Theseus - son of Aegeus, hero, and so much more

Aegeus, one of the primordial kings of Athens, was childless. Desiring an heir, he asks the Oracle of Delphi -  who no doubt, in spirit, remains here for advice with another Greek goddess, Anna George (click the image ===>). (Both get lots of advice.)

Aegeus' host, Pittheus, gets him drunk and gives him his daughter Aethra. During the night Aethra wades over to Poseidon's digs and is possessed by the sea god. The mix is to give Theseus the character of mortal & divine. After Aethra becomes pregnant, Aegeus returns to Athens abandoning her to raise the child. Before leaving he buries his sandals and sword under a huge rock, telling Aethra that when their son grows up, he should move the rock, if he is heroic enough, and take the tokens for himself as evidence of his royal parentage. In Athens, Aegeus is joined by Medea, who had left Corinth after slaughtering the children she had borne, and now takes Aegeus as her new consort. Priestess and consort together represented the old order in Athens.

Theseus grows up in his mother's land where he is known to be a brave young man. He moves the rock, finds the sandals & sword, and heads to Athens (by land which is more difficult). The way (first of 6 Labors) takes him to Epidaurus, sacred land to Apollo and the healer Asclepius, where he subdues Periphetes, the club bearer who beats his opponent into the Earth. Here are my photos of Epidaurus & the close by Asclepius site.

(These mighty columns at the Asclepius site form a stereographic image. To view the stereogram, stare at the white stripe down the middle of the two seemingly identical images. (They are not identical, rather the one on the right was taken further to the right of the one on the left.) If viewed properly your right eye would focus on the right image, and your left, on the left image. This is accomplished by blurring the image  allowing the center white stripe to separate, and then shifting your view to the third image which has begin to appear in the middle between the other two. Be patient. Once the tallest columns overlap one another hold them there by continuing your focus on the middle (overlapping) image. Be patient. With the slightest movement of your head you will see the columns in three dimensions, and notice more clearly the red electrical cord used by Asclepius to charge up his iPad.)


 After five (5) more such Labors, he arrives in Athens

.

Aegeus's wife Medea recognises Theseus immediately as Aegeus' son. She worries that Theseus would be chosen as heir to Aegeus' kingdom instead of her son Medus. She tried to arrange to have Theseus killed by asking him to capture the Marathonian Bull, an emblem of Cretan power.

Theseus captures the Marathonian Bull
(kylix painted by Aison, 5th century BCE)

Theseus captures the bull. Using a ball of string he follows the trail to escape the Labyrinth.

When Theseus returns victorious to Athens, he sacrifices the Bull, and immediately Medea tries to poison him. At the last second, Aegeus recognises the sandals and the sword, and knocks the poisoned wine cup from Theseus's hand. Thus father and son are reunited, and Medea, it was said, used the momentary confusion to flee to Asia.

Theseus built and occupied a palace on the fortress of the Acropolis that may have been similar to the palace that was excavated in Mycenae.