his attendants enter.)
AEGEUS All hail, Medea! no man knoweth fairer prelude to the greeting
of friends than this.
MEDEA All hail to thee likewise, Aegeus, son of wise Pandion. Whence
comest thou to this land?
AEGEUS From Phoebus' ancient oracle.
MEDEA What took thee on thy travels to the prophetic centre of the
earth?
AEGEUS The wish to ask how I might raise up seed unto myself.
MEDEA Pray tell me, hast thou till now dragged on a childless life?
AEGEUS I have no child owing to the visitation of some god.
MEDEA Hast thou a wife, or hast thou never known the married state?
AEGEUS I have a wife joined to me in wedlock's bond.
MEDEA What said Phoebus to thee as to children?
AEGEUS Words too subtle for man to comprehend.
MEDEA Surely I may learn the god's answer?
AEGEUS Most assuredly, for it is just thy subtle wit it needs.
MEDEA What said the god? speak, if I may hear it.
AEGEUS He bade me "not loose the wineskin's pendent neck."
MEDEA Till when? what must thou do first, what country visit?
AEGEUS Till I to my native home return.
MEDEA What object hast thou in sailing to this land?
AEGEUS O'er Troezen's realm is Pittheus king.
MEDEA Pelops' son, a man devout they say.
AEGEUS To him I fain would impart the oracle of the god.
MEDEA The man is shrewd and versed in such-like lore.
AEGEUS Aye, and to me the dearest of all my warrior friends.
MEDEA Good luck to thee! success to all thy wishes!
AEGEUS But why that downcast eye, that wasted cheek?
MEDEA O Aegeus, my husband has proved most evil.
AEGEUS What meanest thou? explain to me clearly the cause of thy
despondency.
MEDEA Jason is wronging me though I have given him no cause.
AEGEUS What hath he done? tell me more clearly.
MEDEA He is taking another wife to succeed me as mistress of his
house.
AEGEUS Can he have brought himself to such a dastard deed?
MEDEA Be assured thereof; I, whom he loved of yore, am in dishonour
now.
AEGEUS Hath he found a new love? or does he loathe thy bed?
MEDEA Much in love is he! A traitor to his friend is he become.
AEGEUS Enough! if he is a villain as thou sayest.
MEDEA The alliance he is so much enamoured of is with a princess.
AEGEUS Who gives his daughter to him? go on, I pray.
MEDEA Creon, who is lord of this land of Corinth.
AEGEUS Lady, I can well pardon thy grief.
MEDEA I am undone, and more than that, am banished from the land.
AEGEUS By whom? fresh woe this word of thine unfolds.
MEDEA Creon drives me forth in exile from Corinth.
AEGEUS Doth Jason allow it? This too I blame him for.
MEDEA Not in words, but he will not stand out against it. O, I implore
thee by this beard and by thy knees, in suppliant posture, pity, O
pity my sorrows; do not see me cast forth forlorn, but receive me
in thy country, to a seat within...
Aegeus (Part 4) of Euripides' Medea.
Previously, Medea decided not to take vengeance on Jason or his new wife until she could secure some safe haven for herself.
In this passage, Aegeus, father of Theseus, offers Medea safe haven in Athens.
http://sacred-texts.com/cla/eurip/medea.htm
Aegeus (Part 4),
a Legendary Passage,
from Euripides' Medea,
trans. by E. P. Coleridge.
CHORUS (singing, strophe 1)
When in excess and past all limits Love doth come, he brings not
glory or repute to man; but if the Cyprian queen in moderate might
approach, no goddess is so full of charm as she. Never, O never, lady
mine, discharge at me from thy golden bow a shaft invincible, in passion's
venom dipped.
(antistrophe 1)
On me may chastity, heaven's fairest gift, look with a favouring
eye; never may Cypris, goddess dread, fasten on me a temper to dispute,
or restless jealousy, smiting my soul with mad desire for unlawful
love, but may she hallow peaceful married life and shrewdly decide
whom each of us shall wed.
(strophe 2)
O my country, O my own dear home! God grant I may never be an outcast
from my city, leading that cruel helpless life, whose every day is
misery. Ere that may I this life complete and yield to death, ay,
death; for there is no misery that doth surpass the loss of fatherland.
(antistrophe 2)
I have seen with mine eyes, nor from the lips of others have I the
lesson learnt; no city, not one friend doth pity thee in this thine
awful woe. May he perish and find no favour, whoso hath not in him
honour for his friends, freely unlocking his heart to them. Never
shall he be friend of mine. (MEDEA has been seated in despair on
her door-step during the choral song. AEGEUS and his attendants enter.)
AEGEUS All hail, Medea! no man knoweth fairer prelude to the greeting
of friends than this.
MEDEA All hail to thee likewise, Aegeus, son of wise Pandion. Whence
comest thou to this land?
AEGEUS From Phoebus' ancient oracle.
MEDEA What took thee on thy travels to the prophetic centre of the
earth?
AEGEUS The wish to ask how I might raise up seed unto myself.
MEDEA Pray tell me, hast thou till now dragged on a childless life?
AEGEUS I have no child owing to the visitation of some god.
MEDEA Hast thou a wife, or hast thou never known the married state?
AEGEUS I have a wife joined to me in wedlock's bond.
MEDEA What said Phoebus to thee as to children?
AEGEUS Words too subtle for man to comprehend.
MEDEA Surely I may learn the god's answer?
AEGEUS Most assuredly, for it is just thy subtle wit it needs.
MEDEA What said the god? speak, if I may hear it.
AEGEUS He bade me "not loose the wineskin's pendent neck."
MEDEA Till when? what must thou do first, what country visit?
AEGEUS Till I to my native home return.
MEDEA What object hast thou in sailing to this land?
AEGEUS O'er Troezen's realm is Pittheus king.
MEDEA Pelops' son, a man devout they say.
AEGEUS To him I fain would impart the oracle of the god.
MEDEA The man is shrewd and versed in such-like lore.
AEGEUS Aye, and to me the dearest of all my warrior friends.
MEDEA Good luck to thee! success to all thy wishes!
AEGEUS But why that downcast eye, that wasted cheek?
MEDEA O Aegeus, my husband has proved most evil.
AEGEUS What meanest thou? explain to me clearly the cause of thy
despondency.
MEDEA Jason is wronging me though I have given him no cause.
AEGEUS What hath he done? tell me more clearly.
MEDEA He is taking another wife to succeed me as mistress of his
house.
AEGEUS Can he have brought himself to such a dastard deed?
MEDEA Be assured thereof; I, whom he loved of yore, am in dishonour
now.
AEGEUS Hath he found a new love? or does he loathe thy bed?
MEDEA Much in love is he! A traitor to his friend is he become.
AEGEUS Enough! if he is a villain as thou sayest.
MEDEA The alliance he is so much enamoured of is with a princess.
AEGEUS Who gives his daughter to him? go on, I pray.
MEDEA Creon, who is lord of this land of Corinth.
AEGEUS Lady, I can well pardon thy grief.
MEDEA I am undone, and more than that, am banished from the land.
AEGEUS By whom? fresh woe this word of thine unfolds.
MEDEA Creon drives me forth in exile from Corinth.
AEGEUS Doth Jason allow it? This too I blame him for.
MEDEA Not in words, but he will not stand out against it. O, I implore
thee by this beard and by thy knees, in suppliant posture, pity, O
pity my sorrows; do not see me cast forth forlorn, but receive me
in thy country, to a seat within...
LP0105 pDoG1-44-6 The Corinthian Isthmus
Legendary Passages - Greek/Roman Myths
04/16/19 • -1 min
Legendary Passages #0105,
Pausanias' Description of Greece,
Book [1.44.6],
The Corinthian Isthmus.
Previously, Theseus traveled the road from Troezen to Athens around the Saronic Gulf. In this passage, we explore in the opposite direction, from the Scironian Road, Cromyon, and then to the Isthmus.
First is the white Megarean mussel stones along the road to the Molurian Rock, where Ino & Melicertes jumped into the sea, and became known as Leucothea & Palaemon. Later, Sciron fed strangers to the giant sea tortoises below the cliff. Cromyon, where Theseus slaughtered Phaea the sow, is where King Sisyphus found the body of Palaemon.
The Isthmus proper is where Theseus killed Sinis the Pine-Bender, after slaying Pheriphetes the Club-Bearer. Alexander the Great tried to dig a channel connecting the gulfs, but it was only completed in recent times. The sanctuary of Poseidon is full of offerings, and nearby is a temple of Palaemon, and the alter of the Cyclopes. The tombs of Sisyphus and Neleus have been lost to history.
The Corinthian Isthmus,
a Legendary Passage from,
W. H. S. Jones translating,
Pausanias,
Description of Greece,
Books [1.44.6] - [2.2.2].
https://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias1C.html#20
SCIRONIAN ROAD
On the road from Megara to Corinth are graves, including that of the Samian flute-player Telephanes, said to have been made by Cleopatra, daughter of Philip, son of Amyntas. There is also the tomb of Car, son of Phoroneus, which was originally a mound of earth, but afterwards, at the command of the oracle, it was adorned with mussel stone. The Megarians are the only Greeks to possess this stone, and in the city also they have made many things out of it. It is very white, and softer than other stone; in it throughout are sea mussels. Such is the nature of the stone. The road called Scironian to this day and named after Sciron, was made by him when he was war minister of the Megarians, and originally they say was constructed for the use of active men. But the emperor Hadrian broadened it, and made it suitable even for chariots to pass each other in opposite directions.
There are legends about the rocks, which rise especially at the narrow part of the road. As to the Molurian, it is said that from it Ino flung her self into the sea with Melicertes, the younger of her children. Learchus, the elder of them, had been killed by his father. One account is that Athamas did this in a fit of madness; another is that he vented on Ino and her children unbridled rage when he learned that the famine which befell the Orchomenians and the supposed death of Phrixus were not accidents from heaven, but that Ino, the step-mother, had intrigued for all these things.
Then it was that she fled to the sea and cast herself and her son from the Molurian Rock. The son, they say, was landed on the Corinthian Isthmus by a dolphin, and honors were offered to Melicertes, then renamed Palaemon, including the celebration of the Isthmian games. The Molurian dock they thought sacred to Leucothea and Palaemon; but those after it they consider accursed, in that Sciron, who dwelt by them, used to cast into the sea all the strangers he met. A tortoise used to swim under the rocks to seize those that fell in. Sea tortoises are like land tortoises except in size and for their feet, which are like those of seals. Retribution for these deeds overtook Sciron, for he was cast into the same sea by Theseus.
On the top of the mountain is a temple of Zeus surnamed Aphesius (Releaser). It is said that on the occasion of the drought that once afflicted the Greeks Aeacus in obedience to an oracular utterance sacrificed in Aegina to Zeus God of all the Greeks, and Zeus rained and ended the drought, gaining thus the name Aphesius. Here there are also images of Aphrodite, Apollo, and Pan.
Farther on is the tomb of Eurystheus. The story is that he fled from Attica after the battle with the Heracleidae and was killed here by Iolaus. When you have gone down from this road you see a sanctuary of Apollo Latous, after which is the boundary between Megara and Corinth, where legend says that Hyllus, son of Heracles, fought a duel with the Arcadian Echemus.
CORINTH (MYTHICAL HISTORY)
The Corinthian land is a portion of the Argive, and is named after Corinthus. That Corinthus was a son of Zeus I have never known anybody say seriously except the majority of the Corinthians. Eumelus, the son of Amphilytus, of the family called Bacchidae, who is said to have composed the epic poem, says in his Corinthian History (if indeed the history be his) that Ephyra, the daughter of Oceanus, dwelt first in this land; that afterwards Marathon, the son of Epopeus, the son of Aloeus, the son of Helius (Sun), fleeing from the lawless violence of his father...
Pausanias' Description of Greece,
Book [1.44.6],
The Corinthian Isthmus.
Previously, Theseus traveled the road from Troezen to Athens around the Saronic Gulf. In this passage, we explore in the opposite direction, from the Scironian Road, Cromyon, and then to the Isthmus.
First is the white Megarean mussel stones along the road to the Molurian Rock, where Ino & Melicertes jumped into the sea, and became known as Leucothea & Palaemon. Later, Sciron fed strangers to the giant sea tortoises below the cliff. Cromyon, where Theseus slaughtered Phaea the sow, is where King Sisyphus found the body of Palaemon.
The Isthmus proper is where Theseus killed Sinis the Pine-Bender, after slaying Pheriphetes the Club-Bearer. Alexander the Great tried to dig a channel connecting the gulfs, but it was only completed in recent times. The sanctuary of Poseidon is full of offerings, and nearby is a temple of Palaemon, and the alter of the Cyclopes. The tombs of Sisyphus and Neleus have been lost to history.
The Corinthian Isthmus,
a Legendary Passage from,
W. H. S. Jones translating,
Pausanias,
Description of Greece,
Books [1.44.6] - [2.2.2].
https://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias1C.html#20
SCIRONIAN ROAD
On the road from Megara to Corinth are graves, including that of the Samian flute-player Telephanes, said to have been made by Cleopatra, daughter of Philip, son of Amyntas. There is also the tomb of Car, son of Phoroneus, which was originally a mound of earth, but afterwards, at the command of the oracle, it was adorned with mussel stone. The Megarians are the only Greeks to possess this stone, and in the city also they have made many things out of it. It is very white, and softer than other stone; in it throughout are sea mussels. Such is the nature of the stone. The road called Scironian to this day and named after Sciron, was made by him when he was war minister of the Megarians, and originally they say was constructed for the use of active men. But the emperor Hadrian broadened it, and made it suitable even for chariots to pass each other in opposite directions.
There are legends about the rocks, which rise especially at the narrow part of the road. As to the Molurian, it is said that from it Ino flung her self into the sea with Melicertes, the younger of her children. Learchus, the elder of them, had been killed by his father. One account is that Athamas did this in a fit of madness; another is that he vented on Ino and her children unbridled rage when he learned that the famine which befell the Orchomenians and the supposed death of Phrixus were not accidents from heaven, but that Ino, the step-mother, had intrigued for all these things.
Then it was that she fled to the sea and cast herself and her son from the Molurian Rock. The son, they say, was landed on the Corinthian Isthmus by a dolphin, and honors were offered to Melicertes, then renamed Palaemon, including the celebration of the Isthmian games. The Molurian dock they thought sacred to Leucothea and Palaemon; but those after it they consider accursed, in that Sciron, who dwelt by them, used to cast into the sea all the strangers he met. A tortoise used to swim under the rocks to seize those that fell in. Sea tortoises are like land tortoises except in size and for their feet, which are like those of seals. Retribution for these deeds overtook Sciron, for he was cast into the same sea by Theseus.
On the top of the mountain is a temple of Zeus surnamed Aphesius (Releaser). It is said that on the occasion of the drought that once afflicted the Greeks Aeacus in obedience to an oracular utterance sacrificed in Aegina to Zeus God of all the Greeks, and Zeus rained and ended the drought, gaining thus the name Aphesius. Here there are also images of Aphrodite, Apollo, and Pan.
Farther on is the tomb of Eurystheus. The story is that he fled from Attica after the battle with the Heracleidae and was killed here by Iolaus. When you have gone down from this road you see a sanctuary of Apollo Latous, after which is the boundary between Megara and Corinth, where legend says that Hyllus, son of Heracles, fought a duel with the Arcadian Echemus.
CORINTH (MYTHICAL HISTORY)
The Corinthian land is a portion of the Argive, and is named after Corinthus. That Corinthus was a son of Zeus I have never known anybody say seriously except the majority of the Corinthians. Eumelus, the son of Amphilytus, of the family called Bacchidae, who is said to have composed the epic poem, says in his Corinthian History (if indeed the history be his) that Ephyra, the daughter of Oceanus, dwelt first in this land; that afterwards Marathon, the son of Epopeus, the son of Aloeus, the son of Helius (Sun), fleeing from the lawless violence of his father...
LP0092 -XVIII ARGO- Jason (Part 3), from Euripides' Medea
Legendary Passages - Greek/Roman Myths
06/29/18 • 23 min
LP0107 plLoT13 Tribute
Legendary Passages - Greek/Roman Myths
06/01/19 • -1 min
Legendary Passages #0107,
Plutarch's Life of Theseus,
Section [XIII.],
Tribute.
Previously, after many labors Theseus arrived at Athens, drove off the witch Medea, and was recognized by his father as the crown prince. In this passage, Theseus contends with the sons of Pallas, the Marathonian Bull, and King Minos come again to collect his tribute.
Long ago, King Pandion had four son: Pallas, Nisus, Lycus, and Aegeus, who might have been adopted. Aegeus became King of Athens, and when Minos' son Androgeus was killed while under his protection, Minos invaded. The forces of Crete laid siege to Athens; to break the stalemate, Aegeus agreed to give seven boys and seven girls as tribute to Crete every nine years thereafter.
Though his people sacrificed their own flesh and blood, King Aegeus never had any children of his own. Naturally, Aegeus' brother Pallas and his fifty sons assumed eventually they would inherit the throne. But when a foreign prince named Theseus was named as heir, the sons of Pallas declared war. Leos of Agnes reported to Theseus where the bands of rebels were hiding, and Theseus and his forces defeated them all.
Meanwhile, for his seventh labor, Heracles drove the Cretan bull to the Greek mainland, where it eventually terrorized the people of Marathon. On his way to subdue the beast, Theseus was given hospitality by an elderly woman named Hecale, who promised to make sacrifices if he returned safely. Theseus captured the bull and sacrificed it, but Hecale had already passed away.
Lastly, Minos had returned to Athens for the third tribute, and the seven youths and seven maidens were either to be selected at random, or chosen by himself. No one knew if the Minotaur devoured them, or they starved to death in the depths of the Labyrinth, but none had ever returned. The people were upset that their new prince could not have been chosen the last time, so Theseus volunteered for the tribute freely, because according to the treaty, the tributes would come to an end if someone killed the Minotaur.
Tribute,
a Legendary Passage from,
Bernadotte Perrin translating,
Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus,
Life of Theseus,
Sections [XIII.] - [XVII.]
https://www.theoi.com/Text/PlutarchTheseus.html
XIII. Now the sons of Pallas had before this themselves hoped to gain possession of the kingdom when Aegeus died childless. But when Theseus was declared successor to the throne, exasperated that Aegeus should be king although he was only an adopted son of Pandion and in no way related to the family of Erechtheus, and again that Theseus should be prospective king although he was an immigrant and a stranger, they went to war. And dividing themselves into two bands, one of these marched openly against the city from Sphettus with their father; the other hid themselves at Gargettus and lay in ambush there, intending to attack their enemies from two sides. But there was a herald with them, a man of Agnus, by name Leos. This man reported to Theseus the designs of the Pallantidae. Theseus then fell suddenly upon the party lying in ambush, and slew them all. Thereupon the party with Pallas dispersed. This is the reason, they say, why the township of Pallene has no intermarriage with the township of Agnus, and why it will not even allow heralds to make their customary proclamation there of “Akouete leo!” (Hear, ye people!) For they hate the word on account of the treachery of the man Leos.
XIV. But Theseus, desiring to be at work, and at the same time courting the favour of the people, went out against the Marathonian bull, which was doing no small mischief to the inhabitants of the Tetrapolis. After he had mastered it, he made a display of driving it alive through the city, and then sacrificed it to the Delphinian Apollo. Now the story of Hecale and her receiving and entertaining Theseus on this expedition seems not to be devoid of all truth. For the people of the townships round about used to assemble and sacrifice the Hecalesia to Zeus Hecalus, and they paid honors to Hecale, calling her by the diminutive name of Hecaline, because she too, when entertaining Theseus, in spite of the fact that he was quite a youth, caressed him as elderly people do, and called him affectionately by such diminutive names. And since she vowed, when the hero was going to his battle with the bull, that she would sacrifice to Zeus if he came back safe, but died before his return, she obtained the above mentioned honors as a return for her hospitality at the command of Theseus, as Philochorus has written.
XV. Not long afterwards there came from Crete for the third time the collectors of the tribute. Now as to this tribute, most writers agree that because Androgeos was thought to have been treacherously killed within the confines of Attica, not only did...
Plutarch's Life of Theseus,
Section [XIII.],
Tribute.
Previously, after many labors Theseus arrived at Athens, drove off the witch Medea, and was recognized by his father as the crown prince. In this passage, Theseus contends with the sons of Pallas, the Marathonian Bull, and King Minos come again to collect his tribute.
Long ago, King Pandion had four son: Pallas, Nisus, Lycus, and Aegeus, who might have been adopted. Aegeus became King of Athens, and when Minos' son Androgeus was killed while under his protection, Minos invaded. The forces of Crete laid siege to Athens; to break the stalemate, Aegeus agreed to give seven boys and seven girls as tribute to Crete every nine years thereafter.
Though his people sacrificed their own flesh and blood, King Aegeus never had any children of his own. Naturally, Aegeus' brother Pallas and his fifty sons assumed eventually they would inherit the throne. But when a foreign prince named Theseus was named as heir, the sons of Pallas declared war. Leos of Agnes reported to Theseus where the bands of rebels were hiding, and Theseus and his forces defeated them all.
Meanwhile, for his seventh labor, Heracles drove the Cretan bull to the Greek mainland, where it eventually terrorized the people of Marathon. On his way to subdue the beast, Theseus was given hospitality by an elderly woman named Hecale, who promised to make sacrifices if he returned safely. Theseus captured the bull and sacrificed it, but Hecale had already passed away.
Lastly, Minos had returned to Athens for the third tribute, and the seven youths and seven maidens were either to be selected at random, or chosen by himself. No one knew if the Minotaur devoured them, or they starved to death in the depths of the Labyrinth, but none had ever returned. The people were upset that their new prince could not have been chosen the last time, so Theseus volunteered for the tribute freely, because according to the treaty, the tributes would come to an end if someone killed the Minotaur.
Tribute,
a Legendary Passage from,
Bernadotte Perrin translating,
Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus,
Life of Theseus,
Sections [XIII.] - [XVII.]
https://www.theoi.com/Text/PlutarchTheseus.html
XIII. Now the sons of Pallas had before this themselves hoped to gain possession of the kingdom when Aegeus died childless. But when Theseus was declared successor to the throne, exasperated that Aegeus should be king although he was only an adopted son of Pandion and in no way related to the family of Erechtheus, and again that Theseus should be prospective king although he was an immigrant and a stranger, they went to war. And dividing themselves into two bands, one of these marched openly against the city from Sphettus with their father; the other hid themselves at Gargettus and lay in ambush there, intending to attack their enemies from two sides. But there was a herald with them, a man of Agnus, by name Leos. This man reported to Theseus the designs of the Pallantidae. Theseus then fell suddenly upon the party lying in ambush, and slew them all. Thereupon the party with Pallas dispersed. This is the reason, they say, why the township of Pallene has no intermarriage with the township of Agnus, and why it will not even allow heralds to make their customary proclamation there of “Akouete leo!” (Hear, ye people!) For they hate the word on account of the treachery of the man Leos.
XIV. But Theseus, desiring to be at work, and at the same time courting the favour of the people, went out against the Marathonian bull, which was doing no small mischief to the inhabitants of the Tetrapolis. After he had mastered it, he made a display of driving it alive through the city, and then sacrificed it to the Delphinian Apollo. Now the story of Hecale and her receiving and entertaining Theseus on this expedition seems not to be devoid of all truth. For the people of the townships round about used to assemble and sacrifice the Hecalesia to Zeus Hecalus, and they paid honors to Hecale, calling her by the diminutive name of Hecaline, because she too, when entertaining Theseus, in spite of the fact that he was quite a youth, caressed him as elderly people do, and called him affectionately by such diminutive names. And since she vowed, when the hero was going to his battle with the bull, that she would sacrifice to Zeus if he came back safe, but died before his return, she obtained the above mentioned honors as a return for her hospitality at the command of Theseus, as Philochorus has written.
XV. Not long afterwards there came from Crete for the third time the collectors of the tribute. Now as to this tribute, most writers agree that because Androgeos was thought to have been treacherously killed within the confines of Attica, not only did...
LP0111 ovHero10 Ariadne's Letter
Legendary Passages - Greek/Roman Myths
10/31/19 • -1 min
Legendary Passages #0111,
Ovid's Heroides,
Epistle [X.],
Ariadne's Letter.
Previously, with Ariadne's help Prince Theseus defeated the Minotaur and escaped the Labyrinth. In this passage Ariadne awakens alone on the Island of Naxos, Theseus having abandoned her and sailed away in the night.
Ariadne's Letter,
a Legendary Passage from,
Grant Showerman translating,
Publius Ovidius Naso,
Heroides Epistle [X.],
Ariadne to Theseus.
https://www.theoi.com/Text/OvidHeroides2.html#10
X. ARIADNE TO THESEUS
Gentler than you I have found every race of wild beasts; to none of them could I so ill have trusted as to you. The words you now are reading, Thesues, I send you from that shore from which the sails bore off your ship without me, the shore on which my slumber, and you, so wretchedly betrayed me – you, who wickedly plotted against me as I slept.
‘Twas the time when the earth is first besprinkled with crystal rime, and songsters hid in the branch begin their plaint. Half waking only, languid from sleep, I turned upon my side and put forth hands to clasp my Theseus – he was not there! I drew back my hands, a second time I made essay, and o’er the whole couch moved my arms – he was not there! Fear struck away my sleep; in terror I arose, and threw myself headlong from my abandoned bed. Straight then my palms resounded upon my breasts, and I tore my hair, all disarrayed as it was from sleep.
The moon was shining; I bend my gaze to see if aught but shore lies there. So far as my eyes can see, naught to they find but shore. Now this way, and now that, and ever without plan, I course; the deep sand stays my girlish feet. And all the while I cried out “Theseus!” alone the entire shore, and the hollow rocks sent back your name to me; as often as I called out for you, so often did the place itself call out your name. The very place felt the will to aid me in my woe.
There was a mountain, with bushes rising here and there upon its top; a cliff hangs over from it, gnawed into by deep-sounding waves. I climb its slope – my spirit gave me strength – and thus with prospect broad I scan the billowy deep. From there – for I found the winds cruel, too – I beheld your sails stretched full by the headlong southern gale. As I looked on a sight methought I had not deserved to see, I grew colder than ice, and life half left my body. Nor does anguish allow me long to lie thus quiet; it rouses me, it stirs me up to call on Theseus with all my voice’s might. “Whither doest fly?” I cry aloud. “Come back, O wicked Theseus! Turn about thy ship! She hath not all her crew!”
Thus did I cry, and what my voice could not avail, I filled with beating of my breast; the blows I gave myself were mingled with my words. That you at least might see, if you could not hear, with might and main I sent you signals with my hands; and upon a long tree-branch I fixed my shining veil – yes, to put in mind of me those who had forgotten! And now you had been swept beyond my vision. Then at last I let flow my tears; till then my tender eyeballs had been dulled with pain. What better could my eyes do than weep for me, when I had ceased to see your sails? Alone, with hair loose flying, I have either roamed about, like to a Bacchant roused by the Ogygian god, or, looking out upon the sea, I have sat all chilled upon the rock, as much a stone myself as was the stone I sat upon. Oft do I come again to the couch that once received us both, but was fated never to show us together again, and touch the imprint left by you – ‘tis all I can in place of you! – and the stuffs that once grew warm beneath your limbs. I lay me down upon my face, bedew the bed with pouring tears, and cry aloud: “We were two who pressed thee – give back two! We came to thee both together; why do we not depart the same? Ah, faithless bed – the greater part of my being, oh, where is he?
What am I to do? Whither shall I take myself – I am alone, and the isle untilled. Of human traces I see none; of cattle, none. On every side the land is girt by sea; nowhere a sailor, no craft to make its way over the dubious paths. And suppose I did find those to go with me, and winds, and ship – yet where am I to go? My father’s realm forbids me to approach. Grant I do glide with fortunate keel over peaceful seas, that Aeolus tempers the winds – I still shall be an exile! ‘Tis not for me, O Crete composed of the hundred cities, to look upon thee, land known to the infant Jove! No, for my father and the land ruled by my righteous father – dear names! – were betrayed by my deed when, to keep you, after your victory, from death in the winding halls, I gave into your hand the thread to direct your steps in place of guide – when you said to me: “By these very perils of mine, I swear that, so long as both of us shall liv...
Ovid's Heroides,
Epistle [X.],
Ariadne's Letter.
Previously, with Ariadne's help Prince Theseus defeated the Minotaur and escaped the Labyrinth. In this passage Ariadne awakens alone on the Island of Naxos, Theseus having abandoned her and sailed away in the night.
Ariadne's Letter,
a Legendary Passage from,
Grant Showerman translating,
Publius Ovidius Naso,
Heroides Epistle [X.],
Ariadne to Theseus.
https://www.theoi.com/Text/OvidHeroides2.html#10
X. ARIADNE TO THESEUS
Gentler than you I have found every race of wild beasts; to none of them could I so ill have trusted as to you. The words you now are reading, Thesues, I send you from that shore from which the sails bore off your ship without me, the shore on which my slumber, and you, so wretchedly betrayed me – you, who wickedly plotted against me as I slept.
‘Twas the time when the earth is first besprinkled with crystal rime, and songsters hid in the branch begin their plaint. Half waking only, languid from sleep, I turned upon my side and put forth hands to clasp my Theseus – he was not there! I drew back my hands, a second time I made essay, and o’er the whole couch moved my arms – he was not there! Fear struck away my sleep; in terror I arose, and threw myself headlong from my abandoned bed. Straight then my palms resounded upon my breasts, and I tore my hair, all disarrayed as it was from sleep.
The moon was shining; I bend my gaze to see if aught but shore lies there. So far as my eyes can see, naught to they find but shore. Now this way, and now that, and ever without plan, I course; the deep sand stays my girlish feet. And all the while I cried out “Theseus!” alone the entire shore, and the hollow rocks sent back your name to me; as often as I called out for you, so often did the place itself call out your name. The very place felt the will to aid me in my woe.
There was a mountain, with bushes rising here and there upon its top; a cliff hangs over from it, gnawed into by deep-sounding waves. I climb its slope – my spirit gave me strength – and thus with prospect broad I scan the billowy deep. From there – for I found the winds cruel, too – I beheld your sails stretched full by the headlong southern gale. As I looked on a sight methought I had not deserved to see, I grew colder than ice, and life half left my body. Nor does anguish allow me long to lie thus quiet; it rouses me, it stirs me up to call on Theseus with all my voice’s might. “Whither doest fly?” I cry aloud. “Come back, O wicked Theseus! Turn about thy ship! She hath not all her crew!”
Thus did I cry, and what my voice could not avail, I filled with beating of my breast; the blows I gave myself were mingled with my words. That you at least might see, if you could not hear, with might and main I sent you signals with my hands; and upon a long tree-branch I fixed my shining veil – yes, to put in mind of me those who had forgotten! And now you had been swept beyond my vision. Then at last I let flow my tears; till then my tender eyeballs had been dulled with pain. What better could my eyes do than weep for me, when I had ceased to see your sails? Alone, with hair loose flying, I have either roamed about, like to a Bacchant roused by the Ogygian god, or, looking out upon the sea, I have sat all chilled upon the rock, as much a stone myself as was the stone I sat upon. Oft do I come again to the couch that once received us both, but was fated never to show us together again, and touch the imprint left by you – ‘tis all I can in place of you! – and the stuffs that once grew warm beneath your limbs. I lay me down upon my face, bedew the bed with pouring tears, and cry aloud: “We were two who pressed thee – give back two! We came to thee both together; why do we not depart the same? Ah, faithless bed – the greater part of my being, oh, where is he?
What am I to do? Whither shall I take myself – I am alone, and the isle untilled. Of human traces I see none; of cattle, none. On every side the land is girt by sea; nowhere a sailor, no craft to make its way over the dubious paths. And suppose I did find those to go with me, and winds, and ship – yet where am I to go? My father’s realm forbids me to approach. Grant I do glide with fortunate keel over peaceful seas, that Aeolus tempers the winds – I still shall be an exile! ‘Tis not for me, O Crete composed of the hundred cities, to look upon thee, land known to the infant Jove! No, for my father and the land ruled by my righteous father – dear names! – were betrayed by my deed when, to keep you, after your victory, from death in the winding halls, I gave into your hand the thread to direct your steps in place of guide – when you said to me: “By these very perils of mine, I swear that, so long as both of us shall liv...
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