Tuesday 3 February 2015

The Six Labors of Theseus

  Journey of Theseus
                             According to Greek legend, Theseus was raised in his mother's land, Troezen, a small city southwest of Athens. When Theseus grew up and became a brave young man, he managed to move the rock and recover his father's tokens.
Theseus discovered his father's tokens and  Aethra revealing the true identity of his father  

His mother (Aethra) then told him the truth about his father's identity and that he must take the sword and sandals back to king Aegeus to claim his birthright. Theseus choose to go alone by dangerous land route to Athens, even he could choose to go by safe sea route.



1 Theseus and Periphetes
                          When Theseus arrived at Epidaurus, he met Periphetes. Periphetes, (also known as Corynetes or the Club-Bearer) was a son of Hephaestus and Anticleia. Periphetes was lame in one leg and in some versions, had one eye like a Cyclops.


Theseus and periphetes

He roamed the road from Athens to Troezen where he robbed travelers and killed them with his bronze club.Theseus killed him by tricking him into giving him the club to check if it really were bronze. Theseus then bashed him in the head and killed him.

2  Theseus and Sinis
                          An Isthmian outlaw, Sinis, who would force travelers to help him bend pine trees to the ground, but as soon as the pine neared the ground, Sinis would use its momentum to kill the helper. He then attach the victim to the branch and let the tree reassert itself, tossing the victim to his death. According to some version, Sinis tied people to two pine trees that he bent down to the ground, then let the trees go, tearing his victims apart. 
Theseus and Sinis

When Theseus approached, Sinis asked for the customary help, but instead of having the opportunity to kill his helper, his helper killed him, using the method Sinis had used on so many others.
                                 
                                      Sinis had a daughter of remarkable beauty and stature, called Perigune. After Theseus killed her father, she  fled, and Theseus was sought her everywhere. She came into a place overgrown with brushwood shrubs, and asparagus-thorn, there, and prayed and begged them, to gave her shelter, and promised that if she escaped she would never cut them down nor burn them.
Theseus and Perigune

 But Theseus calling upon her, and giving her his promise that he would use her with respect, and offer her no injury. She revealed herself and Theseus had sex with her. She later bore Theseus's first male heir, Melanippus. Perigune later married Deioneus of Oechalia.


3 Theseus and The Crommyonian Sow 
 The Crommyonian Sow a monstrous wild pig which terrorized the countryside around Crommyon, north of the Isthmus.  The Crommyonian Sow was the pet of an old witch named Phaea. 
Theseus and Crommyonian Sow

In some version the Crommyonian Sow was described as an offspring of Typhon and Echidna.When Theseus arrived at Crommyon,  he killed the Crommyonian Sow and its mistress.

4 Theseus and Sciron
   An Isthmian outlaw, Sciron was the son of either Pelops or Poseidon. He lived at the Sceironian Rocks, a cliff on the Saronic coast of the Isthmus of Corinth.  
Theseus and Sciron

Sciron robbed travelers passing the Sceironian Rocks and forced them to wash his feet. When they knelt before him, he kicked them over the cliff into the sea, where they were eaten by a monstrous sea turtle. Theseus killed him in the same way, by pushing him off the cliff.

5 Theseus and Cercyon
             Cercyon was the King of Eleusis, and a very strong man. Cercyon stood on the roads around Eleusis and challenged passers-by to a wrestling match. 
Theseus and Cercyon

The loser (always the passer-by) was murdered, though Cercyon promised his kingdom to anyone who won. He was eventually beaten and killed by Theseus, who took over the kingdom of Eleusis. Theseus won owing to his skill, rather than superiority in brute physical strength.

6 Theseus and Procrustes

 Procrustes was the son of Poseidon with a stronghold on Mount Korydallos at Erineus, on the sacred way between Athens and Eleusis. There he had an iron bed, in which he invited every passer-by to spend the night, and where he set to work on them with his smith's hammer, to stretch them to fit. 
Theseus and Procrustes 

In some version, if the guest proved too tall, Procrustes would amputate the excess length; nobody ever fit the bed exactly, because secretly Procrustes had two beds. Theseus turned the tables on Procrustes, cutting off his legs and decapitating him with his own axe.

                        Finally Theseus reached  Athens..................................

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