Naming of Athens and Theseus

The Naming of Athens

• Cecrops founded a city in Attica and a contest was held to name it
• Poseidon struck the Acropolis with his trident, producing a salty, undrinkable spring
• Athene planted an olive tree that provided food, oil, shade, and wood
• Cecrops and Zeus judged the competition and chose Athene because her gift was more practical
• The olive tree became the symbol of Athens and was vital to their way of life
• The city was named Athens

Theseus and Athens

• Theseus united Attica under the leadership of Athens

The Birth of Theseus

• Aegeus was king of Athens and wanted an heir, so he went to Delphi for an oracle
• The oracle told him to avoid foreign women, so he sought help from King Pittheus of Troezen
• Pittheus interpreted the oracle as meaning Aegeus would have a son the next time he conceived
• Pittheus got Aegeus drunk and had him sleep with Aethra, his daughter
• Aethra conceived Theseus
• Aethra had a dream from Athena to wade to the island of Sphairia and lie on the shore
• Poseidon emerged and coupled with Aethra
• Theseus had both human (Aegeus) and godly (Poseidon) qualities, making him a demigod
• Aegeus worried Theseus' cousins would be jealous and kill him, so he left Theseus in Troezen with Aethra
• Aegeus left his sandals and sword under a rock, telling Aethra that if his son was worthy, he would retrieve them
• When Theseus came of age, he proved his parentage by lifting the rock
• Aethra told Theseus to return to Athens with the sword and sandals to become king and meet his father Aegeus
• There were 2 routes to Athens: by boat (easy) or by land (perilous)
• Theseus took the land route aiming to equal his cousin Heracles' achievements

The Labours of Theseus

• Periphetes, the club-bearer, was a bandit who clubbed travelers to death
• Theseus grappled with Periphetes and took his club for future labors
• Sinis, the pine-bender, tied victims to pine trees and tore them apart
• Theseus tricked Sinis into bending a pine, resulting in Sinis' death by his own method
• The way Theseus defeats his laborers involves killing them by their own methods
• The Crommyonian Sow terrorized the plains of Crommyon
• Another story states that Sow was the nickname of a female thief, Phaea (the Grey One)
• Theseus defeated the sow with a drawn sword and mantle as a shield
• Sciron was an old man on a cliff who asked people to wash his feet
• He would kick travelers off the cliff to be eaten by a giant turtle
• Theseus defeated Sciron by hurling him off the cliff
• Cercyon, the King of Eleusis, challenged travelers to wrestling matches
• The winner would become the King of Eleusis
• Theseus established the art of wrestling through his encounter with Cercyon, becoming King of Eleusis
• Procrustes invited visitors to a bed; if they were too small, he stretched them; if too tall, he chopped off their limbs.

Theseus in Athens

• Theseus found his father Aegeus under the control of Medea
• Medea made Theseus fight the Bull of Marathon, which Heracles had fought before
• Theseus conquered the bull, brought it to Athens, and sacrificed it
• Medea tried to poison Theseus at a feast
• Theseus pulled out his sword, Aegeus recognized it, and knocked over the poisoned wine cup
• Medea fled Athens, and Aegeus recognized Theseus as his son

Theseus and the Minotaur

• After Androgeos' death Minos demanded 7 boys and 7 girls be sent from Athens to Crete
• Theseus volunteered to go with them
• In Crete, Theseus met and fell in love with Ariadne, Minos' daughter
• Ariadne gave Theseus a ball of wool and a sword
• Theseus killed the Minotaur and escaped the Labyrinth
• Theseus abandoned Ariadne on Naxos, various stories account for this
• Theseus was to replace a black sail on his ship with a white one upon return - however he forgot
• Aegeus saw the black sail and threw himself into the sea from grief

Theseus as King of Athens

• Theseus united neighboring towns around Athens leading to unity
• He established a democracy where people could vote for leaders, but he would be keeper of the laws and not a king
• Theseus destroyed town halls and council chambers in smaller towns to centralize power in Athens, building a main town hall
• He established the Panathenaic Games

Death of Theseus

• The Athenians made a tomb and sanctuary of Theseus
• According to Plutarch, it became a refuge for runaway slaves since Theseus championed the poor
• Theseus was credited with uniting Athens, introducing democracy, and distinguishing Athens

Summary of Theseus' Reforms

• Athens would become a democracy, this laid the foundation for modern democracy
• Theseus went to neighboring towns to create unity
• He unified Attica peacefully preventing conflict, but diminished this by destroying town halls
• Theseus would be commander in war and law keeper preventing citizens from an oppressive ruler
• Theseus initiated the Panathenaic Games which united all the 10 Athens tribes and inclusive to all

Aeneas

• Venus (Aphrodite) had boasted about persuading other gods to sleep with mortals
• As punishment, Jupiter (Zeus) made Venus fall in love with Anchises, a mortal
• Venus traveled to Troy, where Aeneas was born out of the love of Venus and Anchises
• Aeneas was a demi-god due to his parentage

Aeneas and Troy

• Aeneas and the Trojans fought in a 10-year war against the Greeks, as recorded in the Iliad
• In the final year, Odysseus devised the Trojan Horse to infiltrate Troy
• The Trojans thought it was a peace offering and brought it into the city
• The Greeks emerged, killed the Trojans, and burned the city, killing King Priam too

The Wandering of Aeneas

• Aeneas escaped Troy with his father Anchises, wife Creusa, and son Ascanius (as told in Virgil's Aeneid)
• Creusa was killed in the chaos
• Aeneas traveled to Italy
• Aeneas brought the penates (Lares) creating Roman religion
• He showed pietas – respect for family, gods, and city
• In Italy, Aeneas fought the local Latins forming an alliance with King Latinus to create a new city
• Livy says Aeneas either agreed to after the battle or through marriage to Latinus' daughter Lavinia
• Aeneas married Lavinia and had a son, Ascanius, and he set up Lavinium

Aeneas Importance in Rome

• Aeneas founded the future site of Rome
• Augustus traced his lineage back to Aeneas legitimizing the right to rule Rome as he was the adopted son of Julius Ceasar

Aeneas to Romulus

• Aeneas' son Ascanius, son to Creusa, founded Alba Longa from Lavinium, this spawned the kings that culiminated in the birth of twins Romulus and Remus

The Founding of Rome

• Romulus and Remus' grandfather, King Numitor, was overthrown by his brother Amulius
• Amulius forced Numitor's daughter, Rhea Silvia, to become a Vestal Virgin and killed Numitor's son
• Rhea Silvia was raped by Mars, god of war, and Romulus and Remus were born
• Amulius imprisoned Rhea Silvia and ordered the twins to be thrown into the Tiber River
• Attendants left the twins by the riverbank, and the river miraculously calmed, carrying them safely suggesting Tiberinus was on their side
• A she-wolf nursed nursed them, then they were adopted by the shepherd Faustulus
• Romulus and Remus grew up and fought with King Amulius' soldiers.
• Romulus went to save Remus, killing Amulius and restoring Numitor to the throne
• Alba Longa was overcrowded, so the brothers decided to found a new city.
• Romulus wanted the Palatine hill but Remus preferred the Aventine.
• They decided to turn to the Augury for guidance where the interpretation was bird signs
• Remus saw six vultures first shortly before Romulus saw twelve
• The brothers argued, and Romulus was victorious, securing his city on the Palatine hill and naming it Rome

Livy, The History of Rome

• Livy writes about the History of Rome from Aeneas to Romulus
• Livy born durng Ceasar and Pompey, he lives to see the fall of Republic and foundation of imperial system under Augustus so grew up in turbulent times
• Livy does not make references of sources as he is NOT a historian
• Most Rome was destroyed during being sacked by the Gauls and written records lost so large margin for error
• Livy explains there are legends that manipulation happens over time “stories of the poet” rather than “uncorrupted records of the historian”
• Livy covers over 700 years
• Livy sees no need to seperate fact from function

PLUTARCH: The Parallel Lives: Comparison of Theseus and Romulus

• Plutarch compares the lives of Theseus and Romulus in a biography written around AD 100-120
• Plutarch wrote when the the rule of the emperor was firmly established in Rome
• Plutarch focuses on character

Romulus:

• Romulus achieved by necessity
• He had to kill Amulius
• Romulus killed his brother with “irrational anger”

Theseus:

• His later achievements were of his mind
• Her had to Sciron, Sinis, Cercyon etc
• Theseus saved Hippolytus as he was overcome by love “accusations of women”

Relationship to women and the gods:

• Romulus actions provided for the rape of Sabine women
• Tales told of divine provided much goodwill
• Romulus was saved as a new city to war with brother
• In contrast Theseus never born for his purpose
• The oracle given by Aegeus would be against wishes of the gods

Summary:

• Theseus and Romulus would be two of the greatest men in Greek and Rome
• They united a great reformer and allowed to expand cities
• Romulus from a humble after brith came to war.