LP0107 plLoT13 Tribute

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...

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LP0106 pDoG2-2-3 Children of Corinth

Legendary Passages #0106,
Pausanias' Description of Greece,
Book [2.2.3],
The Children of Corinth.
Previously, Medea's children were killed after they brought poisoned gifts for their father's bride Glauce. In this passage we hear many myths about them and their mother before she flees to Athens.
But first, a tour of Corinth. Lechaeum and Cenchreae are the harbors north of the city, followed by the grave of Lais, a courtesan known for her beauty. Next are carvings made from the tree Pentheus climbed to spy upon the female revelers of Dionysus. After the market-place is the spring of Peirene, and then the images of Hermes and the ram.
After the baths, we come to the Well of Glauce, where the doomed bride of Jason tried to quell the burning chemicals of her poisoned crown and robe. Medea's children Mermerus and Pheres were buried nearby, after being stoned for bringing the gifts. After being expelled from Athens by Theseus, Medea had another son, either named Medus or Polyxenus.
Eumelus said that the throne of Corinth once belonged to Medea's father Aeetes, and was subsequently ruled by Bunus, Epopeus, and Corinthus. Then the Corinthians sent for Medea to rule as Queen, making her husband Jason the King. After their children died, Jason sailed home and Medea gave the throne to King Sisyphus.
The Children of Corinth,
a Legendary Passage from,
W. H. S. Jones translating,
Pausanias,
Description of Greece,
Book [2.2.3] - [2.3.11].
https://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias2A.html#4
CORINTH
The names of the Corinthian harbors were given them by Leches and Cenchrias, said to be the children of Poseidon and Peirene the daughter of Achelous, though in the poem called The Great Eoeae Peirene is said to be a daughter of Oebalus. In Lechaeum are a sanctuary and a bronze image of Poseidon, and on the road leading from the Isthmus to Cenchreae a temple and ancient wooden image of Artemis. In Cenchreae are a temple and a stone statue of Aphrodite, after it on the mole running into the sea a bronze image of Poseidon, and at the other end of the harbor sanctuaries of Asclepius and of Isis. Right opposite Cenchreae is Helen's Bath. It is a large stream of salt, tepid water, flowing from a rock into the sea.
As one goes up to Corinth are tombs, and by the gate is buried Diogenes of Sinope, whom the Greeks surname the Dog. Before the city is a grove of cypresses called Craneum. Here are a precinct of Bellerophontes, a temple of Aphrodite Melaenis and the grave of Lais, upon which is set a lioness holding a ram in her fore-paws.
There is in Thessaly another tomb which claims to be that of Lais, for she went to that country also when she fell in love with Hippostratus. The story is that originally she was of Hycara in Sicily. Taken captive while yet a girl by Nicias and the Athenians, she was sold and brought to Corinth, where she surpassed in beauty the courtesans of her time, and so won the admiration of the Corinthians that even now they claim Lais as their own.
The things worthy of mention in the city include the extant remains of antiquity, but the greater number of them belong to the period of its second ascendancy. On the market-place, where most of the sanctuaries are, stand Artemis surnamed Ephesian and wooden images of Dionysus, which are covered with gold with the exception of their faces; these are ornamented with red paint. They are called Lysius and Baccheus, and I too give the story told about them. They say that Pentheus treated Dionysus despitefully, his crowning outrage being that he went to Cithaeron, to spy upon the women, and climbing up a tree beheld what was done. When the women detected Pentheus, they immediately dragged him down, and joined in tearing him, living as he was, limb from limb. Afterwards, as the Corinthians say, the Pythian priestess commanded them by an oracle to discover that tree and to worship it equally with the god. For this reason they have made these images from the tree.
There is also a temple of Fortune, with a standing image of Parian marble. Beside it is a sanctuary for all the gods. Hard by is built a fountain, on which is a bronze Poseidon; under the feet of Poseidon is a dolphin spouting water. There is also a bronze Apollo surnamed Clarius and a statue of Aphrodite made by Hermogenes of Cythera. There are two bronze, standing images of Hermes, for one of which a temple has been made. The images of Zeus also are in the open; one had not a surname, another they call Chthonius (of the Lower World) and the third Most High.
III. In the middle of the market-place is a bronze Athena, on the pedestal of which are wrought in relief figures of the Muses. Above the market-place is a temple of Octavia the sister of Augustus, who was emperor of the Romans after Caesar, the ...

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LP0108 pDoG1-26-4 Marathonian Bull

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...