What monster killed Theseus. Greek mythology

Theseus, Theseus - in ancient Greek mythology, the son of the Athenian king Aegeus (or the god Poseidon) and Ephra, the 10th king of Athens. The central figure of Attic mythology and one of the most famous characters in all of Greek mythology. Mentioned already in the Iliad (I 265) and the Odyssey (XI 323, 631). In Mycenaean texts, the name te-se-u (Fesey) is found.

Source: Myths and legends of Ancient Greece

Origin of Theseus

The name Theseus indicates strength. Theseus belongs to the generation of heroes before the Trojan War. The birth of Theseus is unusual. On the part of his father, Theseus had among his ancestors the autochthonous Erichthonius, born from the seed of Hephaestus Gaia and raised by Athena, and the autochthonous Kranay and the first Attic king Kekrop. The ancestors of Theseus are wise half-snakes, half-people. However, Theseus himself is a representative of pure heroism, he is at the same time the son of a man and a god. On the mother's side, Theseus is descended from Pelops, the father of Pittheus, Atreus and Fiesta, and therefore from Tantalus and, finally, from Zeus himself.

Being childless, Aegeus went to the oracle, but could not guess his answer. But the oracle was unraveled by the Troesen king Pittheus, who realized that the power in Athens would belong to the descendants of Aegeus, and, having drunk the guest, put him to bed with his daughter Ephra. On the same night, Poseidon approached her, or combined with her the day before on the island of Spheros. Thus, the son born to Ephra had (as befits a great hero) two fathers - the earthly Aegeus and the divine Poseidon. Born in the town of Genetliy near the harbor of Kelenderis.

Exploits of Theseus

Leaving Ephra, Aegeus asked to raise his future son, without naming his father, and left him his sword and sandals, putting them under a large stone, so that, having matured, Theseus, in his father’s sandals and with his sword, went to Athens to Aegeus, but so that no one knew about it, since Aegeus was afraid of the intrigues of the Pallantides (children of the younger brother of Pallant), who claimed power because of Aegeus's childlessness. Ephra hides the true origin of Theseus and Pittheus spread the rumor that the boy was born from Poseidon (the most revered god in Troezen). When Theseus grew up, Ephra revealed to him the secret of his birth and ordered, taking Aegeus' things, to go to Athens to his father.

Even before leaving Troezen, Theseus, having become a young man, dedicated a strand of hair in front, like abantes, to the god Apollo in Delphi, thereby, as it were, handing over himself to the god and entering into an alliance with him. This kind of haircut was called "Teseev". When he was in his sixteenth year, he took out his father's sandals and sword from under the stone. The rock of Theseus (formerly the altar of Zeus Sthenius) was on the way from Troezen to Epidaurus.

Theseus did not go to Athens the easy way - by sea, but by land, through the Isthmus of Corinth, along a particularly dangerous road, where robbers and descendants of monsters lay in wait for travelers on the way from Megara to Athens. On the way, Theseus defeated and killed:

The robber Perifeth, the son of Hephaestus, who killed travelers with a copper club.
The robber Sinis, (nicknamed the Bender of the pines), who lived in a pine grove and cracked down on travelers, tying them to two bent pines.
Crommion pig,
The robber Skiron, who forced travelers to wash his feet at the cliff and kicked them into the abyss, where the unfortunate ones were eaten by a giant tortoise.
The robber Kerkion, who forced travelers to fight to the death.
Robber Damast (nicknamed Procrustes).

In Athens, King Aegeus fell under the rule of the sorceress Medea, who found shelter with him and hoped that her son Med from Aegeus would receive the right to the throne.

There is a story about how Theseus arrived in Athens, when the temple of Apollo Delphinius was being built, and the workers mockingly called him a girl, then he threw up the wagon, showing his strength. Theseus appeared in Athens as a liberator from monsters, a wonderful young hero, but was not recognized by Aegeus, whom Medea instilled fear of the stranger and forced him to drink the young man with poison. During the meal, Theseus drew his sword to cut the meat. The father recognized his son and threw away the bowl of poison.

Theseus also had to contend with 50 Pallantides, whom he ambushed. Having exterminated his cousins and expelled their allies, Theseus established himself as the son and heir of the Athenian king.

Travel to Crete

He came to Athens on the 8th Cronius (hecatombeon) (end of July), set sail on the 6th Munichion (end of April), entered the city on the return of the 7th pianepsion (end of October). Theseus glorified himself as a worthy heir to royal power during the clash between Athens and the Cretan king Minos, who demanded every ninth year a tribute of 7 young men and 7 girls as atonement for the death of his son Androgey. Under Theseus, tribute was sent for the third time (see Companions and Companions of Theseus). According to other versions, either 7 people annually, or 14 every 7 years.

When Minos came for the third time for tribute, Theseus decided to go to Crete himself to measure his strength with the monstrous Minotaur, to which the victims were condemned to be eaten. According to Hellanic, there was no lot, and Minos himself arrived in Athens and chose Theseus.

The ship set off under a black sail, but Theseus took with him a spare white one, under which he was supposed to return home after defeating the monster. On the way to Crete, Theseus proved to Minos that he was descended from Poseidon by retrieving a ring thrown by Minos from the bottom of the sea. Theseus and his companions were placed in a labyrinth where Theseus killed the Minotaur. Theseus and his companions got out of the labyrinth thanks to the help of Ariadne, who fell in love with Theseus. According to the version, he escaped from the labyrinth thanks to the radiance emitted by the crown of Ariadne. At night, Theseus, with the Athenian youth and Ariadne, secretly fled to the island of Naxos. Caught there by a storm, Theseus, not wanting to take Ariadne to Athens, left her when she was sleeping. However, Ariadne was kidnapped by Dionysus, who was in love with her. According to a number of mythographers, Theseus was forced to leave Ariadne on the island, because Dionysus appeared to him in a dream and said that the girl should belong to him.

In Crete, Daedalus taught Theseus and his companions the sacred dance. Returning from Crete, he arranged competitions in honor of Apollo on Delos and crowned the winners with a palm wreath. Dedicated to Apollo the xoan of Aphrodite by Daedalus, which Ariadne captured from Crete.

Theseus went on, forgetting to change the sails, which caused the death of Aegeus, who threw himself into the sea when he saw a black sail and thereby assured himself of the death of his son. According to legend, that is why the sea is called the Aegean. There is also a version that Minos made sacrifices to the gods and the god Apollo managed to arrange a sudden storm that carried away the “victorious” white sail - that is why Theseus was forced to return under a black sail and Aegeus' long-standing curse came true. According to Simonides, Aegeus did not give white, but "a purple sail, colored with the juice of flowers of a branchy oak." The Athenians kept the 30-oared vessel of Theseus until the time of Demetrius of Phaler. Returning from Crete, Theseus erected a temple to Artemis Sotere in Troezen. The ship of Theseus, according to legend, was kept in Athens until the era of Demetrius of Phaler, giving rise to the paradox of the same name by the fact of its storage.

Other exploits of Theseus

Established the state system and democracy in 1259/58 BC. e.

According to some, he arranged the Isthmian games in honor of Melikert.

Poseidon promised him three wishes.

According to the Athenian version, at the head of the Athenian army, he defeated the Thebans of Creon, who refused to hand over the corpses of the fallen.

Together with Hercules, he participated in the campaign for the belt of the Amazons.

Theseus participated in the Calydonian hunt. Some authors call him among the Argonauts, which is doubtful, since Theseus' stepmother was Medea, the former wife of Jason, the leader of the Argonauts.

Participated in the battle with the centaurs, who were outrageous at the wedding of Pirithous, Theseus's closest friend. The signs of friendship between Theseus and Pirithous are buried near the Hollow Bowl in Colon. But he was not among the Argonauts, since at that time he helped Pirithous to get himself the goddess of the kingdom of the dead, Persephone, as his wife. By this act, Theseus crossed the measure of the possible set by the gods for the heroes, and thereby became a disobedient and impudent hero. He would have remained in Hades, where he was forever chained to the rock of Pirithous, if not for Hercules, who saved Theseus and sent him to Athens. Hercules freed him from Hades, part of his seat remained on the rock.

An equally daring act of Theseus was the abduction of Helen, who was beaten back by the brothers and later became the cause of the Trojan War. Taking Elena as his wife, Theseus built a temple to Aphrodite Nymphia in the region of Troezen. Returning from his campaign in the kingdom of Hades, he found the throne occupied by Menestheus.

A separate story is the story of how Phaedra, Theseus' wife, falling in love with her stepson Hippolytus, unsuccessfully persuaded him to love. Unable to achieve Hippolytus, she slandered him before her father, after which Theseus cursed his son and he died. Then Phaedra hanged herself, and Theseus found out the truth.

historical prototype

Eusebius of Caesarea in his chronography calls Theseus the 10th king of Athens, who ruled 30 years after Aegeus from 1234 to 1205. BC e. Plutarch, in his biography of Theseus, gives evidence of the real existence of such an ancient king in Athens. Many details are taken by Plutarch from Philochor, the author of the 3rd century BC. BC e.

During the reign of Theseus, the Athenians killed the son of Minos Androgeus, for which they had to pay tribute to Crete by Athenian boys. However, Theseus himself went to the competition, established by Minos in memory of his dead son, and defeated the Minotaur, the strongest of the Cretans, as a result of which the tribute to the boys was canceled.

Theseus gathered the Athenians, who lived scattered throughout their country, into a single community, and became the real founder of Athens. Here is how Plutarch (Theseus) writes about it:

“He gathered all the inhabitants of Attica, making them one people, citizens of one city, while before they were scattered, they were hardly able to convene, even if it was a matter of common good, and often strife and real wars flared up between them. Going around dem after dem and clan after clan, he explained his plan everywhere, ordinary citizens and the poor quickly bowed to his exhortations, and to influential people he promised a state without a king, a democratic structure that would give him, Theseus, only a place of military leader and guardian of laws, in the rest, he will bring equality to everyone, and he managed to persuade some, while others, fearing his courage and power, by that time already considerable, preferred to give in to goodness rather than submit to coercion. (...) He erected a single pritanei and council house common to all in the current old part of the city, he called the city Athens (...)

In an effort to further enlarge the city, Theseus called everyone into it, offering the rights of citizenship (...) But he did not allow the disorderly crowds of immigrants to cause confusion and disorder in the state - he first singled out the estates of the noble, landowners and artisans, and left it to the noble to judge the worship of God , to occupy the highest positions, as well as to teach laws and interpret divine and human institutions, although on the whole, as it were, he equalized all three estates among themselves (...) About the fact that Theseus, according to Aristotle, was the first to show favor to the common people and abandoned autocracy , apparently, Homer also testifies, in the “List of Ships” he calls only the Athenians “people”.

Theseus kidnapped one of the Amazons, Antiope, because of which the Amazons invaded Attica, and only with great difficulty did the Athenians defeat the warriors. After the death of Antiope, Theseus married Phaedra and had a son, Hippolytus, from her. Then Theseus, at the age of 50, went with friends to Epirus for the daughter of the king of the Molossians (an Epirus tribe), where he was captured and thrown into prison. When he was able to return to Athens, he found a discontented people, incited against him by Menestheus. Having been defeated in the fight against enemies, Theseus retired to the island of Skyros, and died there, either killed by the king of Skyros Lycomedes, or simply falling off a rocky cliff.

According to Eusebius, Theseus was expelled from Athens by ostracism, a rule against tyranny, which he himself first introduced as a law. The Athenian throne was occupied by Menestheus.

Veneration in Attica

The cult of Theseus, as an ancestor hero, existed in Attica. Its special surge in the historical era occurred after the appearance of the shadow of the king at the Battle of Marathon, which is believed to have helped the Greeks to win.

The birth of Theseus is unusual. On the part of his father, Theseus had among his ancestors the autochthonous Erichthonius, born from the seed of Hephaestus Gaia and raised by Athena, and the autochthonous Kranay and the first Attic king Kekrop. The ancestors of Theseus are wise half-snakes, half-people. However, Theseus himself is a representative of pure heroism, he is at the same time the son of a man and a god. On the mother's side, Theseus is descended from Pelops, the father of Pittheus, Atreus and Fiesta, and therefore from Tantalus and, finally, from Zeus himself.

exploits

Leaving Ephra, Aegeus asked to raise his future son, without naming his father, and left him his sword and sandals, placing them under a large stone, so that, having matured, Theseus, in his father’s sandals and with his sword, went to Athens to Aegeus, but so that no one knew about it, since Aegeus was afraid of the intrigues of the Pallantides (children of his younger brother Pallant), who claimed power because of Aegeus's childlessness. Ephra hides the true origin of Theseus and Pittheus spread the rumor that the boy was born from Poseidon (the most revered god in Troezen). When Theseus grew up, Ephra revealed to him the secret of his birth and ordered, taking Aegeus' things, to go to Athens to his father.

Theseus went to Athens not by the easy way - by sea, but by land, through the Isthmus of Corinth, along a particularly dangerous road, where robbers and descendants of monsters lay in wait for travelers on the way from Megara to Athens. On the way, Theseus defeated and killed:

Robber Perifeth, son of Hephaestus, who killed travelers with a copper club.
Robber Sinis, (nicknamed the Bender of the pines), who lived in a pine grove and cracked down on travelers, tying them to two bent pines.
The robber Skiron, who forced travelers to wash his feet at the cliff and kicked them into the abyss, where the unfortunate ones were eaten by a giant tortoise.
The robber Kerkion, who forced travelers to fight to the death.
Robber Damast (nicknamed Procrustes).

When Minos came for the third time for tribute, Theseus decided to go himself to Creteto measure strength with the monstrous Minotaur, to which the victims were condemned to be eaten. As Isocrates writes: "Theseus was indignant to such an extent that he preferred to die rather than remain alive as the head of the state, forced to pay such a mournful tribute to the enemies." According to Hellanic, there was no lot, and Minos himself arrived in Athens and chose Theseus.

The ship set off under a black sail, but Theseus took with him a spare white one, under which he was supposed to return home after defeating the monster. On the way to Crete, Theseus proved to Minos his origin from Poseidonby taking from the bottom of the sea a ring thrown by Minos. Theseus and his companions were placed in a labyrinth where Theseus killed the Minotaur. Theseus and his companions got out of the labyrinth thanks to the help of Ariadne, who fell in love with Theseus. According to the version, he escaped from the labyrinth thanks to the radiance emitted by the crown of Ariadne. At night, Theseus, with the Athenian youth and Ariadne, secretly fled to the island of Naxos. Caught there by a storm, Theseus, not wanting to take Ariadne to Athens, left her when she was sleeping. However, Ariadne was kidnapped by Dionysus, who was in love with her. According to a number of mythographers, Theseus was forced to leave Ariadne on the island, because Dionysus appeared to him in a dream and said that the girl should belong to him.

Theseus went on, forgetting to change the sails, which caused the death of Aegeus, who threw himself into the sea when he saw a black sail and thereby assured himself of the death of his son. According to legend, that is why the sea is called the Aegean. There is also a version that Minos made sacrifices to the gods and the god Apollo managed to arrange a sudden storm that carried away the “victorious” white sail - that is why Theseus was forced to return under a black sail and Aegeus' long-standing curse came true. According to Simonides, Aegeus was not waiting for white, but "purple sail, painted with the juice of flowers of a branchy oak." Returning from Crete, Theseus erected a temple to Artemis Sotere at Troezen. The 30-oared ship of Theseus, according to legend, was kept in Athens until the era of Demetrius of Phaler, giving rise to the paradox of the same name by the fact of its storage.

Other activities

Established the state system and democracy in 1259/58 BC. e. .

According to some reports, he arranged the Isthmian Games in honor of Melikert.

Poseidon promised him three wishes.

According to the Athenian version, at the head of the Athenian army, he defeated the Thebans of Creon, who refused to hand over the corpses of the fallen.

Together with Hercules, he participated in the campaign for the belt of the Amazons.

Participated in the battle with the centaurs who rampaged at the wedding of Pirithous, Theseus' closest friend. Signs of friendship between Theseus and Pirithous are buried near the Hollow Chalice in Colon. But he was not among the Argonauts, since at that time he helped Pirithous to get himself the goddess of the kingdom of the dead Persephone as his wife. By this act, Theseus crossed the measure of the possible set by the gods for the heroes, and thereby became a disobedient and impudent hero. He would have remained in Hades, where he was forever chained to the rock of Pirithous, if not for Hercules, who saved Theseus and sent him to Athens. Hercules freed him from Hades, part of his seat remained on the rock.

Theseus was forced to go into exile, unable to pacify his enemies. When the Athenians drove him away, he went to Crete to Deucalion, but due to the winds he was brought to Skyros. He secretly sent the children to Euboea, and he himself, cursing the Athenians, sailed to the island of Skyros, where Father Theseus once had land. But the king of Skyros, Lycomedes, not wanting to part with his land, treacherously killed Theseus by pushing him off a cliff. Theseus was buried at Skyros.
A separate story is the story of how Phaedra, Theseus' wife, falling in love with her stepson Hippolytus, unsuccessfully persuaded him to love. Unable to achieve Hippolytus, she slandered him before her father, after which Theseus cursed his son and he died. Then Phaedra hanged herself, and Theseus found out the truth.

historical prototype

Ancient authors have long sought to consider the image of Theseus not as a mythical hero, but as a real historical character (Plutarch is the main source). Their interpretation is as follows:

Veneration in Attica

Image in literature and art

According to Hegesianact, became the constellation of the Kneeling One, and Theseus' lyre became the constellation of Lyra.

In 1923, M. Tsvetaeva conceived the dramatic trilogy "The Wrath of Aphrodite". The main character of the trilogy is Theseus. Parts of the trilogy were to be named after the women whom Theseus loved: the first part - "Ariadne", the second - "Phaedra", the third - "Helen". "Ariadne: Theseus' early youth: eighteen years old; Phaedra: Theseus' maturity, forty years; Elena: Theseus' old age: sixty years old," wrote Tsvetaeva. The first part of the trilogy - "Ariadne" - Tsvetaeva finished in 1924, "Phaedra" - in 1927, "Elena" was not written.

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Notes

Diodorus Siculus. Historical Library IV 59, 1
// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
centant.spbu.ru/centrum/publik/kafsbor/mnemon/2008/37.pdf
Diodorus Siculus. Historical Library IV 59, 1
Pausanias. Description of Hellas II 32, 9
Plutarch. Comparative biographies, Theseus, V: text in other Greek. And
Pausanias. Description of Hellas I 27, 8
Pausanias. Description of Hellas II 32, 7
Pausanias. Description of Hellas I 19, 1
Plutarch. Comparative biographies, Theseus, XII: text in other Greek. And
Plutarch. Comparative biographies, Theseus, XVIII: text in other Greek. And
Plutarch. Comparative biographies, Theseus, XXII: text in other Greek. and , a reference to Diodorus the Traveler
Euripides. Hercules 1327
Plutarch. Comparative biographies, Theseus, XVI: text in other Greek. And
Virgil. Aeneid VI 21
First Vatican Mythographer I 43, 6
Plutarch. Comparative biographies, Theseus, XVII: text in other Greek. And
Pseudo-Eratosthenes. Catasterisms 5; Hygin. Astronomy II 5, 1
Scholia to Homer. Iliad XVIII 590; Eustathius // Losev A.F. Mythology of the Greeks and Romans. M., 1996. S.246
Plutarch. Comparative biographies, Theseus, XXI: text in other Greek. and , a reference to Dikearchus; Table Talk VIII 4, 3; Pausanias. Description of Hellas VIII 48, 3
Pausanias. Description of Hellas IX 40, 3-4
Pausanias. Description of Hellas II 31, 1
Plutarch. Comparative biographies, Theseus, XXIII: text in other Greek. And
Parian Chronicle 20
Hygin. Myths 273
Euripides. Ippolit 46
Euripides. Pleading 650-724
Euripides. Heracleides 216
Pseudo Apollodorus. Mythological Library I 8, 2; Pausanias. Description of Hellas VIII 45, 6; Ovid. Metamorphoses VIII 303; Hygin. Myths 173
Pseudo Apollodorus. Mythological Library I 9, 16; Hygin. Myths 14 (p.25)
Pseudo-Hesiod. Shield of Hercules 182; Pausanias. Description of Hellas I 17, 2
Sophocles. Oedipus at Colon 1593
Apollonius of Rhodes. Argonautica I 100-103
Euripides. Hercules 619
First Vatican Mythographer I 48, 8
Pausanias. Description of Hellas I 17, 6
Lycophron. Alexandra 1326
Hygin. Astronomy II 6, 2
Plutarch. Theseus 29

Links

Myths of the peoples of the world. M., 1991-92. In 2 vols. T.2. P.502-504, Lübker F. Real Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. M., 2001. In 3 volumes. T.3. pp.393-394
Plutarch. Comparative biographies, Theseus: text in other Greek. And
Gushchin V. R. 2000: // Political history and historiography from antiquity to the present. Issue. 3. Petrozavodsk, 34-46.
Gushchin V. R. 2002: // Antiquity and the Middle Ages of Europe: interuniversity. Sat. scientific tr. / I. L. Mayak, A. Z. Nyurkaeva (ed.). Perm, 10-18.



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An excerpt characterizing Theseus

Natasha ran into the house and tiptoed in through the half-open door of the sofa room, from which there was a smell of vinegar and Hoffmann's drops.
Are you sleeping, mom?
- Oh, what a dream! said the countess, who had just dozed off, waking up.
“Mom, my dear,” said Natasha, kneeling in front of her mother and putting her face close to hers. - I'm sorry, I'll never be, I woke you up. Mavra Kuzminishna sent me, they brought the wounded here, officers, will you? And they have nowhere to go; I know that you will allow ... - she said quickly, without taking a breath.
What officers? Who was brought? I don’t understand anything,” said the countess.
Natasha laughed, the countess also smiled faintly.
- I knew that you would allow ... so I will say so. - And Natasha, kissing her mother, got up and went to the door.
In the hall she met her father, who returned home with bad news.
- We sat down! said the Count with involuntary annoyance. “And the club is closed, and the police are coming out.
- Dad, is it okay that I invited the wounded to the house? Natasha told him.
“Nothing, of course,” the Count said absently. “That’s not the point, but now I ask you not to deal with trifles, but to help pack and go, go, go tomorrow ...” And the count gave the butler and people the same order. At dinner, Petya returned and told his news.
He said that today the people were dismantling weapons in the Kremlin, that although Rostopchin’s poster said that he would call the cry in two days, but that an order had probably been made that tomorrow all the people would go to the Three Mountains with weapons, and that there there will be a big fight.
The Countess looked with timid horror at the cheerful, heated face of her son while he was saying this. She knew that if she said a word that she asked Petya not to go to this battle (she knew that he rejoiced at this upcoming battle), then he would say something about men, about honor, about the fatherland - something like that. meaningless, masculine, stubborn, against which one cannot object, and the matter will be spoiled, and therefore, hoping to arrange so that she could leave before that and take Petya with her as a protector and patron, she did not say anything to Petya, and after dinner called the count and with tears she begged him to take her away as soon as possible, on the same night, if possible. With a feminine, involuntary cunning of love, she, who had shown perfect fearlessness until now, said that she would die of fear if they did not leave that night. She, without pretending, was now afraid of everything.

Mme Schoss, who visited her daughter, increased the Countess's fear even more with stories about what she had seen on Myasnitskaya Street in a pub. Returning down the street, she could not get home from the drunken crowd of people raging at the office. She took a cab and drove around the lane home; and the driver told her that the people were breaking barrels in the drinking office, which was so ordered.
After dinner, all the Rostov households with enthusiastic haste set to work packing their things and preparing for departure. The old count, suddenly set to work, continued to walk from the yard to the house and back after dinner, stupidly shouting at the people in a hurry and hurrying them even more. Petya was in charge in the yard. Sonya did not know what to do under the influence of the count's conflicting orders, and was completely at a loss. People, shouting, arguing and making noise, ran around the rooms and the yard. Natasha, with her characteristic passion in everything, suddenly also set to work. At first, her intervention in the matter of packing was met with disbelief. Everyone expected a joke from her and did not want to listen to her; but with stubbornness and passion she demanded obedience to herself, became angry, almost wept that they did not listen to her, and finally achieved that they believed in her. Her first feat, which cost her great effort and gave her power, was laying carpets. The count had expensive gobelins and Persian rugs in his house. When Natasha got down to business, there were two open boxes in the hall: one almost to the top with porcelain, the other with carpets. There was still a lot of porcelain set on the tables, and everything was still being carried from the pantry. It was necessary to start a new, third box, and people followed him.
“Sonya, wait, let’s put everything in this way,” said Natasha.
“It’s impossible, young lady, they already tried it,” said the barmaid.
– No, stop, please. - And Natasha began to get dishes and plates wrapped in paper from the drawer.
“The dishes should be here, in the carpets,” she said.
“Yes, and God forbid, put the carpets into three boxes,” said the barman.
- Wait, please. - And Natasha quickly, deftly began to disassemble. “It’s not necessary,” she said about Kyiv plates, “yes, it’s in carpets,” she said about Saxon dishes.
- Yes, leave it, Natasha; Well, that’s enough, we’ll put it down, ”Sonya said reproachfully.
- Oh, young lady! the butler said. But Natasha did not give up, threw out all the things and quickly began to pack again, deciding that bad home carpets and extra dishes should not be taken at all. When everything was taken out, they began to lay again. And indeed, throwing out almost everything cheap, what was not worth taking with you, everything of value was put into two boxes. Only the lid of the carpet box did not close. It was possible to take out a few things, but Natasha wanted to insist on her own. She packed, shifted, pressed, forced the barman and Petya, whom she dragged along into the business of packing, to press the lid and herself made desperate efforts.
“Come on, Natasha,” Sonya told her. - I see you're right, take out the top one.
“I don’t want to,” Natasha shouted, holding her loose hair over her sweaty face with one hand, pressing the carpets with the other. - Yes, press it, Petka, press it! Vasilyich, press! she shouted. The carpets pressed down and the lid closed. Natasha, clapping her hands, squealed with joy, and tears gushed from her eyes. But it lasted for a second. She immediately set to work on another matter, and they completely believed her, and the count was not angry when they told him that Natalya Ilyinishna had canceled his order, and the servants came to Natasha to ask: should the cart be tied or not and was it enough imposed? The matter was argued thanks to Natasha's orders: unnecessary things were left and the most expensive things were packed in the most cramped way.
But no matter how busy all the people were, by late at night not everything could be packed. The countess fell asleep, and the count, postponing his departure until morning, went to bed.
Sonya and Natasha slept without undressing in the sofa room. That night, a new wounded man was being transported through Povarskaya, and Mavra Kuzminishna, who was standing at the gate, turned him around to the Rostovs. This wounded man, according to Mavra Kuzminishna, was a very significant person. He was carried in a carriage completely covered with an apron and with the top down. An old man, a respectable valet, was sitting on the goats with the driver. Behind the cart were a doctor and two soldiers.
- Come to us, please. The gentlemen are leaving, the whole house is empty,” said the old woman, turning to the old servant.
- Yes, - answered the valet, sighing, - and not to bring tea! We have our own house in Moscow, but far away, and no one lives.
“We are welcome, our masters have a lot of everything, please,” said Mavra Kuzminishna. - Are you very unhealthy? she added.
The valet waved his hand.
- Do not bring tea! You need to ask the doctor. And the valet got off the goat and went up to the wagon.
“Good,” said the doctor.
The valet again went up to the carriage, looked into it, shook his head, ordered the coachman to turn into the yard, and stopped beside Mavra Kuzminishna.
- Lord Jesus Christ! she said.
Mavra Kuzminishna offered to bring the wounded man into the house.
“The Lord won’t say anything…” she said. But it was necessary to avoid climbing the stairs, and therefore the wounded man was carried into the wing and laid in the former room of m me Schoss. This wounded man was Prince Andrei Bolkonsky.

The last day of Moscow has come. It was clear, cheerful autumn weather. It was Sunday. As on ordinary Sundays, the gospel was announced for mass in all churches. No one, it seemed, could yet understand what awaited Moscow.
Only two indicators of the state of society expressed the situation in which Moscow was: the mob, that is, the class of poor people, and the prices of objects. Factory workers, servants and peasants in a huge crowd, in which officials, seminarians, noblemen got involved, on this day, early in the morning, went to the Three Mountains. After standing there and not waiting for Rostopchin and making sure that Moscow would be surrendered, this crowd scattered around Moscow, to drinking houses and taverns. Prices that day also indicated the state of affairs. The prices of weapons, gold, carts and horses kept going up, while the prices of paper money and city things kept going down, so that in the middle of the day there were cases when cabbies took out expensive goods, like cloth, from the floor, and for a peasant horse paid five hundred rubles; furniture, mirrors, bronzes were given away for free.
In the sedate and old house of the Rostovs, the disintegration of the former living conditions expressed itself very weakly. With regard to people, it was only that three people from a huge household disappeared during the night; but nothing was stolen; and with regard to the prices of things, it turned out that the thirty carts that came from the villages were enormous wealth, which many envied and for which Rostov was offered huge money. Not only did they offer a lot of money for these carts, from the evening and early morning of September 1, orderlies and servants from wounded officers came to the Rostovs’ courtyard and dragged the wounded themselves, placed at the Rostovs and in neighboring houses, and begged the Rostovs’ people to take care of that they were given carts to leave Moscow. The butler, who was approached with such requests, although he felt sorry for the wounded, resolutely refused, saying that he would not even dare to report this to the count. No matter how pitiful the remaining wounded were, it was obvious that if you gave up one cart, there was no reason not to give up another, that's all - to give up your crews. Thirty carts could not save all the wounded, and in the general disaster it was impossible not to think about yourself and your family. So thought the butler for his master.
Waking up on the morning of the 1st, Count Ilya Andreich quietly left the bedroom, so as not to wake the countess who had just fallen asleep by morning, and in his purple silk dressing gown went out onto the porch. The carts, tied up, stood in the yard. The carriages were at the porch. The butler stood at the entrance, talking to an old batman and a young, pale officer with a bandaged arm. The butler, seeing the count, made a significant and stern sign to the officer and orderly to leave.
- Well, is everything ready, Vasilich? - said the count, rubbing his bald head and looking good-naturedly at the officer and orderly and nodding his head to them. (The count liked new faces.)
- At least harness now, Your Excellency.
- Well, that's nice, the countess will wake up, and with God! What are you, gentlemen? he turned to the officer. - In my house? The officer moved closer. His pale face suddenly flushed bright red.
- Count, do me a favor, let me ... for God's sake ... shelter somewhere on your carts. I don’t have anything with me here ... I don’t care in the cart ... - the officer had not yet managed to finish, as the batman turned to the count with the same request for his master.
- A! yes, yes, yes,” said the count hastily. - I'm very, very happy. Vasilyich, you order, well, clear one or two carts there, well, there ... what ... what is needed ... - with some kind of vague expressions, ordering something, the count said. But at the same moment, the officer's warm expression of gratitude already confirmed what he ordered. The count looked around him: in the yard, at the gate, in the window of the wing, one could see the wounded and orderlies. They all looked at the count and moved towards the porch.
- Please, Your Excellency, to the gallery: what do you want about the paintings there? the butler said. And the count entered the house with him, repeating his order not to refuse the wounded who ask to go.
“Well, then, you can put something together,” he added in a low, mysterious voice, as if afraid that someone would hear him.
At nine o'clock the countess woke up, and Matrena Timofeevna, her former maid, who had acted as chief of the gendarmes in relation to the countess, came to report to her former young lady that Marya Karlovna was very offended and that the young lady's summer dresses should not stay here. When asked by the countess why mme Schoss was offended, it was revealed that her chest was removed from the cart and all the carts were being untied - they were taking off the good and taking the wounded with them, whom the count, in his simplicity, ordered to take with him. The countess ordered to ask her husband.
- What is it, my friend, I hear things are being filmed again?
- You know, ma chere, I wanted to tell you this ... ma chere countess ... an officer came to me, asking me to give a few carts for the wounded. After all, this is all a matter of gain; But what is it like for them to stay, think! .. Really, in our yard, we ourselves invited them, there are officers here. You know, I think it’s right, ma chere, here, ma chere… let them take them… where is the hurry?.. – The count said this timidly, as he always said when it came to money. The Countess, however, was accustomed to this tone, which always preceded the deed that ruined the children, like some kind of construction of a gallery, a greenhouse, the installation of a home theater or music - and she was used to, and considered it her duty to always oppose what was expressed in this timid tone.
She assumed her meekly deplorable air and said to her husband:
“Listen, Count, you have brought it to the point that they don’t give anything for the house, and now you want to ruin all of our - children’s fortune. After all, you yourself say that there is a hundred thousand good in the house. I, my friend, disagree and disagree. Your will! There is government on the wounded. They know. Look: over there, at the Lopukhins, everything was taken out clean on the third day. That's how people do it. We alone are fools. Have pity at least not on me, but on the children.
The count waved his hands and, without saying anything, left the room.
- Dad! what are you talking about? Natasha told him, following him into her mother's room.
- About nothing! What do you care! said the Count angrily.
“No, I heard,” Natasha said. Why doesn't mommy want to?
– What is your business? shouted the count. Natasha went to the window and thought.
“Papa, Berg has come to visit us,” she said, looking out the window.

Berg, the son-in-law of the Rostovs, was already a colonel with Vladimir and Anna around his neck and occupied the same quiet and pleasant position of assistant chief of staff, assistant to the first department of the chief of staff of the second corps.
On September 1, he came from the army to Moscow.
He had nothing to do in Moscow; but he noticed that everyone from the army asked to go to Moscow and did something there. He also considered it necessary to take time off for household and family affairs.
Berg, in his neat little droshky, on a pair of well-fed, savras little ones, exactly the same as one prince had, drove up to his father-in-law's house. He looked attentively into the yard at the carts and, entering the porch, took out a clean handkerchief and tied a knot.
From the ante-room Berg, with a floating, impatient step, ran into the drawing-room and embraced the count, kissed the hands of Natasha and Sonya, and hurriedly asked about mother's health.
What is your health now? Well, tell me, - said the count, - what about the troops? Are they retreating or will there be more fighting?
“One eternal god, father,” said Berg, “can decide the fate of the fatherland. The army is burning with the spirit of heroism, and now the leaders, so to speak, have gathered for a meeting. What will happen is unknown. But I’ll tell you in general, dad, such a heroic spirit, truly ancient courage of the Russian troops, which they - it, - he corrected, - showed or showed in this battle on the 26th, there are no words worthy to describe them ... I’ll tell you, dad (he hit himself in the chest in the same way as one general who spoke in front of him hit himself, although a little late, because it was necessary to hit himself in the chest at the word "Russian army") - I will tell you frankly that we, the bosses, not only did we not have to urge the soldiers or anything like that, but we could hardly hold on to these, these ... yes, courageous and ancient feats, ”he said quickly. “General Barclay before Tolly sacrificed his life everywhere in front of the troops, I'll tell you. Our body was placed on the slope of the mountain. Can you imagine! - And then Berg told everything that he remembered from the various stories he had heard during this time. Natasha, not lowering her gaze, which confused Berg, as if looking for the solution of some question on his face, looked at him.
- Such heroism in general, which Russian soldiers showed, cannot be imagined and deservedly praised! - Berg said, looking back at Natasha and as if wanting to appease her, smiling at her in response to her stubborn look ... - "Russia is not in Moscow, it is in the hearts of all sons!" So, papa? Berg said.
At that moment, the Countess came out of the sofa-room, looking tired and displeased. Berg hastily jumped up, kissed the countess's hand, inquired about her health, and, expressing his sympathy by shaking his head, stopped beside her.
- Yes, mother, I will tell you truly, hard and sad times for every Russian. But why worry so much? You still have time to leave...
“I don’t understand what people are doing,” said the countess, turning to her husband, “they just told me that nothing is ready yet. After all, someone has to take care of it. So you will regret Mitenka. Will this end?
The count wanted to say something, but apparently refrained. He got up from his chair and walked to the door.
Berg at this time, as if to blow his nose, took out a handkerchief and, looking at the bundle, fell into thought, shaking his head sadly and significantly.
“And I have a big request for you, dad,” he said.
- Hm? .. - said the count, stopping.
“I’m driving past Yusupov’s house right now,” Berg said, laughing. - The manager is familiar to me, ran out and asked if you could buy something. I came in, you know, out of curiosity, and there was only a wardrobe and a toilet. You know how much Verushka wanted this and how we argued about it. (Berg involuntarily turned into a tone of joy about his well-being when he began to talk about a chiffonier and a toilet.) And such a charm! comes forward with the English secret, you know? And Verochka has long wanted to. So I want to surprise her. I saw so many of these men in your yard. Give me one, please, I'll pay him well and...
The Count winced and sighed.
“Ask the countess, but I don’t order.
“If it’s difficult, please don’t,” Berg said. - I would only really like for Verushka.
“Ah, get out of here, all of you, to hell, to hell, to hell, to hell!” shouted the old count. - My head is spinning. And he left the room.
The Countess wept.
- Yes, yes, mama, very hard times! Berg said.
Natasha went out with her father and, as if thinking something with difficulty, first followed him, and then ran downstairs.
On the porch stood Petya, who was engaged in arming people who were traveling from Moscow. In the yard, the laid wagons were still standing. Two of them were untied, and an officer, supported by a batman, climbed onto one of them.
- Do you know why? - Petya asked Natasha (Natasha realized that Petya understood: why father and mother quarreled). She didn't answer.
“Because papa wanted to give all the carts to the wounded,” said Petya. “Vassilyitch told me. In my opinion…

When Theseus came to Athens, all of Attica was plunged into deep sorrow. For the third time, ambassadors arrived from Crete from the mighty king Minos for tribute. This tribute was heavy and shameful. The Athenians were to send seven boys and seven girls to Crete every nine years. There they were locked in the huge palace of the Labyrinth, and they were devoured by the terrible monster Minotaur, with the body of a man and the head of a bull. Minos imposed this tribute on the Athenians because they killed his son Androgeus.

Now for the third time the Athenians had to send a terrible tribute to Crete. They have already outfitted a ship with black sails as a sign of mourning for the young victims of the Minotaur. Seeing the general sadness, the young hero Theseus decided to go with the Athenian boys and girls to Crete, free them and stop paying this terrible tribute. It was possible to stop paying only by killing the Minotaur.

Therefore, Theseus decided to fight the Minotaur and either kill him or die. The aged Aegeus did not want to hear about the departure of his only son, but Theseus insisted on his own.

He made a sacrifice to Apollo-Delphinius, the patron saint of sea travel, and just before his departure, an oracle was given to him from Delphi, so that he would choose the goddess of love Aphrodite as the patroness in this feat. Calling Aphrodite for help and making a sacrifice to her, Theseus went to Crete.
The ship happily arrived at the island of Crete. The Athenian boys and girls were taken to Minos. The powerful king of Crete immediately drew attention to the beautiful young hero.

The daughter of the king, Ariadne, also noticed him, and the patroness of Theseus, Aphrodite, aroused in the heart of Ariadne a strong love for the young son of Aegeus. The daughter of Minos decided to help Theseus; she could not even imagine that the young hero would die in the Labyrinth, torn to pieces by the Minotaur.
Ariadne gave Theseus secretly from her father a sharp sword and a ball of thread.

When Theseus and all those doomed to be torn to pieces were taken to the Labyrinth, Theseus tied the end of a ball of thread at the entrance to the Labyrinth and went through the intricate endless passages of the Labyrinth, from which it was impossible to find a way out; he gradually unwound the ball in order to find the way back along the thread.

With a formidable roar, bowing his head with huge sharp horns, the Minotaur rushed at the young hero, and a terrible battle began. The Minotaur, full of rage, rushed at Theseus several times, but he repelled him with his sword.

Finally, Theseus grabbed the Minotaur by the horn and plunged his sharp sword into his chest. Having killed the Minotaur, Theseus left the Labyrinth along the thread of the ball and brought out all the Athenian boys and girls.

At the exit they were met by Ariadne; she joyfully greeted Theseus. The young men and women, saved by Theseus, rejoiced. Decorated with wreaths of roses, glorifying the hero and his patroness Aphrodite, they led a cheerful round dance.

Now it was necessary to take care of the salvation from the wrath of Minos. Theseus quickly equipped his ship and, having cut through the bottom of all the Cretan ships pulled ashore, quickly set off on his way back to Athens. Ariadne followed Theseus, whom she fell in love with. On the way back, Theseus landed on the coast of Naxos. When Theseus and his companions were resting from their journey, Dionysus, the god of wine, appeared to Theseus in a dream and told him that he must leave Ariadne on the deserted coast of Naxos, since the gods appointed her as his wife to him, the god Dionysus.

Theseus woke up and, full of sadness, quickly got ready to go. He did not dare to disobey the will of the gods. The goddess was Ariadne, the wife of the great Dionysus. The companions of Dionysus Ariadne greeted loudly and glorified the wife of the great god with singing.
And the ship of Theseus quickly rushed on his black sails across the azure sea. The coast of Attica has already appeared in the distance. Theseus forgot, saddened by the loss of Ariadne, the promise given to Aegeus - to replace the black sails with white ones, if he, having defeated the Minotaur, happily returns to Athens.

Aegeus was waiting for his son. With his eyes fixed on the sea distance, he stood on a high rock near the seashore. A black dot appeared in the distance, it grows, approaching the shore.

This is his son's ship. He is getting closer. Aegeus looks, straining his eyes, - what kind of sails are on it.
No, white sails do not shine in the sun, sails are black. So, Theseus died. In desperation, Aegeus threw himself from a high cliff into the sea and died in the sea waves; only his lifeless body was washed ashore by the waves. Since then, the sea in which Aegeus perished has been called the Aegean.

And Theseus landed on the shores of Attica and already offered thanksgiving sacrifices to the gods, when suddenly, to his horror, he found out that he had become the unwitting cause of his father's death. With great honors, the heartbroken Theseus buried the body of his father, and after the funeral he assumed power over Athens.

Myths and legends of ancient Greece. Illustrations.

Character of ancient Greek mythology. Son of Ephra, daughter of King Pittheus. Theseus has two fathers at the same time - the king of the city of Athens and the god of the sea, both lay down with Ephra on the same night. One of the most famous characters in the mythology of ancient Greece, mentioned in the Odyssey and the Iliad.

History of appearance

Ancient authors interpret the image of Theseus, trying to find the historical basis of the myth and "discover" a person who once really existed, which became the prototype of the mythological hero. In the chronography of the Roman historian Eusebius of Caesarea, Theseus is named the tenth king of Athens. The hero is believed to have ruled after his own father, Aegeus, from 1234 to 1205 BC. The ancient Greek writer provides evidence that the ancient king, named in myths as Theseus, the son of Aegeus, really existed and ruled Athens.

The myth about the supporters of the real existence of King Theseus is interpreted as follows. The son of the king was killed by the Athenians during the reign of Theseus, for which Crete imposed tribute on Athens. Minos instituted competitions in memory of his murdered son, and ordered the Athenians to pay tribute in boys. The king personally went to Crete, where he took part in the competition. The minotaur in this version is not a mythical monster, but the strongest among the Cretan warriors, whom Theseus defeats in a fight. After that, the tribute by the Athenian boys no longer came to Crete and was canceled.

According to legend, the "historical" Theseus was the first to establish the procedure for ostracism. This is a mechanism to protect society from tyranny, when free citizens gather to vote and write on potsherds the name of someone who, in their opinion, threatens democracy. If the name of the same person turned out to be written on more than 6000 shards, he was expelled from the city. It was in this way that Theseus himself was expelled from Athens.

The myth of Theseus and the Minotaur

The Cretan king Minos laid a heavy tribute on the Athenians in retaliation for the fact that Androgey, the son of Minos, died in Athens. Every nine years the Athenians had to send seven girls and seven boys to Crete. According to other versions, tribute was paid once a year or once every seven years, the number of boys and girls also varies.

Under Theseus, such a tribute was sent twice, and when this was to happen for the third time, Theseus decided to sail to Crete himself along with another batch of victims. Athenian boys and girls in Crete were given to be devoured by the Minotaur - a monster with a human body and a bull's head.

The Minotaur was born by the wife of King Minos Pasiphae, who got along with the bull. Especially for the queen, they made a wooden cow, in which she lay down to seduce the bull. King Minos locked the monstrous fruit of this passion in the Knossos labyrinth and fed the criminals who were thrown into the labyrinth, as well as the "tribute" that was sent from Athens.

For Theseus, this tribute seemed so insulting that the hero decided to risk his own life and fight the monster in order to save Athens from having to send her young citizens to be devoured. According to another version, King Minos, who arrived in Athens, himself chose Theseus as the next victim.

The ship left Athens under a black sail. However, Theseus took with him a white one. It was assumed that in the event of a successful completion of the “operation”, Theseus would change the black sail to white, so that those waiting for the hero on the shore would know in advance that he was returning with a victory.

During the voyage, Minos threw a ring into the sea, and Theseus pulled it out from the bottom, thereby proving that he was descended from the god of the seas, Poseidon.

Upon arrival in Crete, Theseus, along with his companions, was thrown into a labyrinth. There, the hero killed the Minotaur with his bare hands (or, according to another version, with a sword).

The daughter of King Minos and Pasiphae helped Theseus to get out of the labyrinth. The girl fell in love with the hero and presented him with a ball of thread as a gift, advising him to tie the end of the thread at the entrance to the labyrinth. Passing through the labyrinth, Theseus unwound the thread, thus marking the path, and then went back along the same thread with his companions. At night, the Athenian youth saved from the Minotaur, together with the hero and Ariadne, fled from Crete to the island of Naxos.

There, the fugitives are overtaken by a storm and Theseus leaves Ariadne, and he leaves the island while she is sleeping, because he does not want to take the girl with him to Athens. The god of winemaking is in love with Ariadne, who kidnaps the girl left by Theseus. According to one version, Dionysus even appears to Theseus in a dream to claim his rights to Ariadne, and this is what forces the hero to leave the girl on the island.

Returning home, Theseus forgets to change the black sail to white. Aegeus, the father of the hero, sees a black sail on the horizon and, thinking that his son is dead, throws himself into the sea from grief. According to another version, the loss of the white sail contributed. King Minos made sacrifices to the gods, and by the will of Apollo, a storm happened, which carried away the white sail, symbolizing victory, so Theseus had to return under black.

The hero did not work out with Ariadne, but Theseus married Phaedra, another daughter of King Minos. Phaedra became the second wife of the hero, the first was the Amazon Antiope.

Screen adaptations

In 1971, the Soviet animator Alexandra Snezhko-Blotskaya created the animated film Labyrinth. The exploits of Theseus. The cartoon runs for 19 minutes. Theseus voices there. The cartoon begins with the fact that the young son of the Athenian king Theseus, who was raised by a centaur, goes back to Athens, to his father. On the way, the young man performs feats. The boar wins, which instilled fear in the neighborhood. Dealing with the robber Procrustes, cutting off his head.

Returning to Athens, the hero learns about the arrival of a ship from Crete. Once every nine years, this ship comes to Athens to collect tribute - fourteen Athenian girls and boys who will be eaten by the monster Minotaur. Theseus volunteers to sail to Crete along with the rest of the unfortunate victims in order to destroy the Minotaur. Having dealt with the monster, Theseus leaves the labyrinth using the thread of Ariadne, and then sails home to Athens with her.

The offended king Minos appeals for help to the god of winemaking Dionysus, so that he would return the daughter to the king. Dionysus makes a storm and takes Ariadne straight from the ship. Theseus returns home without his beloved and without a white sail that blows away during a storm. Theseus' father stands on a rock above the sea and looks out for his son's ship, and when he sees a mourning black sail instead of a white one, he throws himself into the sea.

In 2011, the adventure thriller "War of the Gods: Immortals" was released. Theseus was played by an English actor who appeared on the screens in 2017 in the role in the film "Justice League". The script of the film was created based on ancient Greek myths, but is very different from them.

Theseus here is a peasant youth who lives with his mother in a seaside village. The hero is taught how to wield weapons by a local old man, who later turns out to be a god of thunder. But Theseus himself does not believe in gods. Meanwhile, King Hyperion wants to free the titans from Tartarus so that they destroy the gods he hates, who let his family perish. To carry out his plan, the king needs an artifact - the Epirus bow.

When the troops of Hyperion ravage the village where Theseus lived, the hero finds himself in the salt mines. In the mines, the young man meets an oracle maiden who calls him the chosen one, and together the characters flee.

Later, Theseus finds the Epirus bow that Hyperion needs, defeats the Minotaur, who is sent by the evil king. Some of the gods enter the war on the side of Theseus. At the end of the film, the victorious Theseus ascends to Olympus.

Theseus and the Minotaur

The birth and upbringing of Theseus

King Aegeus once ruled in Athens. From the first kings of Attica he led his family, from Erichthonius himself, born of Gaia-Earth, the one whom the goddess Athena brought to the acropolis as a baby and raised in her temple. Aegeus was a wise and just king, his subjects honored him, he defeated his enemies, who unjustly challenged the Athenian throne. Only one thing saddened him: the gods did not give him children. Aegeus had two wives, and none gave him an heir. Then Aegeus went to the sacred Delphi to the oracle of Apollo and there he asked the luminous god why he was childless, would he have a son to whom he could leave his kingdom. Aegeus received an unclear answer from the oracle: "... do not untie the wineskins until you return to Athens." The king thought for a long time, trying to unravel the hidden meaning of the answer, but he could not understand it. And Aegeus decided to go to Pittheus, the ruler of the city of Troezen, famous throughout Hellas for his prudence, so that he would reveal to him the secret of the oracle. Pitfey immediately guessed the meaning of the answer. He understood that Aegeus should have a son who would become the great hero of Athens. But Pittheus wanted the honor of being the birthplace of the hero belonged to Troezen. Having drunk the guest drunk, he put Aegeus to sleep in the same bed with his daughter Ephra. On the same night, the god Poseidon himself, the shaker of the earth, the lord of the seas, entered Ephra and slept with her.

In due time, a boy was born to Ephra. They named the newborn Theseus. And it was believed that the baby had two fathers: one mortal - Aegeus, and the other - the immortal god Poseidon. Soon after the birth of Theseus, Aegeus left Troesena and returned to Athens. Leaving, he took his sword and sandals, put them under a huge stone in the mountains near Troesena and said to Efre:

- When my son is able to move this stone and get my sword and sandals, then send him with them to Athens. I recognize him by his sword and sandals.

Until the age of sixteen, Theseus was brought up in the house of his grandfather Pitfey, surpassing all his peers in beauty, strength, and dexterity. And then the day came when Ephra led her son to the treasured rock, under which lay the sword and sandals of Aegeus, and said:

“My son, here, under this rock, lie the sword and sandals of your father, the ruler of Athens. Move the rock if you can, take the sword and sandals, they will be the sign by which your father recognizes you, and go to Athens, the city in which you will rule by right of heir.

Theseus pushed the rock and easily moved it from its place. He took a sword and sandals, said goodbye to his mother and grandfather and set off on a long journey.

Theseus on his way to Athens

This path was difficult. Theseus did not heed the requests of his mother - to choose a safe path by sea. He decided to go to Athens by land, through the Isthmus, where the robbers were outrageous. Already on the border of Troesena and Epidaurus, Theseus met with the giant Periphetes, the son of the god Hephaestus. Periphetes was chromium, like his father, but his arms were powerful and his body huge. He was cruel and merciless. Not a single traveler passed through the mountains of Epidaurus, the giant killed everyone with his club, made from a whole oak trunk. But Theseus defeated the giant.

On Isthma, in a pine grove dedicated to Poseidon, Theseus was blocked by the robber Sinid, nicknamed the Sweeper. This ferocious robber betrayed travelers to a terrible death. Bending the pines so that they touched the tops, Sinid tied the unfortunate to the pines. Pine trees straightened with terrible force and tore the bodies of the victims of the bloodthirsty Sinid. Theseus tied the robber, bent two pine trees, tied the villain to them, and Sinid accepted the same death with which he destroyed innocent travelers.

Further, the path of Theseus went through Kromion, a small town that is not far from Corinth. Trouble has come here. The whole area around Kromion was devastated by a huge wild pig, spawned by Typhon and Echidna. The inhabitants of Kromion turned to the young hero with a plea to save them from this monster. In a gloomy gorge, Theseus overtook a wild beast, and struck him down with his sword.

Theseus went on. In the most dangerous place of Istma, near the borders of Megara, where sheer cliffs rise high, at the foot of which foamy sea waves roar menacingly, Theseus met a new danger. On the very edge of the cliff lived the robber Skiron. He forced everyone who passed by to wash his feet. As soon as the traveler bowed down to wash Skiron's feet, a cruel robber kicked the unfortunate man off the cliff into the stormy waves of the sea, where he crashed against the rocks sticking out of the water, and his body was devoured by a carnivorous turtle. Theseus, when Skiron prepared to push him too, grabbed the robber by the leg and threw him into the sea.

Not far from Eleusis, Theseus had to fight with Kerkion, who forced travelers to fight him not for life, but for death. Many were killed by Kerkyon, who possessed irresistible strength, but Theseus, clasping Kerkyon with his arms, squeezed him, as in an iron vice, and twisted the neck of the villain.

Having passed Eleusis and already approaching the valley of the Kephis River in Attica, Theseus came to Damast, who was usually called Procrustes the Puller. This villain came up with a particularly painful torture for everyone who came to him. Procrustes had a bed on which he forced all those who fell into his hands to lie down. If the bed was too large, Procrustes pulled the unfortunate until the victim's legs touched the edge of the bed. If the bed was too short, then Procrustes chopped off his legs. Theseus also condemned this robber to the same death that he dealt with the innocent - he threw him on his own bed and chopped off his legs.

This was the last feat of Theseus on his way to Athens. Theseus did not want to come to his father stained with blood, even with the blood of villains, for any spilled blood defiles a person. He turned off the road leading to Athens and came to the altar of Zeus-Melichius, which means the Gracious, where he was cleansed by the priests from the filth of shed blood.

Theseus in Athens

Here, passing through the city gates, the young hero entered the streets of the city, which was ruled by his mortal father. In long Ionian clothes, shining with beauty, Theseus walked past the temple of Apollo under construction, on which the builders were already erecting a roof. They saw the hero, mistook him for a girl and began to mock him:
“Look, there’s some kind of shameless woman wandering around the city alone, without an escort! See how she sweeps the street dust with her long clothes.

Angered by ridicule, and even more so by the fact that they mistook him for a girl, Theseus ran up to a wagon drawn by oxen, unharnessed the oxen, grabbed the wagon and threw it so high that it flew over the roof of the temple. The builders of the temple were frightened, they thought that the hero would severely punish them for ridicule, but Theseus, without even slowing down, continued on his way straight to the palace of King Aegeus, which towered high above the city on an impregnable rock.

And so, like a simple traveler who came from distant lands, without revealing his origin, Theseus entered the throne room of the ruler of Athens. Of course, King Aegeus did not recognize his son. But on the other hand, the sorceress Medea, who found shelter with the lord of Athens, recognized him after she fled from Corinth, having committed a bloody crime there (but this is a completely different story). She was frightened that Aegeus would give the throne of Athens to her newfound son, and expel both her and her son Meda, who was born out of wedlock from Aegeus, from Athens. Medea decided to destroy the hero by the hands of his father. She persuaded Aegeus to give the stranger poison to drink, for, Medea said, he was undoubtedly sent by enemies to deprive the king of legitimate power. Believing, Aegeus agreed to this atrocity.

During the feast, Medea placed a goblet of poisoned wine in front of the guest. Theseus had already raised his goblet to drain it, but then Aegeus recognized his sword, which sixteen years ago he put under a stone in distant Troezen, looked at his feet - and saw his sandals. Aegeus understood that it was his son, who had matured, came to him. King Aegeus knocked out a goblet with poisoned wine from the hands of his son, embraced him, recognizing him as the legitimate heir, and Medea and her son Med fled from Athens on the same day.

Solemnly Aegeus announced to all the Athenian people about the arrival of his son in Athens and about the exploits that he had accomplished on the way from Troeza. The Athenians rejoiced along with Aegeus and greeted their future king with loud cries.

But Theseus could not live in idleness - his indomitable spirit called him to new exploits. And he went to the valley of Marathon, where a ferocious bull, obtained by order of Eurystheus Hercules in Crete, devastated the surroundings, killed people and trampled down crops. Theseus decided to tame this monstrous bull, which became a great evil for all farmers. At Marathon, he met an elderly woman named Hecale. As a dear guest, she met Hekal Theseus in her wretched hut, and advised him to make a sacrifice to Zeus the Savior before a new feat, so that Zeus would guard him during a dangerous fight with a ferocious bull. Theseus made a sacrifice to the ruler of Olympus, and went in search of a monster to tame him. Theseus did not look for his formidable opponent for a long time, as soon as the hero left the hut of Hekal, a bull appeared at him from nowhere. Theseus grabbed him by the steep sharp horns, bent his head to the ground, tied him up and led him to Athens, where he sacrificed to the god Apollo.

And soon all of Attica was plunged into deep sadness. For the third time, ambassadors arrived from the island of Crete from the powerful king Minos for tribute. This tribute was heavy and shameful. Every three years the Athenians were to send seven boys and seven girls to Crete. They were locked up there in a huge labyrinth palace, and there the unfortunate monster Minotaur, with the body of a man and the head of a bull, devoured them.

Now the ship was ready to sail with a black, as a sign of grief, sail, parents were already saying goodbye forever to their children, who were going to certain death. Theseus saw the grief of the Athenians and decided, among the doomed, to sail to Crete, and there fight the Minotaur, or kill him, or die. And the aged Aegeus did not want to hear about the departure of his only son, but Theseus insisted on his own, promising that, as a sign of victory over the Minotaur, he would return to Athens under a white sail.

Theseus in Crete

When the ship arrived in Crete, King Minos himself went out to look at those who were destined to die a terrible death in the dungeons of the labyrinth. With the powerful lord of Crete was his daughter Ariadne. The goddess of love Aphrodite, the patroness of Theseus, aroused love in the heart of Ariadne for the young son of Aegeus. The daughter of Minos could not even imagine that Theseus would die in the labyrinth, torn to pieces by the Minotaur.

I noticed the hero and King Minos, and wanted to humiliate the young man, proudly standing in front of the ruler of half the world.
“If you are the son of Poseidon, as I was told, then prove it and get this ring out of the depths of the sea,” Minos said to Theseus and threw the precious ring into the sea.

Fearlessly, Theseus rushed from the steep bank into the sea waves. Salt spray flew high, and the sea element hid the hero. Everyone was sure that he would not come back. In despair, Ariadne stood on the shore, thinking that Theseus was dead.

And Theseus, as soon as the waves of the sea closed over his head, picked up Triton and in an instant rushed to the underwater palace of Poseidon. The god of the seas greeted the hero with joy and gave him the ring of King Minos. Triton again picked up Theseus and carried him out of the depths of the sea exactly to the place from which he threw himself into the sea. Ariadne rejoiced when she saw Theseus alive and unharmed. She firmly decided to save her lover from death, threatening him in the labyrinth.

In the evening, Ariadne made her way into the cellar, where the doomed were locked up, and whispered to Theseus:
- Brave Theseus, you are ready to fight with an enemy whose strength you can not imagine. But even if you defeat the Minotaur, you will not find a way out of the labyrinth. Not a single mortal has ever left this intricate dungeon built by the skillful Daedalus. I don't want you to die. Here's a sword and a ball of thread. Tie the beginning of the thread of the entrance to the labyrinth and go boldly in search of that terrible place where the Minotaur lives. With the sword you will slay the monster, and the thread will lead you back to the exit.

Having said this, Ariadne disappeared as silently as she came ...
And in the morning, the guards led Theseus and his companions to the copper gate, opening the way to the labyrinth. With a creak, they closed behind the unfortunate, and immediately, a roar was heard, animal and human at the same time. As if from the very depths of the earth he was heard, rolling through a damp and cold dungeon.

“Stay here, friends,” Theseus said to his companions, “and believe that I will return to you with victory.”

Firmly gripping the hilt of the sword, Theseus went to the roar of the Minotaur. And then a vast room opened up to the front, on the floor of which human remains were scattered. This is where the man-bull lived. The Minotaur immediately rushed at Theseus. But the young man was not afraid. He pointed the sword with the tip straight into the chest of the monster, and the Minotaur jumped on the sword, roared, grunted and collapsed to the ground. The earth trembled from its fall, and the echo of the dying roar rolled through the labyrinth for a long time.

Only now, Theseus was able to see the monster he defeated with the head of a bull and the body of a man, which ruined so many lives ... The hero wiped sweat mixed with drops of blood from his face and went to the exit, the path to which Ariadne's thread indicated to him.

The silver ray of Ariadne's thread is getting shorter, and now his friends are already embracing Theseus.
A dark, moonless night fell over Crete when Theseus and his companions emerged from the gates of the labyrinth. Who would have thought that the doomed are alive? The guards slept soundly. Quietly crept rescued to the seashore. Now it was necessary to take care of how to escape the wrath of King Minos. Under the cover of darkness, in order to avoid pursuit, Theseus cut through the bottoms of the Cretan ships, quickly raised the sail on the ship that delivered the Athenians to Crete, and went out to sea, to the shores of his native Attica. And Ariadne followed Theseus, she did not want to part with the hero whom she loved.

Return of Theseus

On the way back, Theseus and his companions went ashore on the island of Naxos to rest and stock up on fresh water. Here, in a dream, the god of wine and winemaking, Dionysus, appeared to Theseus and told him that he must leave Ariadne on the deserted coast of the island, for the gods appointed her as his wife to him, the god Dionysus. Mortals cannot argue with the gods of Olympus. Theseus did not dare to disobey the will of the gods. Full of sadness, he left the sleeping Ariadne.

And as soon as the ship of Theseus disappeared beyond the horizon, Ariadne was awakened by the greetings of the maenads and satyrs - the companions of Dionysus, glorifying the wife of the great god with singing. Theseus' ship quickly rushed across the azure sea on its black sail. The coast of Attica appeared in the distance. Theseus forgot, saddened by the loss of Ariadne, the promise given to Aegeus - to replace the black sail with white if, having defeated the Minotaur, he happily returns to Athens.

And Aegeus every day, standing on a high rock, peered into the sea horizon from morning to evening, waiting for either the return of his son, or the news of his death. One day, a small dot appeared far, far away in the sea mist. Here it grows, approaching. Yes! This is his son's ship... But what kind of sail does it have? No, the white sail does not shine in the sun, the sail is black. So Theseus is dead! Aegeus rushed in despair from a high cliff into the sea and died, breaking on the coastal rocks. Only his lifeless body was thrown ashore by the waves. Since then it has been called the Aegean. And Theseus moored the ship to the shore and already offered thanksgiving sacrifices to the gods, when suddenly, to his horror, he found out that his forgetfulness became the unwitting cause of his father's death. Aegeus was buried with great honors, and after the funeral Theseus assumed power over Athens.

Theseus and Antiope

But Theseus could not live in peace, sitting on the throne of his father. He wanted to glorify the great city of Pallas Athens with new exploits. Theseus took part in the famous Calydonian hunt, in the campaign of the Argonauts full of dangers, fought with the Amazons on the distant Ponte Euxinus. When Theseus took the city of the Amazons of Themiscyra, he took Queen Antiope with him as a reward. In Athens, Antiope became the wife of Theseus. The Athenians celebrated the wedding of their king with the queen of the Amazons magnificently. Soon their son was born. Hippolyte was named by his parents. The couple were happy. They rejoiced, looking at how smart, brave and handsome their son is growing. And the Amazons planned to take revenge on the Athenians for the destruction of Themiscyra, for the abduction of their queen. They decided to release Antiope from a heavy, as they thought, captivity. Their huge army invaded Attica. The Athenians took refuge from the onslaught of the warlike Amazons outside the city walls, but could not hold them back. The last refuge remained with the Athenians - the impregnable fortress of the Acropolis. The Athenians held out for a long time in the siege, and now they decided on the last battle.

Antiope herself fought next to Theseus against the very Amazons whom she had previously commanded. She did not want to leave her husband in this fierce battle. Death awaited Antiope in this battle. A spear thrown by one of the Amazons flashed in the air, and the deadly point pierced Antiope's chest. She fell dead at the feet of her husband. Both troops looked in horror at Antiope, slain by death. The bloody battle was interrupted. Full of sorrow, the Athenians and Amazons buried the young queen, and then the Amazons left Attica and returned to their homeland. For a long time, sadness reigned in Athens because of the beautiful Antiope, who untimely descended into Hades.

Theseus and Phaedra

And now the time has passed, set by custom for mourning for the deceased queen, and Theseus did not even think about a new marriage. And the queen in ancient Hellas was not only the wife of the king, she was also a priestess, an intermediary between mortals and the gods. The Athenians began to ask Theseus to finally give his people a new queen. Reluctantly, he heeded the requests of his subjects. Theseus yearned for the departed living Antiope. Yet he let himself be persuaded. He decided to woo the youngest daughter of King Minos Phaedra.

And again the Athenian ship headed for the island of Crete. But this time it was not the black sail that filled the sea wind. Not the victims doomed to the Minotaur, the ship carried in its resinous sides, but the wedding ambassadors. King Minos was no longer alive. Deucalion, son of Minos, ruled over Crete. With honor, Deucalion received the glorious king of mighty Athens and gladly agreed to give his sister Phaedra for Theseus. The wedding was celebrated magnificently, and soon Theseus brought the Athenians their new queen on the same ship.

One thing bothered Theseus: how would his new wife treat Hippolytus? How to divide the kingdom when the time comes? After all, his children from Phaedra will also be heirs. Theseus' anxiety was not in vain. Phaedra gave birth in due time to two sons - Demophon and Acamant. And soon the Athenian people began to see them as real princes, no longer considering the son of the Amazon to be the future king.

But Hypolytus did not even think of becoming the ruler of Attica. Amazonian blood flowed in his veins. He was a passionate hunter, the forest was his home, in the forest he felt the patronage of Artemis, the goddess of his mother Antiope.

As time went on, Phaedra began to notice that her feelings for her adult stepson were less and less like those of her mother. She watched with delight how Hippolytus rides on a chariot, how she competes with her comrades in the fight. Phaedra was silent for a long time and languished, realizing how sinful her love was, and finally, she decided to open herself to Hippolytus. With anger, the young prince rejected Phaedra's confessions. And then the offended Phaedra accused Hippolytus of wanting to seduce her, swore and cried at the same time so that Theseus believed her. In blind anger, he cursed his son and drove him out of the house. Hippolytus rushed on a chariot away from Athens, the horses carried and Hippolytus died, breaking on the stones. Upon learning of this, Phaedra hanged herself. So Theseus lost his second wife and beloved son.

Theseus and Peyritoy

A tribe of militant Lapiths lived in Thessaly. The mighty hero Peyritoy reigned over them. He heard about the great courage and strength of the invincible Theseus, and wanted to measure his strength with him. In order to challenge Theseus to battle, Peyritoy went to Marathon and there, on rich pastures, he stole a herd of bulls belonging to Theseus. As soon as Theseus found out about this, he immediately set off in pursuit of the kidnapper and quickly overtook him. Dressed in brilliant armor, similar in appearance to the formidable Olympian gods, they stood opposite each other, equally filled with courage. They threw down their weapons and entered into an alliance of unbreakable friendship.

Soon Theseus went to Thessaly for the wedding of his friend Peiritoy with Hippodamia. This wedding was magnificent. Many glorious heroes gathered for it from all over Hellas. Wild centaurs were also invited to the wedding. The wedding feast was rich. Wine flowed like a river. The banquet cries grew louder and louder. And so, intoxicated with wine, the most powerful and wild of the centaurs, Eurytus, rushed at the bride to kidnap her. Seeing this, other centaurs also attacked the women sitting at the banquet table. They overturned the tables of Theseus and Peirita, they stood up to protect women.

Heroes did not fight with weapons. They came unarmed to the feast. Everything served as a weapon: both heavy goblets, and the legs of broken tables, and tripods on which incense had just been smoked. Higher is the bloody mound of the bodies of the defeated centaurs. Finally, the surviving half-horse-half-humans trembled, they took to flight, and took refuge in the forests of Pelion.

Hippodamia did not live long, she died shortly after the wedding. And the widowed Peiritoy, having mourned his wife, decided to marry again. He went to Theseus in Athens, and there they decided to kidnap the beautiful Helen, the daughter of the Spartan king Tyndareus. Elena was still quite young, but the fame of her divine beauty thundered throughout Hellas. Friends secretly arrived in Laconia, kidnapped Elena and hid in Athens on top of the acropolis. They cast lots for Theseus and Peirita, which of them should belong to the marvelous beauty. The lot fell to Theseus. Then Peiritoy reminded his friend of the oath that they gave each other before the abduction of Elena: whoever gets the beautifully curly Spartan woman should help his comrade get another wife.

And Peyritoy wanted to marry Persephone herself, the wife of the terrible god Hades, the lord of the kingdom of the shadows of the dead. Theseus was horrified, but what could he do, bound by an oath? He had to go with Peyritoy to the kingdom of the dead. Through a gloomy cleft near the village of Colon, friends descended into the underworld. There, in the abode of the dead, they appeared before Hades and demanded to give them Persephone.

Hades was angry, but hid his anger and invited the heroes to sit on a throne carved into the rock at the very entrance to the kingdom of the dead. As soon as Theseus and Peyritoy sat down on the throne, they stuck to it and could no longer move. So the formidable Hades punished them for their unholy demand. Forever remained Peirita in the realm of the dead. And Theseus was freed by the hero of all heroes, Hercules. He led Theseus into the world of the living. Theseus returned to the light of the sun, but this return brought him no joy.

While Theseus was in the kingdom of Hades, the brothers of Helen, Castor and Polydeuces, besieged Athens. The city could not resist, the fortress-acropolis fell. The brothers released their sister, and Theseus' mother, Ephra, was taken captive to Sparta, and the elderly Ephra became Elena's servant. The power over Athens and all of Attica, Castor and Polydeuces, was transferred to Menestheus, a longtime enemy of Theseus. Deprived of his kingdom, Theseus fled to the island of Skyros, where the former king of Attica owned some land. But the king of Skyros, Lycomedes, did not want to give Theseus his possessions. He lured him to a rock that towered over the sea, and pushed him into the abyss of the sea. So ingloriously ended his life the great hero of Athens. Fate overtook him, for the hero became proud of his exploits, he considered himself equal to the gods, and the gods, as you know, do not forgive this.

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