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This is to certify that the

thesis entitled

THESEUS AND THE MIN OTAUR:
A QUESTION OF ICON OGRAPHY IN
GREEK VASE PAINTING

presented by

Elizabeth Ann Szufnar

has been accepted towards fulﬁllment
of the requirements for

Master of Arts degree in History of Art

 

 

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To AVOID FINES «turn on or baton dd. duo.

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THESEUS AND THE MINOTAUR:
A QUESTION OF ICON OGRAPHY IN
GREEK VASE PAINTING

By

Elizabeth Ann Szufnar

ATHESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulﬁllment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTEROFARTS

Department of Art

1995

ABSTRACT

THESESUS AND THE MINOTAUR:
A QUESTION OF ICONOGRAPHY IN
GREEK VASE PAINTING

By

Elizabeth Ann Szufnar

The labyrinth at Knossos was inhabited by a half-man, half-bull creature known as
the Minotaur. 'Iheseus liberawd the Athenians, killing the Minotaur in the conﬁnes of the
maze. 'lhis theme is popular in Greek vase painting of the sixth and ﬁﬁh centuries B.C.
Most extant vase painting depicts Theseus killing the Minotaur with a sword; however, on
several vases, Theseus uses a club.

‘Ihis thesis examines the development of the Theseus myth, literary and artistic, the
promotion of Theseus as the Athenian national hero and the parallels between 'lheseus and
Herakles. Central to this study are the iconographical issues related to the club that

Theseus occasionally wields against the Minotaur.

Tomethereisnopastorﬁitureinart.

If a work of art cannot live always in

the present it must not be considered at

all. The art of the Greeks, of the Egyptians,
of thegreat painters who lived in other times,
is not an art of the past, perhaps it is more
alive today than it ever was.

-PABLO PICASSO (1923)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to graciously acknowledge the assistance and valuable criticism offered
by Professors Eldon VanLiere and Carl Anderson.

To Professor Paul Deussen I wish to express my sincere gratitude. As an advisor,
his patience and knowledge was welcomed. His support was unwaivering. As a mentor, his
dedication is unparalleled. I am grateful for the opportunity afforded me to work with such

an inspirational teacher.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

List of Figures ................................................................................................... vi
Key to Abbreviations ....................................................................................... viii
Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1
Chapter 1 The Life of Theseus ................................................................... 3
Chapter 2 Theseus and the Minotaur: Literary Evidence ........................ 10
Chapter 3 Theseus and the Minotaur: Artistic Evidence==== 20
Chapter 4 Sword Versus Club .................................................................. 43
Chapter 5 The Rise of the Athenian Hero ................................................. 77
Chapter 6 Herakles as a Parallel Figure .................................................. 90
Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 98
Bibliography .................................................................................................. 101

FIGURE 1

FIGURE 2

FIGURE 3

FIGURE 4

FIGURE 5

FIGURE 6

FIGURE 7

FIGURE 8

FIGURE 9

FIGURE 10

FIGURE 11

FIGURE 12

FIGURE 13

LIST OF FIGURES

'Iheseus Slaying the Minotaur. Gold relief plaques from Corinth.
Mid-seventh century B.C. Berlin, Staatliche Museum 61332-336 ........ 21

Theseus Slaying the Minotaur. Gold relief plaque. Illustration.
Mid-seventh century B.C ...................................................................... 22

Bronze shield bands from Olympia. Early to mid-sixth century B.C.
Olympia, Olympia Museum B969 ........................................................ 24

Theseus Slaying the Minotaur. Corinthian bowl. c. 690 B.C.
Brussels, Musées Royaux A1374 .......................................................... 25

'Iheseus Slaying the Minotaur. Bandcup signed by the potters
Archikles and Glaukytes. Second quarter of the sixth century B.C.
Munich, Antikensammlungen 2243 ...................................................... 27

'Iheseus Slaying the Minotaur. Hydria. Unattributed. Second
quarter of the sixth century B.C. Leiden, Ryksmuseum PC47 ............. 28

Cycle Cup. Kylix signed by the potter Kachrylion. c. 510 B.C.
Florence, Museo Archeologico Etrusco 91456 ........................................ 32

Cycle Cup. Kylix. Unattributed. c. 510 B.C. London, British
Museum E36 ........................................................................................ 33

Cycle Cup. Kylix by the Penthesilea Painter. c. 460 - 450 B.C.
Ferrara, Museo Nazionale di Spine 44885 ........................................... 36

'Iheseus Slaying the Minotaur. Stamnos. Unattributed.
Seventh century B.C. Paris, Musée du Louvre CA3837 ........................ 44

'Iheseus Slaying the Minotaur. Amphora by the Aﬁ‘ecter Painter.
Side A. Mid-sixth century B.C. Greenwich, Bareiss 20 ........................ 46

Herakles and a Centaur. Amphora by the Aﬂ‘ecter Painter. Side B.
Mid-sixth century B. C. Greenwich, Bareiss 20 ..... - .......... .-.47

 

'Iheseus Slaying the Minotaur. Amphora by the Aﬁ‘ecter Painter.
Side A. Mid-sixth century B.C. Paris, Niarchos (no inventory
number) ................................................................................................ 48

FIGURE 14

FIGURE 15

FIGURE 16

FIGURE 17

FIGURE 18

FIGURE 19

FIGURE 20

FIGURE 21
FIGURE 22

FIGURE 23

FIGURE 24

FIGURE 25

FIGURE 26

FIGURE 27

FIGURE 28

FIGURE 29

FIGURE 30

’Iheseus Slaying the Minotaur. Amphora by the Aﬂ'ecter Painter.
Side B. Mid-sixth century B.C. Paris, Niarchos (no inventory
number) ............................................................................................... 49

’Iheseus Slaying the Minotaur. Amphora by the Aﬁ'ecter Painter.
Mid-sixth century B.C. Kassel, Staatliche
Kunstsammlungen T679 ..................................................................... 50

'Iheseus Slaying the Minotaur. Amphora by the Aﬂ'ecter Painter.
Mid-sixth century B.C. Taranto, Museo Nazionale 117234 ................. 51

'Iheseus Slaying the Minotaur. Amphora by the Affecter Painter.
Mid-sixth century B.C. Munich, Antikensammlungen 1405 ................. 52

'Iheseus Slaying the Minotaur. Amphora by the Aﬂ‘ecter Painter.
Detail. Mid-sixth century B.C. Taranto, Museo N azionale 117234 ..... 54

'Iheseus Slaying the Minotaur. Interior of a kylix by the Meleager
Painter. First third of the fourth century B.C. London, British

Museum 1917.7-26.3 ........................................................................... 55
'Iheseus Slaying the Minotaur. Calyx krater by the LC. Group.

c. 370 - 320 B.C. Athens, National Museum 12541 ............................ 56
Pelike. Unattributed. c. 510 ~500 B.C. Musée de Laon 37938 .......... 59

Herakles and Antaios. Calyx krater by Euphronios. c. 510 B.C.
Paris, Musée du Louvre G103 .............................................................. 61

Herakles and Antaios. Calyx krater by Euphronios. Detail.
c. 510 B.C. Paris, Musée du Louvre G103 ........................................... 62

Cycle Cup. Kylix by the Pistoxenos Painter. c. 450 B.C. Munich,
Antikensammlungen 2670 ................................................................... 64

Cycle Cup. Kylix attributed to the workshop of the Penthesilea
Painter. c. 450 B.C. London, British Museum E74 ............................. 66

'Iheseus and Sinis. Kanthams by the Penthesilea Painter.
c. 450 B.C. Munich, Museum Antiker Kleinkunst 2565 ....................... 68

Sinis (?). Skyphos by the Euaion Painter. c. 450 B.C. Berlin,
Antikensammlungen F2580 ................................................................. 69

'Iheseus and Sinis (?). Skyphos by the Euaion Painter. Detail.
c. 450 B.C. Berlin, Antikensammlungen F2580 ................................... 70

'Iheseus and Sinis. Kylix interior by the Euaion Painter.
c. 450 B.C. Paris, Musée du Louvre G462 ........................................... 71

'Iheseus and the Bull of Marathon. Stamnos by the Kleophrades
Painter. c. 490 - 480 B.C. Philadelphia, University Museum
LG4.185 ............................................................................................... 74

KEY '10 ABBREVIATIONS

The following abbreviations have been used in this study:

AA
AJA
ABV

ARV‘2

BICS
Brommer, Heracles

Brommer, Thaws
Brommer, Vasenlisten

CVA
JHS
MonPiot
MuaHdv
Para

POxy

RA

REG

RhM
Schefold, GH

Schefold, ML

Archhologisher Anzieger

American Journal of Archaeology

Beazley, J.D. AtticBlack-Figure Vase-Painters. Oxford, 1956.
Beazley, J.D. Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters. 2 vols.

Oxford, 1963.

Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies

Brommer, Frank. Heracles: The TwelveLabors ofthe Hero
in Ancient Art and Literature. New York, 1979.

Brommer, Frank. Theseus: Die Taten des griechischen Helden
in der Antiken Kunst und Literatur. Darmstadt, 1982.
Brommer, Frank. Vasenlisten zurgn'echischen Heldensqge.
3rd ed. Marburg, 1973.

Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum

Journal of Hellenic Studies

Monuments Piot

Museum Helveticum

Beazley, J .D. Paralipomena Additions toAttic Black-Figure
Vase-Painters and toAttic Red-Figure Painters. 2nd ed.
Oxford, 1971.

The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Part XXVI]. Edited with
Mslaﬁons and Notes by E.G. Turner, John Rea, L. Koenen
and Jose M5l Fernandez Pomar. London, 1962.

Revue Archéologique

Revue des Etudes Grecques

Rheinisches Museum fur Philologie

Schefold, Karl. Gods and Heroes in LateArchaic Greek Art.
Cambridge, 1992.

Schefold, Karl. Myth and Iqend in Early Greek Art.

New York, 1966.

INTRODUCTION

The mythological ﬁgure of 'Iheseus was known as early as the seventh century B.C.
at which time he appeared in the art of the Peloponnesians. Prior to 520 B.C., 'Iheseus was
known primarily for the battle he fought against the Minotaur. Black-ﬁgured pottery
illustrates this well. The sword is the weapon of choice; either 'Iheseus threatens the
Minotaur with his sword or he is depicted in the act of slaying the hybrid creature.

Towards the end of the sixth century B.C., Theseus was given a new image - he was
gloriﬁed as an Athenian hero and patriot. The addition of the deeds he performed on his
way from Troizen to Athens supplemented his famous battle with the Minotaur. ’Ihese
deeds were recounted in the pictorial art, or more speciﬁcally Attic pottery of the period, and
by 510 B.C. whole cycles were illustrated. There exist many of these so-called cycle vases,
mostly cups, and they are spread across the whole of the ﬁﬁh century, but with the greatest
concentration at the beginning of this epoch.

As mentioned, before the creation of this new 'Iheseus, the battle against the
Minotaur was the story by which 'Iheseus was usually known and its popularity continued
even aﬁer the hero' 8 transformation in the classical epoch. In several instances, though,
there can be noticed a change in the iconography of this famous encounter. In most extant
examples of black-ﬁgured pottery, the Minotaur is slain by a sword; in red-ﬁgured
examples, too, 'Iheseus brandishes a sword. However, in both styles he occasionally uses a

club to slay the creature.

2
The question arises as to why this iconographical change occurred. 'lhere are several

possible hypotheses which may explain this. Could this change be the result of the cycle
cups and the deeds depicted on them? In this period, the image of Theseus is transformed -
his previous exploits are not forgotten, but rather new deeds are added. Speciﬁcally, the
relevance of Periphetes must be addressed. Periphetes was also known as Korynetes after
the club - koryne - which he used to kill travelers. 'Iheseus acquired the club after the defeat
of this opponent. Is there any connection between this club and the club which 'Iheseus
brandishes against the Minotaur in several red-ﬁgure vase paintings? This question will be
addressed in chapter four. Or, perhaps, might the club which 'Iheseus wields be a reference
to Herakles, the pan-Hellenic hero? This possibility will be considered. The two heroes have
much in common - most notably the deeds of 'Iheseus which resemble the twelve labors of
Herakles. Plutarch notes that 'Iheseus was eager to emulate Herakles, and claims that he
inspired the phrase ”'AMo; ctr-to; 'HpaxAﬁs" (Theseus 29.3). The Athenians were content to
model their national hero, 'Iheseus, aﬁer Herakles. But when and how did his role as a
national hero evolve? Peisistratos, Kleisthenes and Kimon have all been identiﬁed by
modern scholars as those who may have been responsible for the promotion of 'Iheseus. The
inﬂuence of Herakles, which may even extend to the use of the club by 'Iheseus, must be
explored. The seemingly sparse examples in which 'Iheseus uses a club to slay the

Minotaur should not be a deterrent, but rather this deviation deserves further consideration.

CHAPTER 1
THE LIFE OF TI-IESEUS
“Loose not the wine skin's jutting neck, great
chief of the people,

Until thou shalt have come once more to the city of
Athens." (Plutarch, Theseus 3.3)

This message the Pythian priestess delivered to Aegeus, king of Athens. Aegeus,
however, did not understand this message and sought the advice of his friend, Pittheus, the
king of Troizen. Pittheus understood the oracle and persuaded Aegeus to spend the night
with Aethra, his daughter. Learning that he had consorted with Pittheus' daughter, Aegeus
then proceeded to hide a sword and a pair of sandals under a great boulder. Telling no one
but Aethra, Aegeus instructed her that if she bore a son, when the child was old enough, he
should be able to liﬁ. the rock and recover the tokens. The son should then proceed to
Athens and seek his father.

Aethra did bear a son and he was named 'Iheseus. Aethra kept his true birth
concealed. The child was raised by Pittheus who reported that 'Iheseus was the son of
Poseidon. Poseidon was highly regarded by the 'Iroizenes - he was the patron deity of the
city. When the youth came of age, Aethra brought him to the rock and revealed the truth
about his birth. 'Iheseus put his shoulder to the rock, easily raising it up, and discovered
the tokens, or gnorisrnata, placed there by Aegeus many years before.

Aethra begged 'Iheseus to make the journey to Athens by sea - the safest route. It
was difﬁcult to make the journey to Athens by land, since no part of it was clear nor without
peril from robbers and miscreants. 'Iheseus refused and chose the overland route. The
youth had heard of the numerous villains that beset this route and, in admiration of

4
Herakles, wished to prove himself. 'Iheseus had long been ﬁred by the glory of Herakles.

Herakles and 'Iheseus were, in fact, related.1 Therefore, Plutarch writes:

[Hle thought it a dreadful and unendurable thing that his
famous cousin should go out against the wicked everywhere
and purge land and sea of them, while he himself ran away
from the struggles which lay in his path, disgracing his
reputed father by journeying like a fugitive over the sea, and
bringing to his real father as proofs of his birth only sandals
and a sword unstained with blood, instead of at once offering
noble deeds and achievements as the manifest mark of his
noble birth. (Theseus 7.1-2)

'Iheseus ﬁrst encountered Periphetes in the region near Epidauros. Periphetes used
a club as his weapon and was thus called Korynetes, or "club-bearer”. Theseus killed the
villain and thereafter carried the club as his own, emulating Herakles who wore the sﬁn of
the Nemean Lion.

On the Isthmus of Corinth lived Sinis, nicknamed Pitokamptes, or "pine-bender".
Sinis accosted travelers and made them assist him in bending a tree down whence he
released it suddenly, hurling the victim into the air; else be attached his victim to two pine
trees and then, releasing the trees, tore the person in two. Sinis was ﬁlled by 'Iheseus in
the very manner in which he had ﬁlled.

The Krommyon sow was a ﬁerce animal which ravaged the country. This sow,
named Phaia, 'Iheseus went out of his way to encounter and ﬁll for 'Iheseus did not wish
people to think that he performed all his exploits under compulsion. Another version exists
in which a depraved woman, who was nicknamed the sow, roamed the countryside and it
was this woman that 'Iheseus ﬁlled. In addition, in some accounts Phaia was the
”caretaker" of the sow.

As 'Iheseus entered the territory of Megara he came to the Sﬁronian cliffs which
overlooked a bay. Here lurked Sﬁron. He robbed travelers and then forced them to wash
his feet. As they performed this task, the victims were ﬁcked over the cliﬁ‘ and

subsequently devoured by a great turtle who lived below. 'Iheseus pretended to comply, but

 

1 Plutarch writes, "And besides, they were kinsmen, being sons of cousins-german. For
Aethra was daughter of Pittheus, as Alcrnene was of Lysidice, and Lysidice and Pittheus were
brother and sister, children of Hippodameia and Pelops." (Theseus 7.1)

5
as he kneeled before Sﬁron, the youth seized Sﬁron's legs and hurled the villain over the

cliﬁ‘s to feed the deadly turtle.

At Eleusis Theseus faced his next competitor. The ﬁng of Eleusis was Kerkyon, a
ﬁne wrestler. He forced strangers to wrestle with him and 'Iheseus was no exception.
'Iheseus, however, was victorious.

'Iheseus was accosted by Prokrustes at Erineus. Prokrustes compelled travelers to
lie on a short bed if they were tall or on a long bed if they were short. Each victim was then
either stretched or their limbs were cut off to fit the bed. 'Iheseus ﬁlled Prokrustes in the
same manner.

When 'Iheseus arrived in Athens, things were in turmoil. Aegeus had no lawful son
and the ﬁﬁy sons of Pallas were plotting to seize the throne. On the occasion of 'Iheseus'
arrival he was warmly welcomed by the Athenians, but he did not reveal his identity.
However, the wife of Aegeus, Medea, recognized the youth and convincing the ﬁng that
'Iheseus was consorting with the sons of Pallas, persuaded Aegeus to poison the visitor.
This was averted when, during the course of the banquet, 'Iheseus drew his sword whereby
Aegeus recognized his son. In a ceremony soon alter, the ﬁng formally recognized his son
and named him as the heir to the Athenian throne.

'lhe ﬁﬁy sons of Pallas had hoped to gain possession of the ﬁngdom when Aegeus
died without an heir. When 'Iheseus was proclaimed successor to the throne of Athens they
openly rebelled, realizing that their hopes of ever ruling were jeopardized by 'Iheseus. The
sons divided themselves into two forces - twenty-ﬁve sons marched with their father from the
city of Sphetteus; the other twenty-ﬁve gathered at Gargettus where they lay in ambush,
waiting to attack. This plan was foiled however and Theseus fell upon the forces at
Gargettus and ﬁlled them all; the remaining forces dispersed.

'Iheseus then went to Marathon in search of a wild bull which was ravaging the
region. This very bull was allegedly the animal which Herakles had brought to Gmece as his

6
seventh Labor and which subsequently had made its way to Attica. Theseus made his way

to Marathon, captured the bull and drove it to Athens where it was then sacriﬁced to Apollo.

"Not long aﬁerwards there came from Crete for the third time the collectors of the
tribute." (Theseus 15.1) 'lhe son of King Minos of Crete, Androgeos, had been sent by
Aegeus to ﬁll the Marathonian bull; Androgeos died in the attempt. Consequently, Minos
had imposed upon Athens a tribute - every nine years, seven youths and seven maidens
were to be taken to Crete and conﬁned in the labyrinth where they would either be ﬁlled by
the Minotaur or perish within, unable to ﬁnd their way out. One tradition asserts that King
Minos speciﬁcally demanded the inclusion of 'Iheseus in the tribute. However, according to
Plutarch's biography of Theseus, most authors write that the Athenian citizens were angry
that 'Iheseus should be exempt from inclusion among the victims because he was the ﬁng's
son whereupon 'Iheseus volunteered to be a part of the tribute. The distraught ﬁng then
requested of Theseus that if he should return alive, he was to change the color of the ship's
sail from black to white, or scarlet according to Simonides.

'Ihere are conflicting traditions whether the youths of the tribute were taken to Crete
in an Athenian or a Cretan ship. Ifthe ship were Cretan, the story exists that King Minos
tried to interfere with one of the females - Eriboiea. 'Iheseus defended the girl and Minos
became angry. The two argued and at one point Theseus claimed to be the son of Poseidon.
'Ihe ﬁng, throwing a gold ring into the sea, demanded that the youth prove this by
retrieving the trinket. 'Iheseus was born by dolphins to the undersea palace of his father
where he was greeted by Amphitrite, the wife of Poseidon, and cloaked in a purple garment
and given a rose wreath to wear. 'Iheseus then returned to the ship.

Before leaving for Crete, the pious youth made offerings to Apollo and Aphrodite.
'Iheseus had requested the assistance of Aphrodite and it was because of the love of a
woman - Ariadne - that 'Iheseus was successful. The Minotaur was a half-human, half-bull
creature; he was the offspring of Pasiphae, the wife of King Minos, and a bull. Minos

commissioned Daedalus to construct a labyrinth in which the creature was imprisoned.

7
Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos, had obtained from Daedalus information on how to

escape from the labyrinth - simply, fasten a thread to the entrance and thence follow it back.
Ariadne then introduced herself to Theseus and aﬁer he had promised to marry her, gave to
him a ball of thread. leaving the youths at the entrance to the labyrinth, Theseus found
the Minotaur in the conﬁnes of the maze and then ﬁlled the creature. He then returned to
the labyrinth entrance and ﬂed with Ariadne and the youths. During the night the
Athenians set sail for home.

They ﬁrst reached the island of Die where they went ashore. When they sailed on,
Ariadne was left behind. The earliest version of Ariadne's desertion suggests that Theseus
simply forgot her. Later authors, however, say that Theseus fell in love with another
woman, Aegle, and deliberately left Dia without Ariadne. Homer says that Dionysus was
responsible for the death of Ariadne by asﬁng Artemis to ﬁll her; this Homeric account may
be an earlier version of the tradition which relates how Dionysus himself went to the island
and took Ariadne to become his queen.

The party, after leaving Dia, next landed on the island of Delos. It was here that
the Athenians performed the Crane Dance, recounting their experiences in the twisting
passages of the Cretan labyrinth.2 From Delos, they sailed home to Athens. Theseus,
however, in his excitement, forgot to change to sail of the ship; Aegeus saw the black sail
and concluding that Theseus was dead, ﬂung himself from the cliﬁ‘s. Upon the death of his
father, Theseus became ﬁng of Athens.

Theseus then embarked on an expedition against the Amazons. He captured one of
their leaders, Antiope; either she fell in love with him or else when the Amazons sent gifts
to Theseus, he invited the bearer of the giﬁs to board his ship and then sailed off. The
Amazons were angered by this action and pursued Theseus. They invaded Attica and

besieged Athens itself. The Amazons occupied the hill of the Pynx and the Acropolis and it

 

2 This dance is depicted on the Francois Vase.

8
was on the ground between the two bills that Theseus and the Amazons engaged in combat.

Theseus was victorious.

Theseus' greatest friend was Peirithobs, ﬁng of the Lapiths. Theseus had a great
reputation and hearing of Theseus' heroic qualities, PeirithoOs was determined to meet him.
He schemed to drive Theseus' herds of cattle away from Marathon. PeiritboOs did not flee
when he learned that Theseus was pursuing him, but rather turned back and met him.
When the two did meet, they did not ﬁght. Peirithobs extended his hand to the Athenian
and instead of punishing him, Theseus took his hand and the two swore eternal friendship.
Thereafter, the two men were involved in many exploits together, including the battle
against the Centaurs which occurred at the wedding of PeirithoOs and Hippodamia.

Theseus eventually married a woman named Phaedra who bore him two sons -
Akamas and Demophon. Sometime after this marriage, Pallas and his sons made one last
attempt to gain the throne of Athens, but Theseus ﬁlled Pallas and his remaining family.
Because Theseus had murdered his kinsman, he was sentenced to one year's exile from
Athens. Theseus took his family to Troizen; it was here that Hippolytos, the son which
Antiope had born to Theseus, was living.

Hippolytos was a shy youth and a favorite of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. He
scorned Aphrodite and consequently this goddess caused Phaedra to fall in love with him.
Hippolytos learned of Phaedra's desire and though he was shocked, vowed to keep the
matter secret. Phaedra, however, hearing of Hippolytos' scorn, hanged herself and left a
note in which she accused Hippolytos of trying to seduce her. Reading the letter, Theseus
pronounced a curse on his son and asked Poseidon, god of the sea, to contrive his death. As
Hippolytos rode in his chariot along the coast, a huge monstrous creature rose from the sea
and frightened the horses; Hippolytos was thrown from the chariot. He died soon after, but
before he expired the truth of the situation was told to Theseus by Artemis.

Both Theseus and Peirithoos were now widowers; they agreed to help each other

win new wives. Helen was chosen to be Theseus' bride and although she was not of

9
marriageable age, her beauty was renowned. Theseus and Peirithocs went to Sparta,

seized the girl and fled with her to Aphidnae in Attica; she was then placed in the care of
Theseus' mother. Aethra, until she should be old enough to marry Theseus. The two men
then made their way to the Underworld for PeirithoOs had chosen Persephone, the wife of
Hades, to be his bride. Hades pretended to receive the two men respectfully, but when he
invited them to sit down they discovered themselves locked into their seats; Peirithotis
remained in the Chair of Forgetfulness forever, but Theseus was freed by Herakles who had
descended to the Underworld to capture Kerberos.

Theseus returned to Athens only to ﬁnd the city in turmoil. The Spartans, led by the
Dioscuri, the brothers of Helen, had invaded Attica, besieging Aphidnae and taﬁng Aethra
captive. Athens itself had been assailed by Menestheus, a descendant of King Erechtheus,
who ingratiated himself to the people of Athens. The nobles had long been hostile to
Theseus and Menestheus convinced the Athenian citizens that they had been robbed of their
native homes so that in place of many ﬁngs of their own blood, the Athenians had to obey
one master - Theseus - who, himself, was an immigrant and an alien.

Theseus was forced to ﬂee Athens. He sent his two sons to Euboea and he took
refuge on the island of Skyros where he had inherited estates from his grandfather. The
ﬁng of Skyros was a man named Lykomedes and he, either because he feared so powerful a
man such as Theseus, or as a favor to Menestheus, led Theseus up to the cliffs, ostensibly to
show him his estates. Lykomedes then pushed Theseus over the edge. So died the hero of

Athens.

CHAPTER 2
THESEUS AND THE MINOTAUR: LITERARY EVIDENCE

Martin P. Nilsson has demonstrated that nearly all Gmek cycles have a foundation
in the Mycenean period and this is true of Theseus, too.3 Theseus belongs to the earlier
generation of heroes.4 Theseus is a ﬁgure of legend and only gradually has he acquired a
complete life story.

Theseus has very obscure beginnings in Homer. He is speciﬁcally mentioned only
once in the Iliad.5 Nestor extolled the virtues of the men with whom he battled against the

centaurs saying:

Never
yet have I seen nor shall see again such men as these were,
men like Peirithoos, and Dryas, shepherd of the people,
Kaineus and Exadios, godlike Polyphemos,
or Theseus, Aigeus' son, in the likeness of the immortals.
(Iliad 1.261-265)

Theseus was a friend and companion of PeirithOos and their two names are again, as in the

Iliad, paired in the Odyssey. At the conclusion of his descent into Hades, Odysseus laments

 

3 According to Nilsson, the importance of a location in myth corresponds to its
importance in the Mycenean culture. There is a close relationship between myth and Mycenean
sites. See Martin P. Nilsson, The Mycenean Origin of Greek Mytholoy (Berkeley, 1972).

4 Paul Kretschmer has differentiated between two series of heroic names. He concludes
that names ending in -eus go back to a period before Homer, the names of the sons of these
mythical persons are common compound names, for example: Odysseus and Telemachus; Atreus
and Agamemnon; Neleus and Nestor, Census and Meleager. Names ending in -eus are diﬁcult
to explain etymologically whereas the younger series is more clear and explicable. The latter are
regarded to be the sons or descendants of the former. See Paul Kretschmer, Glotta X (1920): 3053‘.

5 Homer basically disregards Attic mythology and there is little mention of Theseus. The
Athenian contingent at Troy is led by Menestheus, the deposer of Theseus. In addition,
Theseus' sons, Akamas and Demophon. who fought at Troy, are unknown in the Iliad. See Denys
Page, History and the Homeric Iliad (Berkeley, 1959) 145-147, 172-175, n79.

10

l 1
that be had not seen, "Peirithdos and Theseus, gods' glorious children." (Odyssey 11.631)6

These few allusions to Theseus show that there was knowledge of Theseus in the eighth
century.

In both the Iliad and the Odyssey, the slaying of the Minotaur is not speciﬁcally
mentioned. However, book 11 of the Odyssey presents the tale of Ariadne. Odysseus

recounts:

T saw Phaidra and Prokris and Ariadne, the beautiful
daughter of malignant Minos. Theseus at one time
was bringing her from Crete to the high ground of sacred Athens,
but got no joy of her, since before that Artemis ﬁlled her
in sea-washed Dia, when Dionysos bore witness against her.
(Odyssey 1 1.321-325)

She arrived on the island of Die after departing Crete and we are told that Theseus was
intending to take her to Athens. The Cretan adventure is thus understood in this connection
between Theseus and Ariadne, yet there is no evidence that the story of the Minotaur was a
part of the legend in the Homeric era.

The lyric poets, especially Bakkhylides, add much to the legend of Theseus.
Bakkhylides was a ﬁfth century poet and was considered a slightly younger contemporary of
Pindar. Eusebius gives his ﬂuorit as c. 467 B.C. (Olympiad 78.2). In 1896, a papyrus
manuscript was discovered at Al-Kussiyah, Egypt. The ﬁfteen epinician odes and six
dithyrambs, ”considerably enlarged not only the known body of work of the poet, but also
the sum of early works dealing with 'Iheseus.”7

 

6 Some scholars regard these references to Theseus as later additions to the epics. 1.265
intheIliadisnotfoundinthebettermanuscr-ipts. SeeGHS Kirk, TheIliad: ACo
voll: books 14 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), Ludwig Radermacher, Mythos
and Sage bei den Griechen, 2nd ed (Vienna, 1943) 249- 250; Albrecht Dihle, Homerprobleme
(Opladen, 1970) 29-34, 103. All Homeric references to Theseus are regarded by Stephani and
Jain as Peisistratid additions. See Otto Jahn, Archdologische Beitrage (1847): 271, n. 40; Ludolf
Stephani, Der Kampfzwiscken Theseus and Minotauros, 6f. See also Hans Herter, RhM 88
(1939): 245-6. According to Plutarch (Theseus 20.1), who quotes Hereas of Megara, 11.631 in the
Odyssey is a Peisistratid addition. See William B. Stanford, ed, The Odyssey of Homer (New York,
1967) 404. Jenifer Neils states, however, that the trend is now against interpolation See J .A
Davidson, TAPA 86 (1955): 17; Marchinus Van Der Valk, Raerches H (Leiden, 1964) 436, 519ff.

7 Jenifer Neils, The Youthﬁd Deeds of Theseus (Rome, 1987) 8.

1 2
Two dithyrambs of Bakkhylides speciﬁcally deal with Theseus. Dithyramb 17 is

titled The Youths and Theseus and tells of Theseus' voyage to Crete. Theseus and fourteen
Athenian youths are mentioned - passengers on a ship under the command of King Minos.8
Theseus boasted to Minos of his divine descent saying, "I also myself come from the
daughter of wealthy Pittheus when she lay with the lord of the sea, Poseidon.” (11. 32-35).
Minos demanded a sign from Zeus to prove the youth's divine origin and then, throwing a
gold ring into the sea, challenged Theseus to retrieve it. Theseus jumped into the sea and
was born by dolphins to the home of his father, Poseidon. At the maron theon he was met
by Amphitrite who clothed him in a purple cloak and a rose wreath. Theseus then
reappeared on the deck of the ship, bedecked in his new ﬁnery - a, "wonder to all." (11.123)
Dithyramb 18 records Theseus' journey from Troizen to Athens and is simply titled

Theseus. Aegeus, ﬁng of Athens, tells of a man and his mighty deeds:

He has ﬁlled overpowering
Sinis, once the greatest in strength
of men, being son to Kronid Lytaios
(earthshaker, that is Poseidon);
ﬁlled, too, the man-slaughtering wild boar
in the valley of Krémmyon, and ﬁlled
wicked and cruel Sﬁron.
He has abolished the wrestling-ring
of Kérkyon. The Founder has dropped
Polypémon's strong hammer from hand. (11.19-28)9

This ode, according to Jenifer Neils, ”ﬁlls the chronological gap between his birth in

Tkoizen. . . and his ﬁrst Athenian adventure, the voyage to Crete."1°

 

8 Bakkhylides mentioned fourteen youths, so Theseus must have volunteered to be a
part of the tribute. This is the literary tradition followed by Plutarch (Theseus 17.2). Some
authors write that Theseus volunteered for the mission whereas others relate that Theseus was
one of the fourteen youths chosen by King Minos himself as part of the tribute.

9 The absence of Periphetes may have been because the ode addresses the Isthmian
deeds; Periphetes inhabited the region near Epidauros which is located before the Isthmus and
Timothy Gantz suggests that this may be the reason Periphetes is not mentioned in Bakkhylides'
ode. See Timothy Gantz, Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources (Baltimore,
1993). In Bakkhylides account, he does not mention the character of the villain, their locale nor
the method by which each was ﬁlled. Neils says that this is because he was not interested in
this, but rather in heightening the dramatic situation to demonstrate the physical strength of
Theseus. According to her, this heightening would, in a sense, set the scene for the arrival of
Theseus in Athens.

10 Neils, 11.

13
It is difﬁcult to date these two odes by Bakkhylides. Bakkhylides' work spans a

period from approximately 480 to 431 B.C. It has been suggested that Dithyramb 17 was
written between 478 and 470 B.C. The last lines of this ode are addressed to Apollo and it
is probable that the ode was composed for a Delian festival.11 Dithyramb 18 was
composed at about the same time. The dating of these odes is contemporary with an
important event in Athenian history - the return of Theseus' bones from the island of Skyros
by Kimon in 474/3 B.C.12 It is important to recognize that these odes reveal a new image
of the Athenian hero and indicate an increased interest in him during this period.

In addition to the odes of Bakkhylides, there are three fragments of the Cretan
adventure attributed to Simonides, a widely traveled and well-known poet who was thought
to have lived from about 556 - 468 B.C. These fragments, however, show a decided interest
in Aegeus, with the slaying of the Minotaur and other events treated rather superﬁcially.13

Theseus was a major ﬁgure in Athenian history and Attic historians included the
Cretan adventure in their accounts. Pherekydes was a ﬁfth century historian; Eusebius
gives his ﬂuorit as Olympiad 81.1, or 456 B.C. His work deals with the myths of Athens
and its tribes. Only a few fragments of his works survive. The major fragment, fragment
148, is a more detailed account of the story of Theseus as found in book 11 of the Odyssey. 14

Ellen Young notes that the Minotaur and labyrinth are, in this account, well established.

 

11 The lines read as, I'Delian, lord, your own heart softened by the chorales of the
Keane, grant a god-sped happening of success." (11130-132).

2 See Plutrach, Theseus 36.1. The Delphic Oracle, which advised the Athenians to
retrieve Theseus' bones is, according to Plutarch, dated to 476/5 B. C. The importance of Kimon
and his promotion of Theseus as an Athenian here will be discussed in chapter 5.

13 The principal fragment describes the sail given by Aegeus to the captain of the ship
which sailed to Crete with Theseus and the youths of the tribute. The name of ship's captain -
Phereklos the son of Amarsyas - according to Simonides is also preserved by Plutarch A third
fragment concerns the messenger sent to Aegeus; this fragment is preserved in a scholiast on
Sophocles' Ajax, 1.740. See J.M. Edmonds, Lyra Gmeca II (London, 1924) 318, frr. 62, 63 and 64
respectively.

14 The essential points of the story may be related as follows: Theseus was among the
youths taken to Crete by King Minos to be sacriﬁced to the Minotaur, Ariadne, who fell in love
with the hero, gave him the thread which she had received from Daidalos; Theseus was
instructed to tie the thread to the door of the labyrinth, ﬁnd and slay the Minotaur and sacriﬁce
his locks of hair to Poseidon; Theseus then escaped from the island with Ariadne and the
Athenians in the middle of the night; they stopped on the island of Die where Athena
commanded Theseus to abandon Ariadne. Dionysus then married her.

1 4
Hellanikos, a contemporary of Herodotus, was another historian who wrote of

Theseus.15 His history of Athens was published at the end of the ﬁﬁh century.

Plutarch preserves Hellanikos' references to Theseus which are found in this history.16
There is only one reference to the Cretan adventure in the surviving fragments; according to
Plutarch, Hellsnikos said that Minos himself came to Athens to select the youths for the
tribute - there was not a lottery - and the king chose Theseus ﬁrst of all.

The fragmentary accounts of these two historians diﬁ‘ers. There is no single
canonical form of the Cretan adventure, yet these fragments indicate that this myth was
established by the beginning of the ﬁfth century.

Both Sophocles and Euripides composed several plays entitled Thaeus. There are
fragments from a lost play preserved in the Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 2542. These fragments
have been attributed by various scholars to either Sophocles or Euripides; E.G. Turner
attributes the fragments to Sophocles on the basis of language, whereas T.B.L. Webster
suggests Euripides was the author based on one particularly Euripidean word and the
relation of the fragments to other Euripidean fragments as preserved by other writers.1'7
There are six fragments of the papyrus large enough to be interpreted. Fragment one is part
of a speech given by a person whose name ends in "sens". This same person recollects
earlier victories in fragment three and includes references to the Isthmian cliﬁ‘s and Sinis,
the Krommyon Sow and Skiron. Fragment six, a messenger‘s speech, may, according to
Young, report Theseus' slaying of the Minotaur or may describe the confrontation with King
Minos. This fragment is a report of an act of a meme - a stranger in the land. The setting of

the play as preserved in the Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 2542, it may be concluded, was Crete.

 

15 There is not much information on the career of Hellanikos, but he was still active
in 406 B. C.

16 See Felix Jacoby, Die mm der Griechr'schen Historiker (Berlin-Leiden, 1923-
1958) fr. 323a

17 POxy, edited with translations and notes by E.G. Turner, John Rea, L. Koenen and
Jose Ma Fernandez Pomar (London, 1967) 1-20. T.B.L Webster notes, ”[als therefore at least
one usuage, the repeated Kareheﬁoare of P.Oxy 2542 fr.5, II is certainly Euripidean, the papyrus
should be tentatively considered with the fragments of Euripides' play. " See T.B.L. Webster, The
Tragedies of Euripides (London, 1967 ) 106.

l 5
Several fragments from Euripides‘ drama, Theseus, survive. August Nauck listed ten

fragments from this play.18 Webster reconstructed a tragedy combining the ten fragments,
as indicated by Nauck, with the Oxyrynchus Papyrus 2542 fragments.19 The slaying of the
Minotaur is, according to Webster, the focus of the play despite the fact that few of the
fragments directly address Theseus and the Minotaur. The editors of the Oxyrhynchus
Papyri have assigned ﬁve fragments from a second papyrus - 2461 - to Euripides (the
editors assigned papyrus 2542 to Sophocles). The papyrus is a dialogue in which a
questioner elicits a description of the Minotaur. “The fragments preserved from Euripides'
Theseus tell us little; only that the play concerned Theseus, and his activities in Crete."20
The story of Theseus gradually evolved from its early references in Homer to the ﬁﬁh century
B.C. By the end of the ﬁfth century, the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur had acquired
the form which was preserved by authors of the Roman era. Before addressing these
authors, mention must be made of the Theseid.

Several scholars believe that an epic - the Theseid - devoted to the life of the hero was
composed at the end of the archaic period due to an increased interest in the hero.21 The
Theseus saga would have competed with the Herakles cycle as a subject for epic. This epic,
scholars suggest, was not only the source for poems like those of Bakkhylides, but also for
the cycle of deeds devoted to Theseus in the arts.22

There is no surviving evidence, however, for an epic devoted to the life of Theseus

from the end of the archaic period. Aristotle's Poetics (8.1451-19) is the earliest reference to

 

18 August Nauck, Tragicorum Graecorurn Fragmenta, 2nd ed (Leipzig, 1926) frr. 381-390.

19 Webster, 105-109

20 Ellen Roberts Young, The Slaying of the Minotaur: Evidence in Art and Literature hr
the Developments of the Myth, 700 - 400 B.C. (Ann Arbor, MI, 1972) 34.

21 See Ludwig Radermacher, Mythos und Sage bei den Griechen, 2nd ed (Vienna, 1943)
252-253; Charles Dugas, REG 56 (1943): 18. Dugas notes, "on a l'impression d'une introduction
asses soudaine dans la conscience légendaire, qui suggére l'inﬂuence d 'une source litteraire. 0r il
semble qu'd la ﬁn du VIsiécle un auteur inconnu ait justement compose une Théséide; cet auteur ,
s'il n'a pas inventé lee exploits du voyage autour du golfe, a probablement vulgarisé des traditions
jusqu'alors peu répandues. " Hans Herter believes that the Athenian tyrant, Peisistratos,
strongly inﬂuenceed the development of Theseus as an Attic national hero. He has proposed
that the Theseid was written for Peisistratos and this epic established the cycle of deeds. See
Hans Herter, MM 88 (1939): 282-285.

22 These cycle cups ﬁrst appeared c. 510 B.C.; they will de discussed at length in
chapter 3.

16
a Theseid.23 A Theseid is also mentioned by Plutarch who attributes such an epic to the

author of The Insurrection of the Amazons.24 But the validity of Plutarch's statement is
questioned because this Amazon story is, except for Plutarch's mention, unknown, thus it is
diﬁcult to give a speciﬁc date to such an epic as the Theseid. As such, there is very little
evidence to support the notion that a Theseid was composed around the end of the archaic
period.

Neils suggests that there is evidence to the contrary of such an epic composed at this
time. She refers to the works of the ﬁfth century historian Pherekydes to illustrate her
point. Only a few fragments of his work are preserved. There is no mention of any deeds of
Theseus and thus Neils concludes, ”[h]ad such an epic been written in the late 6th, its
reflection would surely be found in the writings of the Athenian historian Pherekydes.”25
However, it must be pointed out that Pherekydes work is, indeed, fragmentary and it is
possible that he did address these deeds in an unpreserved work. Furthermore, Neils
asserts, the possibility of an epic composed at the end of the archaic period is diminished
when the artistic evidence is examined. The cycle cups, which ﬁrst appeared around 510
B.C. and continued to be produced until about 410 B.C., do not display any canonical order
of the Isthmian deeds. Had such an epic existed, it would be reﬂected in the art of the
period. But, again to refute this, one need only to look at Bakkhylides' Dithyramb 18. The
cycle cups produced aﬁer about 470 B.C. - the date suggested as the writing of the ode - do
not exhibit a canonical order either. So, even when a standardized story is established, this
need not be reﬂected in contemporary or later vase painting.

The complete life story of Theseus is preserved in the works of later authors -

Apollodorus, Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch. These three accounts are, in general, similar,

 

23 Aristotle, according to Leslry, faults the writers of such epics as the Heracleid or
Theseid for not limiting their subject matter. See Albin Leaky, A History of Greek Literature (New
York, 1966).

24 This story deals with Theseus, Antiope and Herakles. In Theseus 28.1, Plutarch
writes, "[ﬂor the "Insurrection of the Amazons," written by the author of the Theseid, telling
how, when Theseus married Phaedra, Antiope and the Amazons who fought to avenge her
attacked him, and were slain by Heracles has every appearance of fable and invention" Even in
this statement, Plutarch is very vague about such an epic as the Theseid.

25 Neils, 12.

1 7
yet they differ in speciﬁcs. Apollodorus was a second century B.C. Athenian author. The

legendary history of Athens is retold in The Library, or the Bibliotheca, and presents the
story of Theseus from a mythological viewpoint. Apollodorus' account is brief and without
much elaboration. The Minotaur is killed by jabs of Theseus' ﬁsts?6

Diodorus Siculus wrote of Theseus from a historical perspective. He includes a brief
biography of the hero in his Library of History, written circa 60-30 B.C. The slaying of the
Minotaur is simply recounted; Diodorus only states that Theseus killed the Minotaur?7

The work of Plutarch is perhaps the most detailed and well-known biography of the
Athenian hero. A citizen of Athens, Plutarch was surrounded by monuments to the
legendary hero. Literature, too, provided inspiration, from the earliest references in Homer
to Theseus' portrayal in Attic tragedy. The desire of Plutarch was to write a credible
account of Theseus' life. Undertaking a biography of the Athenian hero, Plutarch hoped, ”to
make myth submit to reason and take on the appearance of history."28

In most of his biographies, Plutarch was content to retell the traditional stories. In
Romulus, the companion work to Theseus, Plutarch cited other authors six times; however,
in Theseus, there were ﬁﬁy-one citations of twenty-ﬁve different authors. Plutarch, ”may also
have thought that some special show of erudition was necessary for such a difﬁcult topic
involving the founding hem of the Greek world's ﬁrst city."29 Regarding Theseus, with the
wealth of material available it was difﬁcult to reconcile conﬂicting traditions. For examﬂe,
Plutarch was familiar with two stories surrounding the outcome of the Cretan adventure.
From art and literature survived the tale of Ariadne's thread and the slaying of the
Minotaur in the labyrinth. Plutarch, in addition, also included the account of Philochorus.30

 

26 See Apollodorus, The Library, Epitome 1.9.

27 See Diodorus Siculus, Library oinstory 4.61.

28 Frank J. Frost, "Plutarch and Theseus,” Classical Bulletin 60 (1984): 66.

29 ibid, 67.

30 The inclusion of Philochorus is noteworthy. Plutarch rarely cited the works of the
Atthidographers in his other works. Cited only twice in Plutarch's entire corpus, Philochorus is
cited six times in the Theseus. In another instance, Hellenikos was cited ﬁve times in the
Thaeus, twice elsewhere. In addition, Pherekydes and Herodotus are not mentioned in any of
the other works of Plutarch, save for the Theseus.

18

The resulting account reads as follows:
When he reached Crete on his voyage, most historians and
poets tell us they he got from Ariadne, who had fallen in love
with him, the famous thread, and that having been instructed
by her how to make his way through the intricacies of the
Labyrinth, he slew the Minotaur and sailed 013' with Ariadne
and the youths. . . but as Philochorus tells the story, Minos
was holding the funeral games, and Taurus was expected to
conquer his competitors in them, as he had done before, and
was grudged his success. . . Therefore when Theseus asked
the privilege of entering the lists, it as granted him by Minos.
And since it was the custom in Crete for women to view the
games, Ariadne was present, and was smitten with the
appearance of Theseus, as well as ﬁlled with admiration for
his athletic prowess, when be conquered all his opponents.
Minos was also delighted with him, especially because he
conquered Taurus in wrestling and disgraced him, and
therefore gave back the youths to Theseus, besides remitting
his tribute to the city. (Plutarch, Thaws 19.1-3).

Plutarch suppressed stories which he considered ”too fabulous". Frank Frost notes
that, ”[iln the Theseus he has made an honest attempt to treat the period as a historical
one; therefore all fable, all marvels, all episodes that smacked too much of the supernatural
must be avoided, or at least explained in a logical way."31 To illustrate this point, according
to Hellanikos, Minos came to Athens and personally selected the youths for the tribute.
Plutarch, however, related the tradition that the youths were chosen by lot and then
delivered to King Minos of Crete. This version thus omits a rather famous tale - the visit of
Theseus to the undersea home of his father, Poseidon. This visit was the subject of
Bakkhylides' Dithyramb 17. In art, this event was depicted on vases and may have been
the theme of a wall painting in the Theseion. Plutarch, however, evidently questioned the
validity of this adventure and chose instead a more "realistic” explanation. Plutarch's
biography of the Athenian hero, "is unique in the sense that no extant author of antiquity
ever attempted to make a reasonable and sensible history out of the corpus of fables
surrounding a legendary ﬁgure."32

From obscure beginnings in Homer to the subject of several ﬁﬁh century Attic
tragedies, the legend of Theseus has evolved. This legend was elaborated, added to and

 

31 Frost, 70.
32 ibid

1 9
enhanced by poets until it could be stated by Isokrates, a fourth century orator, that

Theseus was as renowned in literature as Herakles and the Trojan heroes. In the eighth
century, the exploits of Theseus and Peirithbos were recounted and the Cretan adventure
was understood in the connection between Theseus and Ariadne. However, there was, at
this time, no mention of the Minotaur. By the ﬁfth century, the Minotaur encounter had
become an integral part of the Theseus legend. In Bakkhylides' work, the slaying is implied
in the youth's voyage to Crete and in the fragmentary accounts of Pherekydes, the Minotaur
and the labyrinth are well-established. But only in the works of later authors can a
complete account of the hero's life can be found - Plutarch's Thaeus is perhaps the most

comprehensive version. This is a detailed biography and the Minotaur slaying is included.

CHAPTER 3
THESEUS AND THE MINOTAUR: ARTISTIC EVIDENCE

In Greek art prior to 520 B.C. Theseus is portrayed in either one of two ways. The
two categories of representation are: the Cretan adventure including the slaying of the
Minotaur and his involvement with Ariadne; and his adventures with Peirithtios which
include the abduction of Helen, the descent into Hades and the battle against the centaurs.
The two categories have only Theseus as a common factor because as Neils notes, ”[t]here is
nothing in the early literary and artistic evidence which necessitates the equation of the
Minotaur slayer and the companion of Peirithtios.“33 This same division is also made in
Homer as has already been demonstrated. The Francois vase is the ﬁrst artistic example in
which Theseus is, in a sense, given a single identity. Theseus is depicted twice: with
Ariadne and the Athenian youths performing a victory dance; and with Perithoos and other
Lapiths. Yet, within a relatively short time period, the representations of Theseus in Attic
art are reduced to depictions of the Minotaur slaying - the episode of greatest importance to
the Athenians.

The battle between Theseus and the Minotaur ﬁrst appeared in the art of the
Peloponnesians - ﬁve gold plaques, dated to the mid-seventh century, survive (Figures 1-2).
Representations of Theseus, the Minotam' and Ariadne decorate these plaques. Theseus
grabs the horn of the Minotaur with his left hand and with his right hand he plunges the
sword into the chest of the creature.34 Behind Theseus stands Ariadne, her left arm

 

33 Neils, 29-30.
34 This becomes the standard canonical form as will be seen later.

20

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Theseus Slaying the Minotaur. Gold relief plaque. Illustration.

Mid-seventh century B.C.

FIGURE 2

23
upraised and in her right hand, a round object generally regarded to be a ball of thread.35

This theme is again repeated, with a few compositional variations, on numerous bronze
shield bands from Olympia (Figure 3). These bands range in date from the beginning to the
middle of the sixth century.36 Differing from the Corinthian plaques, the Minotaur is larger
in scale compared to Theseus and the creature is pictured in the typical archaic running
pose. This Knielauf pose is necessary to accommodate the Minotaur to the space. The
representations on the gold plaques and the bronze shield bands establish the canonical
formula for this battle: Theseus advances towards the Minotaur on the right; in his left
hand he grasps the creature's horn and in his right, the hero brandishes his sword. Several
examples of the slaying of the Minotaur survive in Corinthian vase painting (Figure 4).37
These works, contemporary with the gold plaques and bronze bands, depict much the same
scene. Metalwork and vase painting are the two media in which there are extant examples
of the Minotaur slaying in Peloponnesian art.

By the sixth century B.C., the story of Theseus and the Minotaur was widely known
and depicted in art throughout Greece. Surprisingly, the Peloponnese, and not Attica, was
the ﬁrst to produce artistic representations of this confrontation. There is no evidence as
Young states, "for any special Attic interest in the story at this period."38 In Attic art, the
slaying of the Minotaur does not appear before the development of the black-ﬁgure
technique.

 

35 The woman cannot be positively identiﬁed as Ariadne, but has been always been
assumed to be her. This gesture has been viewed by some as one of encouragement See
Neumann, Gaten und Gebdrden (Berlin, 1965). Conversely, this gesture has also been
interpreted as a gesture of terror. Pierre Devambez and Francois Villard note, "Theses, suivi de
pres par deux spectatrices dent les gates manifestaent l'emoi. " See Pierre Devambez and Francois
Villard, MonPiot 62 (1979): 22.

36 Emil Kunze has catalogued and discussed these bands in his work Archaische
Schildbdnder, OlForsch 2, (Berlin, 1950).

7 Gorgoneion cup in Brussels, Musées Royaux A1374. See Humfry Payne,
Necrocorinthia (Oxford, 1931) 133, no. 986, pl.34.6; Karl Schefold, ML (New York, nd) pl. 58b.

38 Young, 128.

24

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FIGURE 3 Bronze shield bands from Olympia. Early to mid-sixth century B.C.
Olympia, Olympia Museum B969.

25

.324 558a 88:2 steam
dd 83 .32. 53:50 .5383 a: gem 2.3.5.

e EOE

 

 

 

 

 

26
The slaying of the Minotaur is represented on over two hundred black-ﬁgure vases.

The earliest Attic example is a large bandcup signed by the potters Archikles and Glaukytes
(Figure 5).39 This cup, now in Munich, dates from the second quarter of the sixth century B.C.
All ﬁgures on this vase are labeled, as was common in early black-ﬁgure work. Theseus
engages the Minotaur in combat; Theseus advances from the left and grasps the Minotaur
with his left hand. In his right hand he clutches his sword, ready to plunge it into the half-
man, half-bull hybrid who attempts to ﬂee. Behind the Minotaur stands Ariadne, holding a
ball of thread in her outstretched right hand and a wreath in her left hand. Athena, holding
Theseus' lyre, regards him from behind. Surrounding this central group are twelve
spectators - generally regarded as some of the youths of the tribute.

A Tyrrhenian hydria from the second quarter of the sixth century B.C. also provides
a full account of the battle (Figure 6).40 As on the Munich bandcup, Theseus and the
Minotaur are ﬂanked by Athens and Ariadne. Behind Athena stands Hermes and King
Minos is placed behind Ariadne. Of particular interest is that Minos faces a seated woman
who, according to Neils, appears to be judging the contest between Theseus and the
Minotaur. Again, the names of all the ﬁgures are inscribed, including the ﬁve spectators.
The bande in Munich and the Tyrrhenian hydria, ”are the two most elaborate Attic
versions of the Minotaur slaying. They exhibit, not unexpectedly, an interest in the more
Athenian aspects of the story, the tribute of the youths and maidens and the patronage of
the goddess Athena.”1 Soon, however, artists lose interest in the subsidiary details of the
myth and focus on the battle between Theseus and the Minotaur. In general, in subsequent
representations, Theseus and the Minotaur occupy the entire pictorial ﬁeld.42 Theseus, as
described on the Munich cup, advances from the leﬁ and grips the Minotaur with his left
hand while in his right hand he holds a sword. The Minotaur attempts to ﬂee; the creature

 

39 Munich, Antikensammlungen 2243; ABV 163, no. 2.

40 Leiden, Ryksmuseum P047; ABV 104, no. 126.

41 Neils, 25.

42 Ariadne is occasionally added, but usually without her attribute(s) and as many
"swctators" as can be accommodated in the available space.

27

. .mvmm nouns—4553335 £3252
.Od 5:8 is 65 ac Seneca vaooom 63.6135 was woo—Eva
2389 65 .3 magma 95655 .5333 65 manna—m macaw—F

m EOE

 

28

    

as! is 1......

9.743

FIGURE 6 Theseus Slaying the Minotaur. Hydria. Unattributed.
Second quarter of the sixth century B.C. Leiden, Ryksmuseum P047.

29
kneels and his right arm reaches back towards Theseus. The battle format quickly becomes

standardized - a stock motif - after circa 550 B.C.

The Minotaur theme reached its greatest popularity in the period 540-530 B.C.,
most notably in the work of the Group E painters.43 The Group E workshop produced no
less than twenty-two paintings of the subject although the group's most famous artist,
Exekias, seems not to have favored this subject)”4 As can be expecmd, the battle form is
standardized. However, of particular interest is a vase in New York.45 Theseus, bearded
and clothed in an animal skin, wields the sword above his head as if to strike the Minotaur;

this pose recalls the hero, Herakles. Young notes:

The vases of Group E may represent the height of the inﬂuence

of Herakles on the Theseus myth, since he most oﬁen appears

as a hefty, bearded man on Group E vases, but before and

after he is more oﬁen beardless. The animal skin, which is

another indication of the inﬂuence of Herakles, ap are

intermittently throughout the black ﬁgure period.
The art of the period from around 575 - 525 B.C. focused on one particular event in Theseus'
life - the battle against the Minotaur. As Neils mentions, '[e]ssentially, Theseus is just
another Bronze Age hero, neither particularly distinctive nor speciﬁcally Athenian. '47 But in
the last quarter of the sixth century, there develops an interest in other details of the hero's
life.

The image of Theseus was transformed in the ﬁnal quarter of the sixth century.

This transformation, "involves an elaboration of his persona by the addition of new

 

43 Young suggests, "it is logical to suppose that this was a period when Attic
nationalism and interest in the national here were high” (Young, 189). She behaves that
Peisistratos promoted the hero.

44 An amphora fragment in Lund (Lund University 655; ABV 145, no. 17) depicts
Theseus greeting his sons, Akamas and Demophon. His sons are depicted as warriors, walking
next to their horses, on a another amphora now in Berlin (Berlin, Antikensammlungen 1720;
ABV 143, no. 1). According to Neils, "both images fall in line with Exekias' taste for restrained
yet digniﬁed scenes, for 'a scene from the heroic life when at its simple everyday level. "' (Neils,
28; Neils cites J. D. Beazley, The Development of Black-ﬁgure (Berkeley. University of California
Press, 1986) 66).

45 New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art 41.162.143; ABV 134, no. 25.

46 Yormg, 135. The parallels between Theseus and Herakles will be discussed in chapter 6.

4'7 Neils, 1.

30
deeds.”8 The previous exploits of Theseus are not forgotten and the popularity of the

Cretan adventure remains; to this established repétoire are added a series of
deeds - a cycle - completed on the road from Troizen to Athens. It is during the period 510 -
500 B.C. that the cycle cups ﬁrst appear.

The deeds of Theseus are combined in a cyclical fashion on a series of Attic red-ﬁgure
vases and are thus oﬁen termed cycle cups. Oltos was perhaps the ﬁrst to paint a ”cycle"
cup, although he did not depict any of the youthful deeds of the hero; rather, he revived older
themes concerning women.49 On a cup in London, the obverse shows Theseus' abduction of
the Amazon queen, Ant:iope.50 The tondo depicts two ﬁgures facing each other - a youth
playing a lyre and a female holding a ﬂower. J .D. Beazley believes the two ﬁgures to be
Theseus and one of the youthful females of the tribute and cites the Francois Vase as a
comparison; the ﬁgures may be Theseus and Ariadne as Alexander S. Murray had originally
supposed.‘51 We are thus presented with a vase on which two episodes from the life of
Theseus are depicted. The reverse is incomplete. The remains show a male ﬁgure speaking
to a female facing him - similar to the scene on the interior. Flanking the couple are a pair
of nude horsemen. These youths may be the Dioscuri coming to rescue their sister, Helen.52

Ifthis interpretation is valid, than the London cup combines We events from Theseus' life.

 

48 ibid, 31.

49 JD. Beasley originally attributed an. cup to Oltos, but an. attribution has been
questioned See A. Bruhn, Oltos and Early Red-Figure Vase Painting (Copenhagen, 1943) 117.
Bruhn states, "the composition of the interior is incompatible with Oltos' usual compositions for
this part of the vase. Apart from the two plates, none of Oltos' works have two ﬁgures on a
baseline. " More recently, this cup has been attributed to Euphronios. See Martin Robertson,
Getty Museum Journal 9 (1981): 29 and n. 2 and 34 postscript.

50 London, British Museum E41; ARV2 58, no. 51.

51 See Alexander S. Murray, Designs from Greek Vases in the British Museum (London,
1894) 23, no. 6. Murray is supported by Pierre de la Coste-Messeliere, RA (1947): 156.

2 Neils says, "the placidity of the scene does not argue for such an interpretation,
unless one were to suppose that the artist was attempting to present the episode in a manner
more favorable to the protagonist.” (Neils, 34).

3 1
The slightly younger contemporaries of Oltos were the ﬁrst to develop true cycle cups.

The earliest cycle vase, now in Florence, dates from around 510 B.C. and is signed by the
potter Kachrylion (Figure 7).53 Kachrylion's cup is very innovative because it combines six
deeds and iconographical schemes were invented to identify each of the villains. On the
exterior are depicted Sinis, the Minotaur and Prokrustes on one side and Skimn, Kerkyon
and the Marathonian bull on the other side. Theseus, instead of dispatching the Minotaur
with his sword, is shown wrestling with the creature. This confrontation with the Minotaur
is unusual. The typical battle format is depicted on a second cycle cup in London. This
cup, London E36, is contemporary with the Florentine vase (Figure 8).54 The exterior is
devoted to ﬁve adventures of Theseus: Prokrustes; Kerkyon; the Minotaur; the
Marathonian bull; and the Krommyon sow. The portrayal of the killing of the Minotaur is
typical as Theseus advances from the left with his sword drawn. The Minotaur attempts to
ﬂee, but Theseus grabs his right wrist and prevents the creature's escape.

Interestingly, Kachrylion the potter signed both the cup by Oltos and the Horsntine
kylix; the London kylix was potted by the Chelis group. Kachrylion and Chelis were from
the same workshop and thus it has been suggested that Kachrylion may have been
instrumental in the development of the cycle cups. The two earliest true cycle cups -
Florence 91456 and London E36 - are diﬂ'erent in their choice of deeds, however, both
include the Minotaur. The Minotaur combat is perhaps added to the Isthmian deeds
because it is the feat parescellence of the youthful hero - so as to, “fortify the equation
between the Minotaur slayer of long-standing and the new, young hero born in Troizen."55
To conﬁrm the parallel between the Minotaur slayer and the youthful Athenian, two cups
by the Kleophrades Painter should be examined. On a fragmentary cup in Paris, the tondo
isreservedfor'Kerlryorr.56 Asecond cupinBologna reﬂects the morefamiliartondo

 

53 Florence, Museo Archeologico Etrusco 91456; ARV2 108, no. 27
54 London, British Museum E36; ARV2 115, no. 3

55 Neils, 37.

56 Paris, Cabinet des Médailles 536; ARVZ 191, no. 104.

32

 

Cycle Cup. Kylix signed by the potter Kachrylion. c. 510 B.C.

Florence, Museo Archeologico Etrusco 91456.

FIGURE 7

33

 

FIGURE 8 Cycle Cup. Kylix. Unattributed. c. 510 B.C. London, British Museum E36

34
representation of Theseus and the Minotaurﬁ'7 Rather than view the Kerkyon tondo cup as

exceptional, Young instead notes, ”[tlhese two cups indicate how complete the Minotaur
myth was considered by the artist as one of a group of deeds, since in one case he chose the
Minotaur for his central representation; in another he chose another deed, the wrestling
match with Kerkyon."58

The most obvious source for the deeds of Theseus are other heroic legends,
particularly those of Herakles. The Marathonian bull episode is almost certainly derived
from Herakles' encounter with the Cretan bull.59 Likewise, the Krommyon sow is of
Heraklean origin, modeled aﬁer Herakles‘ capture of the Erymanthian Boar.60 The
similarity between the wrestling match of Herakles and Antaios and Theseus and Kerkyon
is less obvious, but still derivative.61 The episodes involving the three other villains - Sinis,
Skiron and Prokrustes - are more original. However, they share several similarities which
may be an indication of contemporaneous origins. All three episodes involve speciﬁc
topographical features - the tree of Sinis, the cliﬁ‘ of Skiron and the bed of Prokrustes - and
Theseus dispatches each of the brigands employing their own methods. It must be noted,
however, that in each instance, the sword can be substituwd as a weapon. The sword,
recall, was one of the gnon'smata of the hero. These three villains bear names which are
either derived from their locale or from their actions. These deeds are not directly modeled
on the labors of Herakles, but they do resemble the Dorian hero's confrontation with the
highwayman Kyknos and Alkyonaios, the herdsman. These six deeds coupled with the

 

57 Bologna, Museo Civico PU270; ARVZ 192, no. 107. Theseus and the Minotaur are
ﬁrst depicted in the tondo on a cup by Apollodorus (Oxford, Ashmolean Museum 303; ARV2 120,
no. 7.) This theme is a popular tondo motif in the cycle cups.

58 Young, 146.

59 This derivation has resulted in much confusion and conﬂation in the identiﬁcation of
the scene. Neils gives as an example a red-ﬁgure cup by the Delos Painter (Switzerland, private
collection; ARV2 172, no. 4). See Karl Schefold, GH (Cambridge, 1992) ﬁg. 127. This cup depicts
the Cretan bull, but without the accompanying inscription the scene might easily be identiﬁed as
Theseus and the Marathonian bull. The ﬁgure is beardless and the scene is similiar in
appearance to Florence 91456.

60 On London E36, a live bear is dragged away by its hind legs; occassionally, Herakles'
capture of the Erymanthian Boar is depicted in this manner during this period. See John
Boardman, Attic Black ﬁgure Vasa (New York, 1978) ﬁg. 166; Karl Schefold, GH (Cambridge,
1992) ﬁg. 119. Later representations of Theseus diﬂ'er in that the animal, a sow, is being killed

61 Theseus and Kerkyon wrestle standing, whereas Herakles and Antaios are prone.

35
slaying of the Minotaur and the capture of the Marathonian bull comprise the cycle of

Theseus' deeds as depicted in art from the end of the sixth century to the mid-ﬁfth century
B.C.

The cycle is not depicted in its entirety until the mid-ﬁfth century.62 The deeds are
elaborated and many details - such as the turtle of Skiron and Phaia - are added. The most
comprehensive cycle cup is attributed to the Penthesilea Painter (Figure 9).63 This
kylix dates to around 460 - 450 B.C. Theseus appears in eight separate episodes arranged
around the interior tondo. This cup merits further elaboration because of its nature. The
beginning of the cycle is indicated by a tree in which hangs the youth‘s cloak and scabbard;
propped against the tree is a club. Theseus grabs the right leg of Skiron and upends him.
In the next scene, a clothed hero raises his club overhead and attacks the sow. Behind the
sow stands Phaia. Another tree indicates the palestra of Kerkyon. The two adversaries
wrestle. In the fourth scene, Prokrustes kneels on his wooden bed and gestures towards
Theseus. Theseus approaches him from the leﬁ, hammer raised in a similar manner to the
sow episode. Beyond Prokrustes' bed is a tree; Theseus pulls down a limb of the tree and
clutches Sinis with his leﬁ: hand. Sinis falls towards the tree. Behind Theseus a woman
moving 05 to the right is observed. In the next episode, Theseus holds the horn of the fallen
Minotaur with his leﬂ; hand and in his right hand he grasps his drawn sword. King Aegeus
greets Theseus on the next episode.64 The expedition to Marathon completes the cycle of
deeds depicted. Here, Theseus leads the bull into Athens. He is greeted by Aegeus who
confronts another man, possibly Pallas.

The presentation of Theseus' deeds in a cyclical fashion is unique to the hero. This

type of narration is usually termed an Hellenistic invention as observed by Kurt

 

62 Periphetes is rare, so he is not included as a cycle character in this context.

63 Ferrara, Museo Nazionale di Spins 44885; ARV2 882, no. 35.

64 This scene has been variously interpreted. The elderly man holds a scepter which is
indicative of his royal status. Theseus moves oﬂ' to the right and grips his sword According to
Neils, he, however, is not threatening the older man because the sword is positioned upright.
Thus the scene can be interpreted as Theseus' arrival in Athens. Conversely, Evelyn B.
Harrison has suggested that the elderly man is King Minos based on his close proximity to the
Minotaur and that Minos is chasing Theseus from Crete. The similarity between the king in this
scene and the one in the next scene substantiates the identiﬁcation of the king as Aegeus.

36

 

FIGURE 9 Cycle Cup. Kylix by the Penthesilea Painter. c. 460 - 450 B.C.
Ferrara, Museo Nazionale di Spina 44885.

37

Weitzmann.65 ”The depictions of Theseus' deeds in a series of consecutive compositions on
cycle cups with the protagonist repeated in each are unparalleled."36 This type of
representation was entirely suited to Herakles, yet there is only one extant example in which
several of his labors are combined - a vase by the Kleophrades Painter. The Kleophrades
Painter, however, experimented with such representations and his example is not typical.
One may wonder why Herakles' labors are not united cyclically in vase painting. Simply, the
labors were not invented as Theseus’ deeds had been around 510 B.C.; therefore, the pan-
Hellenic hero did not require a medium such as the cycle cups . The cycle cups associated
with Theseus were used to promote the newly created deeds of the youth - to prove that he
performed these deeds in addition to his well-known encounter with the Minotaur.

The early ﬁlth century was a period of great artistic activity. The vessels of Myson
and his contemporaries, painters of kraters, eschew the Isthmian deeds. In their choice of
subject matter, they limit themselves to two themes - the abduction of Antiope and the
capture of the Marathonian bull. The late black-ﬁgure painters exhibit a decided interest in
Theseus' adventure involving the Minotaur and the hull of Marathon, Conversely, the cycle
cup painters demonstrate a special interest in Theseus' Isthmian deeds. "The Attic cup
painters of the eaer years of the ﬁlth century B.C. exhibit originality not only thematically,
but also in their attempts to improve upon the compositional schemes of their predecessors,
notably. . . the painters of the cycle cups in Florence and London.”67 These innovations
were not exclusive to the cup painters however. The early ﬁfth century was a creative
period. Artists were presented with the problem of how to present two ﬁgures ﬁghting and
as a result there was much experimentation with the composition in the vases of the late
archaic red-ﬁgure period. As an example of a new composition, there is a stamnos in
London by the Kleophrades Painter.68 The Minotaur is frontal, having fallen to one knee.
Theseus stands behind him, to the left. He grabs the creature by the snout and the

 

65 Kurt Weitzmann, Illustration in Bell and Codes. (Princeton, New Jersey, 1970).
66 Neils, 147.

6'7 ibid, 57.

33 London, British Museum E441; ARV2 187, no. 57.

38
Minotaur reaches up to Theseus' arm. Theseus holds the sword in his right hand, but the

weapon is not directed at the Minotaur. Additionally, some painters add details to their
depictions to suggest a location. On a pelike by the Syleus Painter, the Minotaur rests his
hand on a rock pile which may, according to Ellen Young, allude to the location of the
combat.69 An Ionic column is present on a stamnos by the Copenhagen Painter.'7O The
same features can been seen on contemporary late black-ﬁgure vessels. On a fragmentary
skyphos from Athens which dates to around 500 B.C., Theseus greets Athena beside a
monument which is decorated with meanders and spirals; the Minotaur is not
represented.71 Painted sometime after 500 B.C. is a lekythos by the Beldam Painter.72
The Minotaur is dragged by Theseus from behind a monument covered by meander lines
and a zig—zag motif. "The combination of Minotaur and monument on the later vases
indicates that this structure is meant to represent the labyrinth also when the Minotaur is
not shown."73 Innovations such as these marked the early years of the ﬁﬁh century.
Interest in the Minotaur is sustained while the popularity of the Isthmian deeds continues
to increase.

The period 480 - 450 B.C. marks the peak interest in the youthful Theseus. It was
during this period that the bones of the here were brought back to Athens by Kimon.’74
Neils states, ”Islurely such an event would have aroused extensive curiosity about the life of
the local hero and prompted Athenian artists to elaborate pictorially his legend)"75 The
Penthesilea cup is the most elaborate example in Attic vase painting. In sculpture, the
Hephaisteion represents the culmination of interest in the hero. The Hephaisteion was

commissioned to celebrate the youthful deeds of Theseus. The foundation of this temple

 

69 Vatican, Museo Vaticano, no inventory number, W 250, no. 23.

70 Switzerland, private collection; W 257, no. 11.

71 Athens, Acropolis Museum 1230; ABV249, no. 1.

72 Athens 1061; no ABV number.

73 Young, 148-49.

:3 See Plutarch, Theseus 35.1.4. The importance of Kimon will be addressed in chapter 5.
Neils, 79.

39
dates to the 4503.76 Prokrustes, Kerkyon, Skiron, the Krommyon sow, Periphetes, Sinis,

the Marathonian Bull and the Minotaur decorate the eight metopes on the north and south
ﬂanks.” The various episodes depicted on these metopes, in a sense, go one step further
than the most elaborate cycle cup of the Penthesilea Painter. "This cycle is to date the most
complete rendering of the youthful deeds of Theseus and it is appropriate that it should
have graced a major Athenian temple."78

Conversely, during this period, interest in the combat between Theseus and the
Minotaur decreases. The artists are, instead, more concerned with his Athenian
connections, especially his relationship with Poseidon. Poseidon is, of course, prominent as
the god of the sea. He was also regarded as the divine father of Theseus.79 As Plutarch
writes, "Aethra kept his true birth concealed from Theseus, and a report was spread abroad
by Pittheus that he was begotten by Poseidon." (Theseus, 4.1) Plutarch continues,
"Poseidon is highly honored by the people of Them, and he is the patron god of their city."
(Thaw, 4.1) Troizen was the savior of the Athenians during the Persian wars, receiving

the Athenian women and children who were evacuated before Salamis. The Persian ﬂeet

 

76 William B. Dinsmoor gives the foundation date as 449 BC. See William B. Dinsmoor,
The Architecture of Ancient Greece (London, 1950) 179-182. Neils says that this date is overly
precise based on the lack of any epigrahpical evidence. She further emphasizes that,
iconographically, the subject matter of this temple is more akin to Kimon's interests rather than
Perikles. Perikles' interests focused on the polis as compared to a single individual. In addition,
the position of the Hephaisteion in the vicinity of the Agora is more similiar to the building
programs of Kimon than of Perikles who focused his attention on the Acropolis. Rhys Carpenter,
however, argues to the contrary. See Rhys Carpenter, The Architects of the Parthenon
(Harmondswortlr Penguin, 1970).

77 The identity of Periphetes is uncertain. Based on Plutarch's Theseus 1.2, scholars
have suggested that the ﬁrst metope on the south side is Periphetes. See Homer A. Thompson,
NA 66 (1962): 341; Charles H. Morgan, Hesperia 3 (1963): 212-214; H Koch, Studien sum
Theseustempel in Athen (Berlin, 1955) 121-125, pls. 24-27. Neils is certain that Periphetes was
invented to ﬁll this metope. She states, "since Theseus has already been shown wielding a club,
usually driving the Marathonian bull and since at times Sinis and Skiron were given this weapon
as an attribute, the idea of a 'clubman' was eminently feasible. Besides it had the allusion to
neighboring Herakles to recommend it. That it was speciﬁcally invented for this purpose is
evident from the fact that it never reappears in the pictorial tradition." (Neils, 127.)

78 Neils, 128.

79 Theseus' divine descent is alluded to as early as the eighth century. In book 11.631
of the Odyssey, Homer describes Theseus as one of the gods' glorious children.

40
was destroyed by a violent storm near Athos. Herodotus relates:

[oln the second day of the storm, the look-out men on the
Euboean hills came hurrying to the Greeks and described in
detail the destruction of the Persian ships. On hearing the
news, they oﬂ'ered prayers of thanksgiving and libations of
wine to Poseidon their savior. . . From that day to this they
have always addressed Poseidon by the title of Savior.
(TheHistories, 7.192-193.)

”In 480, it must have seemed that Theseus' father Poseidon was protecting the Greek

ﬂeet."80 As the son of Aegeus, king of Athens, Theseus is connected to the city; in addition,

Theseus' relationship with Poseidon further attests to the hero's amliation with Athens.
This is reﬂected in contemporary vase painting. Around 480 B.C., Theseus' visit to

Poseidon's palace became popular in red-ﬁgure vessels. Ode 17 by Bakkhylides describes:

But the sea-people, the dolphins,

nimbly carried tall Theseus

to the house of his horseman father.

He came into the gods' palace.

There looking about him in fear

he saw the fabulous daughters

of rich Nereus, and from their glorious

bodies the light glanced shimmering

as of ﬂame, and on their locks were circled
gold-implicated

ribbons, as they refreshed their hearts

with dancing, lithe-footed.

He looked on the stately true wife of his father
in that alluring house,

Amphitrite the ox-eyed,

who cast about him a robe, purple with sea-dye,

and laid upon the curls of his hair
the wreath, unﬂawed,

that once at her own marriage
beguiling Aphrodite rose-crowned had given her. (11. 95-114)

This scene is represented on the interior of a cup by Onesimos, circa 490 B.C.81 Amphitrite
welcomes Theseus to the undersea palace; the location is suggested by dolphins included in
the representation. Between the hero on the left and Amphitrite who is seated to the right
stands the goddess Athena. A calyx krater in Paris depicts his meeting with Poseidon.82
This vessel dates ﬁom around 470 BC and is attributed to the Syriskos Painter. Seated on

 

30 HA Shapiro, AA 20 (1982): 294.
81 Paris, Musée du Louvre 0104; ARVZ 318, no. 1.
82 Paris, Cabinet des Médailles 418; ARVZ 250, no. 2.

4 1
a throne in the center of the composition is Poseidon. He holds his trident in his leﬁ hand.

With his right hand he grasps the outstretched hand of Theseus. The divine descent of the
youth is proclaimed and his relationship with Poseidon solidiﬁes the connection between
Theseus and Athens.

Increasingly, Theseus is a combatant in what Neils has described as the "big
battles" - the Amazonomachy and the Centauromachy. As a participant in these battle,
Theseus‘ Athenian ties are again emphasized. The interior wall paintings of the Theseion
reﬂect this. The Theseion was most likely constructed around 475 B.C.83 This repository
for the bones of the Athenian here was decorated with murals which were described by
Pausanias as depicting an Amazonomachy, a Centauromachy and Theseus at the bottom of
the sea. In the Theseion, the painting of Theseus at the bottom of the sea is not described

by Pausanias, rather he relates the story of Theseus and King Minos.
When Minos brought Theseus to Crete with the shipload of
boys and girls, he fell in love with Periboia, but Theseus
strongly resisted this. Minos ﬂung many angry taunts at
Theseus, including this: Theseus was no son of Poseidon
because he was unable to recover the signet ring Minos was
wearing, if Minos dropped the ring, the legend is that when
Theseus came out of the water he had the ring and a golden
wreath, a present from Amphitrite. (Guide to Greece 1.17.3)

The expedition to Crete is understood in this context. However, it was not the actual battle
against the Minotaur that concerned Athenian artists. The consequences of the Minotaur
slaying were more important than the actual slaying - the implications versus the deed
itself. This wall painting is indicative of the early classical attitude towards the Minotaur
slaying - interest in the combat has decreased.

Unlike literary accounts, the Minotaur encounter is a frequent subject in art early on -

the ﬁrst representations of this can be found on ﬁve Peloponnesian gold plaques from the mid-

 

83 Pausanias says that the, "saued enclosure of Theseus at Athens was founded after
the battle of Marathon, when Kimon son of Miltiades devasted Skyros in revenge for the death of
Theseus, and brought home the bones to Athens." (Guide to Greece 1.17.6) Hans Herter believes
that Peisistratos built a Theseion because Artistotle referred to it in his discussion of the tyrant
indicating that in the sixth century there was already a building there. See Hans Herter, RhM
88 (1939): 288. Karl Schefold believes Kleisthenes was responsible for such a building,
Kleisthenes had the Theseion built and it was decorated with deeds of Theseus which then
inspired vase painting. See Karl Schefold, MusHelv 3 (1946): 75f.

42
sixth century. The Minotaur theme reached its greatest popularity around 540 - 530 B.C. In

the last quarter of the sixth century, the image of Theseus is transformed and this directly
affects representations of the Minotaur. This theme is now incorporated as one of a series of
deeds illustrated on the so-called cycle cups. This integration combines the older image of
Theseus as Minotaur slayer with the new concept of the youthful hero of the Athenians.
Gradually other themes supersede the Minotaur as favorites of the artists, but the slaying of

the Minotaur continues to decorate Greek vases.

CHAPTER 4
THE SWORD VERSUS THE CLUB

The iconography of the Minotaur slaying is familiar and basically remains
unchanged in both black and red-ﬁgured vessels. In most extant black-ﬁgured examples,
Theseus uses a sword to kill the Minotaur. This weapon is not conﬁned strictly to
depictions in connection with the Minotaur, however. Theseus canied the sword with him -
it is one of his gnorismata.84 Neils conﬁrms this, stating that the sword is closely
associated with Theseus, "not only as the weapon used against the Minotaur. . . but also as
one of his gnorismata."35 The weapon is a frequent attribute and the use of the sword to
slay various villains whom he encountered, in addition to the Minotaur, is predictable.

The use of a sword to kill the Minotaur is indicative of the Theseus narrative. In
two examples, however, Theseus uses a club and this deserves further consideration. On a
seventh century Sicilian stamnos from the Orientalizing period, Theseus and the Minotaur
face each other and behind Theseus stand two women (Figure 10).86 In his left. hand,
Theseus grips what is unmistakably a club. Pierre Devambez and Francois Villard

describe Theseus as follows:

En traversdelapoitn'nepasse un baudriersans quepourtant
on apercoive depassant la cuisse gauche le bout d'une epee; dans
la main gauche baissee, il tient une massue dont il assommera
son advenaire, de l 'autre, il a saisi la come du monstre.87

 

84 The gnorismata can simply be deﬁned as the tokens of recognition.
85 Neils, 34.

86 Paris, Musée du Louvre CA3837.

87 Pierre Devambez and Francois Villard, MonPr'ot 62 (1979): 22.

43

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45
Frank Brommer concurs with this description, yet notes, ”das ist merkwardig, denn eine

Keule ist sonst bei diesem Thema erst sehr viel spdter zu beobachten. "88 He gives no reasons,
however, why the appearance of the club in the seventh century is so unusual.

From the mid-sixth century B.C. an amphora by the Affecter painter survives
(Figures 11-12).89 On the B side of this amphora, now in the Bareiss collection, Herakles
and a contour - most likely Nessos - are pictured. The obverse depicts the now familiar
confrontation between Theseus and the Minotaur, but Theseus wields a club over his head,
ready to strike the ﬂeeing creature. The appearance of the club, according to Brommer is
"thoughtless" - "eine Keule in die Hand gegeben, vermutlich in einergewissen
Gedankenlasigkeit, weil Herakles aufder anderen Seite der Vase cine Keule hat. '90 It is
diﬁicult to accept Brommer's statement. The Aﬁ'ecter painted six additional Minotaur
scenes. His familiarity with the story is evident when four of these other scenes are
examined (Figures 13-17).91 In three of the depictions, Theseus uses a sword and in one, a
spear. The club on the Bareiss amphora is not a careless rendering, but rather a deliberate
attempt to associate Theseus with Herakles. One may be inclined to see in this association
a promotion of Theseus as the national hero of Athens by Peisistratos, the Athenian
tyrant.92 The parallel that the artist is trying to draw between Theseus and Herakles is
obvious.93

One may argue that the rendering of a club instead of a sword on the Bareiss
amphora was accidental. True, the two ﬁgures of Theseus and Herakles are similar in
appearance, yet there are several differences. Theseus wears what appears to be winged
boots, the hairstyles of the two heroes differ and the left arm of Herakles is bent down at an

 

88 Frank Brommer, Theseus (Darmstadt, 1982) 39.

89 Greenwich, Bareiss 20; Para 111, no. 14.

90 Brommer, 42.

91 Paris, Niarchos, no inventory number, Para. 111, no. 85. Kassel, Staatliche
Kunstsammlungen T679; Para. 111, no. 25. Taranto, Museo Nazionale 117234; no ABV number.
Munich, Antikensammlungen 1405; ABV 245, no. 61.

92 The rise of Theseus to the status of Athenian national hero will be discussed in
chapter 5.

93 The parallel between Theseus and Herakles will be discussed at length in chapter 6.

46

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FIGURE 11 Theseus Slaying the Minotaur. Amphora by the Aﬁ‘ecter Painter.
Side A. Mid-sixth century B.C. Greenwich, Bareiss 20.

47

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FIGURE 12 Herakles and a Centaur. Amphora by the Aﬁ'ecter Painter. Side B.
Mid-sixth century B.C. Greenwich, Bareiss 20.

48

 

 

FIGURE 13 Theseus Slaying the Minotaur. Amphora by the Aﬁ’ecter Pain
Side A. Mid-sixth century B. C. Paris, Niarchos (no inventory number).

49

 

FIGURE 14 Theseus Slaying the Minotaur. Amphora by the Affecter Painter.
Side B. Mid-sixth century B.C. Paris, Niarchos (no inventory number).

50

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FIGURE 15 Theseus Slaying the Minotaur. Amphora by the Aﬁ‘ecter Painter.
Mid-sixth century B.C. Kassel, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen T679.

51

 

FIGURE 16 Theseus Slaying the Minotaur. Amphora by the Aﬁ'ecter Painter.
Mid-sixth century B.C. Taranto, Museo Nazionale 117234.

52

 

FIGURE 17 Theseus Slaying the Minotaur. Amphora by the Aﬂ'ecter Painter.
Mid-sixth century B.C. Munich, Antikensammlungen 1405.

53
awkward angle, touching the ﬂank of the centaur. In addition, the pose of Theseus may

further disprove the notion that the club was unintentional. As mentioned previously,
Theseus wields the club over his head on this particular amphora - a normal pose for such a
weapon. Typically, Theseus holds the sword at his waist; however, on the three other
vessels in which the hero uses a sword, the same pose, similar to the Bareiss amphora on
which Theseus uses a club, is observed. Particularly interesting is the amphora in Taranto
(Figure 16).94 Side A is similar in appearance to the Bareiss amphora and side B also
depicts Theseus and the Minotaur, but Theseus holds the sword at his waist and is about
to am the animal through (Figure 18). This is the standardized form which was discussed
earlier. One is thus inclined to question the depictions in which Theseus wields the sword
over his head and wonder, perhaps, if the Aﬁ'ecter did not intend the sword to be a club.

In red-ﬁgure, depictions of the slaying of the Minotaur remain unchanged ﬁom black-
ﬁgure - Theseus invariably uses a sword to ldll the beast. Yet, as had occurred in black-
ﬁgure, there are exceptions. On a cup by the Meleager Painter and a later calyx krater of
the LC. Group, Theseus wields a club (Figures l9-20).9‘5 There are several hypotheses
which may explain the appearance of the club. Could this be the result of the cycle cups and
the deeds depicwd on them? These cycle cups transform the image of Theseus in the period
around 510 B.C. His previous deeds are not forgotten, but rather new deeds are added and
certain deeds may oﬂ‘er clues, more speciﬁcally the relevance of Periphetes and the bull of
Marathon.

 

94 Tar-ante, Museo Nazionale 117234; no ABV number.
95 London, British Museum 1917.7 - 26.3; ARV2 1414, no. 92. Athens, National
Museum 12541; ARV2 1457, no. 10.

54

 

FIGURE 18 Theseus Slaying the Minotaur. Amphora by the Aﬂ'ecter Painter.
Detail. Mid-sixth century B. C. Taranto, Museo Nazionale 117234.

55

 

FIGURE 19 Theseus Slaying the Minotaur. Interior of a kylix by the Meleager Painter.
First third of the fourth century B.C. London, British Museum 1917.7-26.3.

56

V.

‘ v
\‘..\«\ \.\\.\“ ‘\‘\-\-‘

fl,

 

FIGURE 20 Theseus Slaying the Minotaur. Calyx krater by the LC. Group
c. 370 - 320 B.C. Athens, National Museum 12541.

57
Periphetes was a villain who lived in the region of Epidauros. Plutarch relates

Theseus' encounter with Periphetes as follows:

And so in the ﬁrst place, in Epidauria, when Periphetes, who
used a club as his weapon and on this account was called
Club-Bearer, laid hold of him and tried to stop his progress, he
grappled with him and slew him. And being pleased with the
club, he took it and made it his weapon and continued to use
it. . . and so Theseus carried the club to show that although it
had been vanquished by him, in his own hands it was
invincible. (Theseus 8.1).
The hero acquired the club alter be defeated this opponent and thereafter carried it as his
own. This club and its deadly capabilities is mentioned by Euripides in his tragedy, The
Suppliant Women. Euripides refers to an Epidaurian club wielded by Theseus against the
Thebans writing:
Then he seized
His Epidaurian weapon, a ghastly club,
And swung it right and left, dealing his blows
On heads and necks together; the wooden blade

Mowed off and snapped their helmets."
(The Suppliant Women 11.713-716)

Is there a connection between this club and the club which Theseus brandishes against the
Minotaur in two red-ﬁgure vase paintings?

Periphetes is a late-comer to the cycle. He is not mentioned in the odes of the lyric
poet, Bakkhylides. Two odes by this post are dedicated to Theseus; the hero's voyage from
Athens to Crete is described in Dithyramb 17, "The Youths and Theseus" and Dithyramb
18, simply titled 'Iheseus", details his journey from the Isthmus to Athens. Timothy Gantz
notes that Periphetes may be absent from Dithyramb 18 because the chorus records the
hero's journey from the Isthmus to Athens. Recall that Periphetes was from the region near
Epidauros, which geographically is located south of the Isthmus. The complete biography of
Theseus, however, is preserved only in the works of the later authors - Apollodorus,
Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch. All mention Periphetes in their respective works and this

man is the ﬁrst villain Theseus encounters on his journey from Troizen to Athens.96

 

96 Neils mentions that in Diodorus' account, Periphetes is the only villain without a
locals and this, according to her is another indication that he is a late-comer to the cycle.

58
A late black-ﬁgure pelike from around 510 - 500 B.C. was originally considered to be

the ﬁrst to depict Periphetes (Figure 21).9'7 On this vessel, now in Leon, 8 beardless youth
dressed in a chiton draped around his waist wrestles with a bearded, nude male. Behind
the hero stands an unidentiﬁed woman, her left arm upraised. Above the nude ﬁgure is
suspended a bow and a quiver and in the lower right corner a club is positioned. The
identity of these two ﬁgures is difﬁcult to determine.

A beardless hero, dressed in a similar manner and depicted with the same weapons
(bow, quiver and club) as on the Laon pelike is found on a contemporary black-ﬁgure pelike
now in Athens.98 The hero on this vessel, who has been positively identiﬁed as Theseus,
holds an ax in his hand which he brandishes against his adversary, Prokrustes. On the
Laon pelike, the bow and the quiver should not preclude the hero's identity as Theseus.

"Il est done «clement possible que le peintre du vase de Laon ait voulu représenter une lutte de
Thésée; que, sur ces deux pélikés, les peintres, inﬂuences par le schema traditionnel des lattes
d'Héracles, en aientgardé certains accessoires. "99 The club, which has no apparent
signiﬁcance on the pelike in Athens, might in fact lead one to conclude that the villain on the
Lean vessel is, indeed, Periphetes. Yet, the club on the Laon pelike might also be simply
due to an instance in which the artist borrowed a particular Heraklean attribute.

Brommer originally interpreted the scene as the contest between Theseus and
Periphetes.100 According to Dietrich von Bothmer, the scene illustrates the battle between
Herakles and Antaios.101 Von Bothmer has based his identiﬁcation of the hero as Herakles
on the bow and quiver which hang in the tree; the bow and quiver are not often attributes
associated with Theseus, but, as Brommer has indicated, these attributes are found on the
pelike in Athens. The hero in the Lean depiction wears a chiton draped around his waist;

Herakles is frequently clothed in the familiar skin of the Nemean Lion which is neither worn

 

97 Laon, Musée de Leon 37978; no ABV number.

98 Athens, Agora Museum P12561; no ABV number.

99 Juliette de la Geniere, CVA France 20 (Paris, 1963) 10.

100 See Frank Brommer, Vasenlr'sten, 3rd ed (Marburg, 1973) 244, no. 1.
101 See Dietrich von Bothmer, AJA 61 (1957); 105.

59

 

FIGURE 21 Pelike. Unattributed. c. 510 ~500 B.C. Musée de Laon 37938.

60
by this hero nor found hanging in the tree.102 Furthermore, in most extant black-ﬁgured

examples, Herakles wrestles with the giant Antaios in the nude.

The identity of the woman who stands behind the hero is puzzling The goddess
Athena is a protectress of Herakles and is repeatedly seen in the company of him. Upon
close examination of the woman's feet, one notices that they are turned away from the
wrestling match - perhaps ﬂeeing the scene. Athena would not be depicted in such a fashion
and to identify the woman as this goddess would be inaccurate. Juliette de la Geniere
notes, "une femme s 'écarte vers lagauche en contemplant la scene, avec un geste d 'eﬁoi.. "103
This "gesture of terror" might initially lead one to conclude that the woman is Ariadne. This
scene is repeated on many early black-ﬁgure vessels in which Ariadne reacts to the slaying of
the Minotaur. But, Ariadne is a spectator at the battle between Theseus and the Minotaur
which occurred only aﬁer Theseus had traveled the road from Troizen to Athens. Thus the
identity of the woman still remains to be decided. A calyx krater by Euphronios depicts a
woman very similar in appearance to the woman on the Laon pelike - the woman's left arm
is upraised and her feet are positioned away from the action taking place in the center of the
composition (Figures 22-23).1°4 Interestingly, the central scene on this krater shows the
wrestling match between Herakles and Antaios. Furthermore, Euphronios' krater and the
Lean pelike were produced around the same time - 510 B.C. The similarity between these
two vessels is noteworthy. The woman on the Lean pelike does not provide a deﬁnite
answer as to the identity of the hero, but her presence does seem to favor Herakles.

Neils has identiﬁed the ﬁgures as Theseus and Kerkyon. She bases her conclusions
on the age diﬁ‘erence between the two ﬁgures and, referring to the club, says that this
weapon can be admitted, as evidenced by the pelike in Athens, into encounters between
Theseus and other villains. Finally, as Brommer had originally suggested, the two ﬁgures

may be Theseus and Periphetes. This episode has been encountered neither in literature

 

102 On a vessel in Munich (Munich, Museum Antiker Kleinkunst 1417; ABV 367, no. 86),
Herakles is dressed in a chiton, similiar to the hero on the Leon pelike.

103 De la seniors, 10.

104 Paris, Musée du Louvre G103; ARVZ 14, no. 2.

61

 

FIGURE 22 Herakles and Antaios. Calyx3 krater by Euphronios. c. 510 B. C.
Paris, Musée du Louvre G10

62

 

FIGURE 23 Herakles and Antaios. Calyx krater by Euphronios. Detail.
c. 510 B C Paris Musée du Louvre G103.

63
nor in vase painting thus far, so if Brommer's original interpretation is correct then this

vase is the earliest representation of this particular deed. The fact that these two ﬁgures
appear to be wrestling does not automatically preclude Periphetes. If this vase indeed is
the ﬁrst extant depiction, there are obviously no previous examples on which to base the
appearance of Periphetes and it is therefore difﬁcult to eliminate him solely because of this.

The club remains to be explained. If the pelike does indeed depict Theseus and
Periphetes, the club is appropriate. Yet the club may be, as indicated by Neils, an
extraneous weapon or, as de la Geniere has suggested, a Heraklean attribute. The
interpretation of the scene should not be based on the club alone. The painter of this pelike
has conﬂated this scene and a clear and decisive interpretation cannot be made. Herakles
and Antaios, Theseus and Kerkyon or Theseus and Periphetes, the question remains. Yet,
the possibility that Periphetes is portrayed on this pelike cannot be dismissed.

Periphetes is not present in most cycle cups. The kyiix by the Penthesilea Painter,
circa 460 - 450 B.C., is the most complete cycle cup in terms of depictions of the numerous
deeds which include the following: Skiron; the Krommyon sow; Kerkyon; Prokrustes;
Sinis; the Minotaur; and the Marathonian bull (Figure 9). Periphetes is not depicted and
Neils concludes that the absence of this individual is proof that Periphetes did not "exist” at
this time. She notes that there is, "no sign of the elusive Periphetes, who surely, if he were
known, would be included in this, the most complete cycle cup."1°5

A possible exception is a kylix by the Pistoxenos Painter from 450 B.C.

(Figure 241106 Beazley identiﬁes the deeds as follows: on side A, the Minotaur and
Prokrustes; on side B, Skiron and Periphetes. Neils, however, does not concur with
Beazley's identiﬁcation of Periphetes and instead names Sinis. She reasons that the

weapon - a "club" - which Theseus wields is unlike any other club depicted, but rather that

 

105 Neils, 120.
106 Munich, Antikensammlungen 2670. ARVZ 861, no. 13.

64

 

FIGURE 24 Cycle Cup. Kylix by the Pistoxenos Painter. c. 450 B. C.
Munich, Antikensammlungen 2.670

65
it resembles the branch of Sinis' pine treem'7 T‘o substantiate her claim, she points to a

kylix from Vulci as a possible motive for this mistake (Figure 251108 On this kylix, the
midsection of the tree branch is missing and, ”such a void may have misled our artist into
thinking of the branch as some art of weapon.”109 The peculiar shape of the club on the
Pistoxenos Painter's vessel betrays its origins. This "club", Neils concludes, was allegedly
derived from the tree branch of Sinis and, "so it seems justiﬁed to omit the otherwise
undocumented Periphetes identiﬁcation from this cup."110 This conclusion seems a bit
implausible. On the kylix from Vulci, Theseus grips Sinis with his right hand and holds a
tree branch with his left. The tree branch, which according to Neils, was the inspiration for
the weapon, hangs straight down. No weapon is held in that manner and the club
depictions seen thus far substantiate this - the club is either wielded over or behind the
head. On the cup by the Pistoxenos Painter, where the identity of Periphetes is questioned,
Theseus holds the weapon in his right hand and his left hand is empty. Most notably, he
holds the weapon behind his head as if to strike the victim. Theseus' victim is correctly
identiﬁed as Periphetes. Neils concludes that the villain in question is not Periphetes based
simply on the fact that Periphetes is not depicted in art before the middle of the ﬁfth
century.111 Because Periphetes is not a popular subject, there are few depictions of him;
therefore, there are few preconceived notions as to the appearance of the villain. As a result,
in instances where a club is evident, the possibility that the scene may depict Periphetes

must be considered.

 

107 According to Neils, the "club” is unlike any of the knotty clubs depicted in earlier
scenes. A kantharos (Munich, Museum Antiker Kleinkunst 2666; ARVZ 889, no. 169) oﬁ'ers proof
of this; Theseus holds a club in his right~hand, very much like the knobby club Neils refers to.
However, there is no standard appearance of Theseus' club. On occasion the club is long and
knobby, like Herakles', whereas other times it may be short and smooth or any combination
thereof. To base the identiﬁcation of one ﬁgure on the appearance of an accessory, which is itself
questionable in appearance, is not sound

108 London, British Museum E74; ARVZ 966, no. 1.

109 Neils, 122.

110 ibid

111 She concedes that Periphetes does appear on one of the eight Hephaisteion metopes.
Regarding the sculpture, she says that Periphetes was speciﬁcally invented to simply ﬁll the
eighth metope. See Neils, 127.

66

 

FIGURE 25 Cycle Cup. Kylix attributed to the workshop of the Penthesilea Painter.
c. 450 B.C. Iondon, British Museum E74.

67
In red-[ﬁgure painting, the club appears in Theseus' encounters with two other

villains: Sinis and Prokrustes. The club appears in context with Prokrustes on the late
black-ﬁgure pelike in Athens discussed earlier in connection with the Laon pelike
(Figure 21). The club on the Athens pelike is placed in the corner of the composition. This
accoutrement is not normally associated with Prokrustes and thus it may possibly be
regarded as an attribute derived from Herakles. The Penthesilea Painter produced a vase
painting around 450 B.C. (Figure 26).112 On this kantharos, now in Munich, Theseus
bends a tree and looks towards Sinis who is retreating from the hero, a club in his right
hand. A contemporary of the Penthesilea Painter was the Euaion Painter. In two works by
this painter - a skyphos in Berlin and the interior tondo of a kylix in Paris - the club is
associated with Sinis (Figures 27-29).113 Sinis was shown either at the moment before the
battle with Theseus or engaged in the battle itself. The Euaion Painter chose to capture the
moment before and the encounter shown on the Berlin skyphos is divided between the two
sides of the vessel. On one side Sinis is seated on a rock and in his left hand he grips the
end of a long, knotty club; on the reverse, Theseus, dressed in traveler's clothes, stands
holding two spears in his right hand. This meeting is duplicated in the Paris tondo with
two noticeable diﬁ'erences: Theseus has only one spear; and Sinis does not grasp the club,
but rather the weapon leans against the rock upon which the villain is seated.

"Given the club as an attribute of the nude. . . man, it might be tempting to regard
(these works by the Euaion Painter) as the ﬁrst appearance of the villain known ﬁom much
later literary sources as Periphetes, the 'club-bearer’,” Neils concedes and this, indeed, is
plausible.114 These two vessels date from around 450 B.C. The kylix by the Pistoxenos
Painter, on which Brommer has positively identiﬁed Periphetes, is contemporary with the
Euaion Painter's works. In sculpture, Periphetes is the subject of one of the Hephaisteion

metopes; these metopes, too, are dated cirm 450 B.C. However, above the head of the

 

112 Munich, Museum Antiker Kleinkunst 2665; ARV2 889, no. 169.

113 Berlin, Antikensammlungen F2680; ARV2 797, no. 143. Paris, Musée du Louvre
Gees; ARV2 794, no. 95.

114 Neils, 117.

68

 

FIGURE 26 Theseus and Sinis. Kantharos by the Penthesilea Painter.
c. 450 B.C. Munich, Museum Antiker Kleinkunst 2565.

69

 

FIGURE 27 Sinis (?). Skyphos by the Euaion Painter. c. 450 B.C.
Berlin, Antikensammlungen F2580.

7O

 

 

FIGURE 28 Theseus and Sinis (?). Skyphos by the Euaion Painter. Detail.
c450 B. C. Berlin, Antikensammlungen F2580.

71

 

Theseus and Sinis. Kylix interior by the Euaion Painter.

c. 450 B.C. Paris, Musée du Louvre G462.

FIGURE 29

72
villain on the Paris kylix is inscribed "ZINE". This inscription certainly precludes any
identiﬁcation of the villain as Periphetes, the club-bearer. The Berlin skyphos, though, is
not inscribed and the identity of the villain is not positive - it may, in fact, be Periphetes. Of
the nearly one hundred ﬁfty extant cups attributed to the Euaion Painter, only a few depict
the youthful deeds of Theseus and of these, the artist does not seem to have an interest in
any one particular deed; in other words, the artist did not have a favorite theme which he
repeatedly illustrated.

Neils has identiﬁed the villain on both of the Euaion's vessels as Sinis. The
inscription certainly oﬁ'ers proof on the Paris kylix interior. She bases her conclusions on the
presence of the tree in the scene and states that the club is appropriate to Sinis. The tree,
however, does not automatically identify Sinis. Trees are present in many of the scenes of
Theseus’ youthful deeds; these trees are used as scene dividers and thus the tree does not
necessarily allude to Sinis. According to Neils, the club is indicative of Sinis. She reasons
that the wooden club is an extension of the pine tree used by Sinis to dispatch travelers.
This argument concerning the identity of the villain on this vase is weak. The ﬁgure on the
Berlin skyphos may possibly be Periphetes.

A second possible explanation for the use of a club to slay the Minotaur may be the
Marathonian bull depictions. The hull of Marathon was a savage creature which ravaged
the Attic countryside. Upon the arrival of Theseus in Athens, he set out to capture this bull
and this deed is recounted in numerous black and red-ﬁgured vases.116 It is probable that
the club should ﬁrst appear in this bull scene because not only is it an adventure similar to
the one of Herakles, but also one that demands a weapon powerful enough to tame a large,

raging animal.116 Neils claims that the club, "is used ﬁrst. logically, 1n attacks against wild

 

115 In the three accounts of Plutarch, Diodorus Siculus and Apollodorus, only
Apollederas places this event before Theseus' recognition, for according to Apollodorus, this
adventure was the ﬁrst attempt by Medea to get rid of the here; only when this failed did she
resort to the poison attempt.

“6 The capture of the Bull of Marathon imitates Herakles' encounter with the Cretan
Bull Neils notes that thrs leads to much conﬂation and confusion in properly identifying the
scene. As evidence, an early red-ﬁgure cup by the Delos Painter (Switzerland, private collection;
ARVZ 172, no. 4): this cup depicts the capture of the Cretan Bull, yet without its inscription,
this scene could easily be mistaken for Theseus and the Marathonian Bull.

. 73
animals (sow and bull), and becomes even more frequent when the bull adventure changes

ﬁ'om a roping to a taming scene."11'7

Theseus and the bull appear on a stamnos in Philadelphia which dates from around
490 - 480 B.C. (Figure 30).118 This combat scene is paired with Herakles and the Nemean
Lion on side A of the vessel. There is no question as to the identity of the characters, for the
physical appearance of each is distinct - a bearded Herakles versus an unbearded, youthful
Theseus. Both heroes wield clubs, yet these weapons are differentiated in their appearance.
Herakles is given a club which is exceptionally long and knobby; Theseus carries a shorter,
more smooth club. This stamnos by the Kleophrades Painter, Neils claims, ”shows the ﬁrst
undisputed representation of Theseus with the club as his weapon."119 Although this
statement is no longer valid in light of the black-ﬁgured works previously mentioned which
depict Theseus with a club, this stamnos may offer a clue in the appearance of the club on
two red-ﬁgure works.

The Meleager Painter was active in the ﬁrst third of the fourth century. On the
interior tondo of a cup, Theseus is depicted with the Minotaur (Figure 19). Theseus grabs
the horn of the hybrid with his leﬁ. hand. The Minotaur has fallen to one knee and with his
right hand he reaches back to the hero who steps on the Minotaur's extended right leg.
Theseus holds in his right hand a short, smooth club; he does not wield the club over his
head however. This particular club, Neils has suggested, is properly called a lago-bolon - a
type of herding stick. This herding club is entirely suited to depictions of Theseus and the
Marathonian bull, but the question arises as to why the club appears in context with the
Minotaur. Interestingly, in the extant examples of Theseus and the Marathonian bull, the

club which Theseus uses to tame the animal is unlike the lago-bolon seen in the Meleager

 

117 Neils, 145. The representations of the bull episode on the two earliest cycle cups -
Florenem and London - are not. alike; one depicted that. actors] pursuit of the animal; the other.
the captured bull A slightly later representation on a calyx krater by the artist Phintias is
dramatically different - the act of tying up, or roping, the bull is shown. This scheme is adopted
by later artists.

119 Philadephia, University Museum L64.186; ARV-2 187, no. 62.

119 Neils, 69.

74

 

FIGURE 30 Theseus and the Bull of Marathon. Stamnos by the Kleophrades Painter.
c. 490 - 480 B.C. Philadelphia, University Museum 1.64.185.

75
Painter's tondo. Most clubs used against the hull of Marathon are long and smooth or they

may have a knobby tip, but the club in the Meleager Painter's work is unique.

Perhaps a clue to its appearance may be found in the cycle cup by the Pistoxenos
Painter (Figure 24). The club which Theseus brandishes over his head is short and smooth
and the tip is enlarged. The appearance of this club closely parallels the club on the
Meleager vase. However, the weapon on the Pistoxenos Painter's vessel is used against
Periphetes, not the Minotaur or the Marathonian bull. If this club appeared in context with
the Marathonian bull, then it might be possible to conclude that the Pistoxenos Painter's
vessel inspired the Meleager Painter, but this is not the case. In all likelihood, depictions of
Theseus taming the bull influenced the rendering of the club on the Meleager Painter's
vessel, but a source cannot be deﬁnitely ascertained.

Vases of the LC. Group date from about 370 - 320 B.C. Also known as the Ranch
style, this period represents the last phase of Athenian vase painting. On the calyx krater
by the LC. Group, Theseus is shown wielding a club against the Minotaur (Figure 20).
Theseus stands over the Minotaur, grabbing one of the creature's horns with his left hand,
the club in his right hand. The Minotaur has fallen to his knees and reaches his right hand
back to Theseus - an imploring gesture. The long and knobby appearance of the club may
be indicative of its origin. It is similar to the club used by the hero to tame the Marathonian
Bull in later depictions. In addition, the club looks very much like Herakles‘ club. That the
club wielded by Theseus is derived from Herakles is entirely feasible. Theseus had
superseded Herakles as the national hero of the Athenians and had become known as a
second Herakles. It is possible that the artist borrowed a Heraklean attribute, namely the
club, as may have been the case on several vessels previously discussed - Laon 37978 and
Athens P12561.

In Greek vase painting, four examples are noted in which Theseus uses a club, not a
sword, to kill the Minotaur. From the seventh century a stamnos survives. One may be

inclined to simply dismiss the use of a club on this vessel because the vase was produced in

76
Sicily, yet it is interesting to note how the legend was recounted in art not of the mainland.

The Bareiss amphora, painted by the Affecter Painter in the mid-sixth century, is
noteworthy. The depiction of Herakles on the reverse and the similarities in appearance
between Theseus and Herakles is indicative that the artist was consciously equating the
two heroes. That the Affecter produced six other vessels on which Theseus either uses a
sword or a spear to kill the Minotaur conﬁrms this. The appearance of a club in the kylix
tondo by the Meleager Painter is difﬁcult to ascertain and cannot be positively conﬁrmed. It
is likely that depictions of the Marathonian bull or the particular appearance of the club
used by Theseus against Periphetes on the kylix by the Pistoxenos Painter were creative
sources. Finally, the club on the calyx krater by the LC. Group is deﬁnitely derived from
Herakles. The physical appearance of the club on this vessel and the weapon which
Herakles carries is very similar. The presence of the club in these works is deliberate.

CHAPTER5
THERISEOFTHEATHENIANHERO

"Theseus was destined for greatness at Athens for no other reason than the absence
of a rival there."120

The rise of Theseus to the prominence of Athenian national hero is remarkable. By
the middle of the ﬁfth century, Theseus had become the Athenian hero parescellence. But
who was responsible for this? Various scholars have named Peisistratos, Kleisthenes and
Kimon. Theseus' rise cannot be credited to one individual, rather each person, ”could adopt

the hero as its own and promote those aspects of his career which best suited its

purposes."121
Peisistratos may have been the ﬁrst Athenian ruler to exploit Theseus. Regarding

the tyrant, Herodotus writes:

Pisistratus with a view to seizing power for himself . . . devised
the following ruse: he cut himself and his mules about the
body and then drove his cart into the market square, and
pretended that he had escaped from his enemies who tried to
kill him as he was driving out of town. Then, relying on the
reputation be had won. . . he asked the people to give him a
guard. The Athenians, who were taken in by the trick,
consented, and told off a number of men for his bodyguard,
who followed him armed with clubs instead of spears. With
their assistance, Pisistratus captured the Acropolis, and from
that moment found himself master of Athens.

(TheHistaries, 1.59.5-6)

Peisistratos ruled Athens from 560—556 B.C.; he was expelled in 556 B.C., but several

years later, in 546 B.C., he returned. He re-established his power at a battle at Pallene.

 

120 Wm. Blake T‘yrrell, Amazons A Study in Athenian mthmahing (Baltimore, 1984) 3.
121 HA. Shapiro, Art and Culture Under the 73mm in Athens (Mains am Rhein, 1939) 146.

77

 

 

78
Interestingly, Theseus defeated the Pallantidae at Pallene.122 The weapons of the

Athenians were conﬁscated after the battle by Peisistratos and there is some doubt as to
the location of this event. Aristotle notes that this occurred at the Theseion, but others
name the Anakeion as the setting.123 In either instance, a sanctuary of Theseus did exist
for, ”Aristotle would not have reported it in this form if the Theseion had not been a
conspicuous location in the time of Peisistratos.”124 Plutarch does mention a temenos set
aside for Theseus after his return from Crete; here, sacriﬁces were made by the families of
the youths of the tribute.125 Theseus was a presence in Athens during the tyranny of
Peisistratos.

Scholars, most notably John Boardman, have argued that Peisistratos associated

 

himself with Herakles. This, unquestionably, is true. In Athenian art of the period, the
popularity of Herakles cannot be denied - for every Athenian vase which depicted Theseus,
there were eight depicting Herakles. On the archaic Acropolis, the exclusion of heroes other
than Herakles from the pedimental sculpture afﬁrms Peisistratos' bias towards the Dorian
hero. In contrast, the mid-ﬁfth century building program of Perikles is less dependent on
personal patronage than earlier endeavors, namely the building schemes of the
Peisistratids. Thus, in the sixth century, the themes incorporated in building programs and
in vase painting have direct political connotations. But why would Peisistratos choose
Herakles? Simply stated, Athena was the divine protectress of Herakles - "[elvery reason,
then, for the aspiring Athenian leader to seek identiﬁcation with Athena's favorite hero." 126
Prior to about 550 B.C., Herakles' Introduction to Olympus, as depicted in art, has Athena
leading Herakles before Zeus. In the 550's the Athenian artists experimented with the

 

122 John Boardman, however, says that this similarity is not a true indication of a
conscious effort by Peisistratos to associate himself with Theseus. He admits that this might be a
parallel between the two, but conversely, Herakles had also fought at Pallene in another time,
helping the Gods defeat the giants. See John Boardman RA 1 (1972): 57-72. See Diodorus
Siculus, Library of History 4.16.

23 See Aristotle, Paliteia 15.4.

124 Shapiro, 145.

125 See Plutarch, Theseus 23.2.

126 Boardman, RA 1 (1972): 59.

79
representation of this episode. They began to illustrate the formation of a procession by

chariot.”7 Athena either mounts the chariot or, having already mounted, holds the reins.
Standing beside her in the chariot or on the ground is Herakles. Herakles' Introduction to

Olympus can be related to an event in Peisistratos' career. As Herodotus relates:

In the village of Paenia there was a handsome woman called
Phye, nearly six feet tall, whom they ﬁtted out in a suit of
armour and mounted in a chariot; then, after getting her to
pose in the most striking attitude, they drove into Athens,
where the messengers who had preceded them were already,
according to their instructions, talking to the people and
urging them to welcome Pisistratus back, because the goddess
Athene herself had shown him extraordinary honour and was
bringing him home to her own Acropolis. They spread this
nonsense all over the town, and it was not long before rumour
reached the outlying villages that Athene was bringing
Pisistratus back; and both villagers and townfolk, convinced
that the woman Phye was indeed the goddess, offered her
their prayers and received Pisistratus with open arms.
(TheHistories, 1.60)

Peisistratos was again restored to power. This was achieved in a way similar to Herakles'
Introduction to Olympus. As Boardman notes, "Peisistratos is thus installed again in his
new Olympus."128 What Olympus was to Greece, the Acropolis was to Athens. The
similarities between Peisistratos and Herakles do not conclude with the manner of the
tyrant's return. The bodyguards of Peisistratos were given clubs to carry. Herakles, too,
carries a club as his weapon and in vase paintings he is often attended by his bodyguard,
Iolaos. On occasion, Iolaos carries the hero's club, usually when Herakles is engaged in
combat. On at least one vase, however, both Herakles and the other ﬁgure, who is most
likely Iolaos, carry clubs.129 Thus, "[i]t is diﬁcult to see how any mid-sixth century
Athenian viewing such scenes could fail to associate them with the story of Peisistratos'

retrn'n."13°

 

127 All such chariot scenes with Herakles do not necessarily imply this event, but in the
instances where other deities are shown escorting the hero this is true. See Brommer,
Vasenlr'sten, 124.

128 Boardman, RA 1 (1972): 62.

129 Paris, Musée du Louvre F295; ABV 260, no. 31.

130 Boardman, RA 1 (1972): 63. R M. Cook contradicts Boardman He says that there is
no suggestion that before the ﬁfth century, the Greeks would have tolerated the equation of a
living individual with a hero or god. The question is raised as to who would have devised or
adopted such subjects for use as political propaganda - the court of Peisistratos, the patrons of the
potters, or the potters themselves. He concludes that it is diﬁcult to believe that the

80
The Peisistratan patronage of Herakles is obvious, but what of Theseus? Can

Peisistratos be credited with the promotion of Theseus to the status of national hero ? H.A.
Shapiro has suggested that it must have disturbed the sixth century Athenians that
Theseus was not mentioned in the Iliad.”1 To these ends, Plutarch records two instances
in which Peisistratos is reputed to have tampered with ancient texts - he is said to have
added a reference to Theseus and PeirithOos in the Odyssey and allegedly deleted a line from

a verse by Hesiod which told of Theseus' desertion of Ariadne.

"Dreadful indeed was his passion for Aigle child of
Panopeus."
This verse Peisistratus expunged ﬁom the poems of Hesiod,
according to Hereas the Megarian, just as, on the other hand,
be inserted into the Inferno of Homer the verse: -
"Theseus, Perithoos, illustrious children of Heaven, "
and all to gratify the Athenians. (Plutarch, Theseus 20.2)

The Peisistratid interpolation has its proponents and opponents.”2 Interestingly, two of
the strongest supporters of the Peisistratid promotion of Theseus agree that this
interpolation is unlikely. Hans Herter says that Hereas of Megara was hostile towards the
Athenians and therefore such a statement by him would be unlikely. Friis Johansen adds
that the interpolation is impossible to conﬁrm.133 The importance of Herakles to
Peisistratos is unquestionable, however it is possible that the tyrant may have also
promoted Theseus. While this promotion is not as obvious as that of later Athenian rulers,
most notably Kleisthenes and Kimon, Peisistratos may have been the ﬁrst to exploit

Theseus and elevate him to a higher status.

 

Peisistratid family gave direct instructions to the artisans. Customers were inﬂuential, but there
is little evidence that they requested special orders. This contradicts T.B. L. Webster's statements
in Potter and Patron in Classical Athens (London, 1972) 52, 62. Finally, in regards to the potters
themselves, Cook does not believe that they would promote the tyranny in such an oblique way.
See RM. Cook, JHS 107 (1987): 167-169. John Boardman asserts his position in a later article
and concludes, ”taken as a whole the Herakles phenomenon in sixth-century Athens seems
inexplicable in any other terms." (Boardman, 159) See John Boardman, JHS 109 (1989): 168-159.
131 The Athenian contingent at They is led by Menestheus, the deposer of Theseus. See
Iliad 2.557. Shapiro says that the Athenians may have rationalized this exclusion by assuming
that Theseus was of an earlier generation of heroes. This would appear to concur with P.
Kretschmer who suggests that names ending in -eus go back to a peiod before Homer. Supra n. 4.

132 supra n. 6.
133 See Friis Johansen, 7mm 55; Hans Herter, am as (1939): 264.

8 1
Kleisthenes ﬁrst became archon in 525/4 B.C. He was opposed by the relatives and

supporters of the Peisistratids and by a majority of the aristocracy. The Alkmeonids had no
connections to local cults in Attica which was a way in which to establish power; they were
not descended from mythical ancestors who had established cults in the area and thence
transmitted control to their descendants.134 J .K Davies states that the political techniques
employed by the Alkmeonids:

[A]re the hallmark of a family bent on maintaining and extending

its power, prestige and political inﬂuence, but precluded from

exercising effective power in its own homeland through cults

and phratries in the way which was open to the old established

units of Athenian politics.135
The Alkmeonids, instead, drew their power ﬁom another source - Delphi. Exiled to Delphi
in 514 B.C. after Hipparchos was murdered, the Alkmeonids were very influential there.
Restoring the Temple of Apollo had won favor with the priests. The Pythia, Apollo's
priestess, was bribed by the family and she urged the Spartans to assist the Alkmeonids in
the liberation of Athens ﬁom the tyranny. Herodotus states:

The Athenians say that these men, during their stay at Delphi,
bribed the Priestess to tell any Spartans that might happen

to consult the oracle, either on state or private business, that
it was their duty to liberate Athens; and the Spartans, as a
result of the constant repetition of the same injunction, sent
Anchimolius. . . at the head of an army to drive out the
Pisistratidae. (TheHistar-ies, 5.63) .

Hippias, Peisistratos' son, was expelled in 510 B.C. Kleisthenes consolidated his power and
then instituted some of the most renowned constitutional reforms in the history of

Greece.136

 

134 The Alkmeonids trace their lineage back to Alcmeon who lived during the time of
Theseus. See J.K. Davies, Athenian Propa'tied Families, 600-300 B.C. (Oxford, 1971).

135 Davies, 370.

136 The four ancient Attic tribes were superceded by ten new tribes, which contained
140 demes. The demes became the basic political, social and religious subdivisions of Attic society,
replacing the aristocratic phratries and clans. A new Council of Five Hrmdred was formed and
the powers of the Assemth were enlarged This was the most democratic form of government the
Athenians had yet experienced

82
It is possible to associate Kleisthenes with Theseus - Theseus having been
responsible for the synoecism of Attica.137 Plutarch says:
Aﬁer the death of Aegeus, Theseus conceived a wonderful
design, and settled all the residents of Attica in one city, thus
making one people of one city out of those who up to that time
had been scattered about and were not easily called together

for the common interests of all, nay, they sometimes actually
quarreled and fought with each other. (Theseus, 24. 1)

Theseus, "cannot be anybody else's mythical prototype but Cleisthenes, since it is
Cleisthenes who is the sixth century historical counterpart of the mythical synoecist of
Athens."138 The parallels between Theseus' synoecism of Attica and Kleisthenes own
democratic reforms are evident and this personal association between Theseus and
Kleisthenes is more fully argued by Karl Schefold.139 It is not inconceivable that the idea of
Theseus' uniﬁcation of Athens was made up during the time of Kleisthenes to, ”counter
memories and deﬂect credit from Peisistratid national policy, " as Jeﬁ'rey Hurwit
suggests.”0 That Kleisthenes himself was the principal mythmaker may possibly be
reﬂected in the work of Plutarch. Plutarch writes of Theseus:

He promised government without a king and a democracy, in
which he should only be commander in war and guardian of
the laws, while in all else everyone should be on an equal
footing. . . Accordingly, aﬁer doing away with the town-halls
and council-chambers and magistracies in the several
communities, and after building a common town-hall and
council-chamber for all on the ground where the upper town
of the present day stands, he named the city Athens.
(Theseus 24.2-3)

Theseus turned down the kingship of Athens and turned the city into a democracy. In
addition, he also built a statehouse and a council hall; the construction of these buildings

 

137 Although we know it not to be true, tradition accords the Attic consolidation to
Theseus. The Synoiha was a fesﬁ'val which celebrated the synoecism of Attica. During the time
of Thucydides, the Athenians hosted a state festival to Athena under the name Synoiha; at some
point in history, the Athenians had resolved to celebrate the union of Attica in honor of the
city's goddess, but a speciﬁc date is unknown. Thucydides accepts the origins of the festival as
dating from Theseus, stating, "ﬁ-om him (Theseus) dates the feast of the Union of Attica which
the Athenians still hold today in honour of Athene." (History of the Peloponnesian War, 2.15.2).
See HW. Parke, Festivals of the Athenians (Ithaca, 1977) 31-32.

138 Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood, JHS 91 (1971): 99.
139 See Karl Schefold, MusHelv 3 (1946). 59-93.
140 Jeﬁ'rey Hurwit, The Art and Culture of Early Greece, 1100-480 B.C. (Ithaca, 1985) 316.

83
echoes the building program of Kleisthenes. The actions of Theseus are very similar to the

reforms of Kleisthenes.

The ﬁrst years aﬁer the establishment of Kleisthenes' power were
signiﬁcant. This is reﬂected in the art; it is during this period that the cycle cups make
their appearance. Regarding the cycle cups, "it seems likely that they, too, represent
attempts on the part of, if not the Alkmeonids themselves, then at least their allies, to
promote the cause of the Attic hero."141 Foremost, these cycle cups promote the youthful
hem. Prior to about 520 B.C., Theseus had been depicted, in Attic vase painting, as either
the Minotaur slayer or abductor of women. New deeds are invented around 510 B.C. and
these deeds are proof, suggests Hurwit, of Kleisthenes promotion of Theseus. Hurwit adds
that Theseus' defeat of the various brigands on the road from Troizen to Athens may be a
parallel to the Alkmeonids’ struggle in the early years of the democracy or else a metaphor
for the dimculties the Alkmeonids had to overcome before their return to Athens.

The creation of the deeds may also represent a compromise between Troizen and
Athens. The Athenians had to remove the Troizenes as a competitor for the citizenship of
Theseus. An agreement was reached - Theseus was born and raised in Troizen and then
went to Athens to claim his patrimony.142 Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood says that the
deeds are, "also the compromise through which the T‘roezenian claims to the hero were met
and which allowed the Athenians to annex him deﬁnitely.“1"‘3 The narration in art of

Theseus' journey then is a compromise between the claims of the two cities.

 

141 Neils, 149. The lack of written historical evidence should not be a deterrant, for, as
in the case of Peisistratos and Herakles, the evidence should be read in the arts.

142 Sourvinou-Inwood says that Theseus remained in Troezen because of the threat of
the Pallantidae. ”Eventually Theseus had to qualify as a man strong enough to face the danger,
go to Athens and assume the responsibilities of his position” (Sourvinou-Inwood, JES' 91 (1971):
99.) The tokens leﬂ: by the hero's mortal father, Aegeus, would conﬁrm his status. Aegeus had
given instructions to Aethra not to reveal the identity of the boy's father until Theseus was old
enough When Theseus came of age, Aethra related the story of his birth Theseus lifted the
rock, an act which Inwood mentions as his transition from boyhood to manhood, and this qualiﬁed
him as an Athenian, for the gnorismata were given to him by an Athenian.

143 Sourvinou-lnwood, JHS 91 (1971): 99.

84

The appearance of these new deeds again causes one to question the existence of a
Theseus epic - the Theseid. 144 Hurwit states that Theseus‘, ”heroism was probably now
canonized by the composition of a (or the) Theseis - an episodic poem that, if it did not make
a particularly good epic, must have made an excellent artistic sketchbook."145 In the last
years of the sixth century, myths of Theseus were invented and disseminated. "The epic
magniﬁed a city‘s or a family's traditions. . . and conferred upon them the legitimacy of
age."146 This certainly would seem to apply to the Alkmeonids. The family was precluded
from exercising power because they could boast of no descent from mythical ancestors,
ancestors who had established cults and subsequently transferred their power to their
descendants.

In addition to the relevance of the cycle cups as a means for Kleisthenes‘ promotion
of Theseus, the Athenian Treasury at Delphi must be examined.”7 The Alkmeonids'
inﬂuence at Delphi is irrefutable as we have seen. The Athenian Treasury at Delphi was
constructed around 500 - 490 B.C. Six of the thirty metopes are reserved for Theseus; the
most striking metope shows Athena and Theseus standing quietly opposite each other.
This appears to be a deliberate way of presenting Theseus as the special protege of Athena
and thus as the Athenian national here. By the end of the sixth century B.C., the
democratic reforms of Kleisthenes had been instituted and by the beginning of the ﬁﬁh
century, this synoecism was expressed in architecture. It is natural that Kleisthenes would
choose to promote Theseus. Theseus was a parallel to Kleisthenes. The young hero's
popularity continued to rise and he increasingly came to be associated with democratic
Athens, a polis which was the result of Kleisthenes‘ reforms.

Aﬁer their victory over the Persians in 479 B.C., the Athenians became aware of the
paucity of their heroic past. New myths were desired to substantiate the new power of the
Athenians and to establish credibility in the Greek world. The promotion of Theseus as the

 

144 The possible existence of such an epic is explored more fully in chapter 2.

145 Hurwit, 314.
146 ’l‘yn'ell. 4

147 The Athenian Treasury will be discussed in chapter 6.

85
Athenian national hero had begun during the tyranny of Peisistratos and was continued by
Kleisthenes. However, the eﬂ‘orts of Kimon were decisive in Theseus' rise to the prominence
of Athenian national hero.

"In a move combining religious piety with mythic propaganda and naked
imperialism, the Athenians obtained a Delphic oracle charging them with returning Theseus'
bones to a place of honor in Athens."148 Plutarch relates:

Indeed an oracle had once been delivered to the Athenians
commanding them to bring the remains of Theseus back to
Athens and honour him as beﬁtted a hero, but they did not
know where he lay and the people of Skyros would neither
own to any knowledge of the matter nor allow any search to
be made. Now however Kimon threw everything into the

enterprise and the place of burial was discovered after much
toil. (Life of ﬁmon 8.6-7)

Kimon captured the island of Skyros, sold the non-Greeks into slavery and colonized the
island with Athenians. He found the bones of Theseus and returned with them to Athens
Plutarch recounts this event, writing:

Cimon. . . being ambitious to discover the grave of Theseus,

saw an eagle in a place where there was the semblance of a

mound, pecking, as they say, and tearing up the ground with

his talons. By some divine ordering he comprehended the

meaning of this and dug there, and there found a cofﬁn of a

man of extraordinary size, a bronze spear lying by its side,

and a sword. When these relics were brought home on his

trireme by Cimon, the Athenians were delighted, and received

them with splendid processions and sacriﬁces, as though

Theseus himself were returning to his city. (Theseus 36.1-2)
The transportation of the bones, ”was a gesture with a speciﬁc political signiﬁcance and was
bound to be stressed and glorified."149

Theseus' bones were placed in the Theseion - a commemorative shrine built

especially for the hero. The location of the structure is unknown today, but probably lay to
the southeast of the Agora.150 The Theseion was a magniﬁcent building, the interior

decorated with murals illustrating events from the life of the hero: the battle against the

 

148 mu, 10.
149 Sourvinou-Inwood, JHS 91 (1971): 109~

150 Plutarch says the Theseion was, ”év uécv “rﬁ richer nape To vim yvuvdcrov." According
to Pausanias, the Theseion was,"1rpb; rc‘e mucous," which is the Gymnasium of Ptolemy more
speciﬁcally. See RE. Wycherly, JIE 79 (1969): 155; H Plommer, Gnomom 29 (1957): 33.

86
Centaurs at the wedding of PeirithOos; the Amazon invasion of Attica and the recovery of

the ring of Minos.151 Pausanias records:

Beside the gymnasium is a sanctuary of Theseus. The
pictures are Athenians ﬁghting Amazons. . . The battle of the
Centaurs and Lapiths is also painted in the temple of Theseus. . .
To anyone unacquainted with the legend the painting on the
third wall is confused, partly through time, and partly because
Mikon has not painted the whole story. When Minos brought
Theseus to Crete with the shipload of boys and girls, he fell

in love with Periboia, but Theseus strongly resisted this.
Minos ﬂung many angry taunts at Theseus, including this:
Theseus was no son of Poseidon because he was unable to
recover the signet ring Minos was wearing, if Minos dropped

it in the sea. With these words Minos dropped the ring, and
the legend is that when Theseus came out of the water he had
the ring and a golden wreath, a present from Amphitrite.
(Guide to Greece, 1.17.1-3)

The subject of the fourth wall is not known. Pausanias continues:

About the death of Theseus there are many inconsistent legends,
for example that he was tied up in the underworld until Herakles
should bring him back to life. (Guide to Greece, 1.17.4)

Some scholars say that Pausanias' digression into a story regarding Herakles' rescue of
Theseus from the Underworld is an indication that this was the episode illustrated. This
subject would certainly be appropriate, serving as a good mythic parallel to Kimon and the
recovery of Theseus' bones from the island of Skyros.152 The themes of the thme other
walls, in addition, might be construed as further parallels to Kimon. According to David
Castriota, "Kimon and his aristocratic supporters were well-attuned to the enormous
political value of manipulating mythic analogues in this fashion."153

The enshrinement of the bones of Theseus continued the state practice of absorbing

aristocratic cults.154 "The return of the bones of Theseus completes the hero's new ideology

 

151 For a full discussion of the interior decoration see J.P. Barron, JIB 92 (1972): 2045.;
Susan Woodford, JHS 94 (1974): 158-165.

152 Johannes Overbeck and Heinrich Brunn argue that the painting was of Theseus'
death. See Johannes Overbeck, Die Antiker: Schriﬂquellen zur Geschichte d. bild. Kanste bei den
Griechen (Leipzig, 1868) 208, no. 1086; Heinrich Brunn, Geschichte der Griechischen Kwutza3
(Stuttgart, 1889) 17. J. Six has suggested that the painting was of Theseus' resurrection, or
return, from Hades. See J. Six, JIE 39 (1919): 130-43. Six's interpretation is the one commonly
accepted by scholars today.

153 David Castriota, Myth, Ethos and Actuality: Oﬂicial Art in Fiﬂh-Cenutry B.C.
Athens. (Madison, 1992) 7.

154 This practice was begun by Peisistratos in the sixth century. The owners of the
rites of Theseus, the Phytaedae, were made caretakers of Theseus in 475 B.C.

87
by making a place for him inside the city in imitation of archaic 'founder-heroes' whose

tombs and cults. . . played an active role in archaic politics and history."155 The Theseia,
also known as the festival of Theseus, was made a part of the religious calendar for the
eighth day of Pyanopsia; this was the day aﬁer the Schophora - already a festival dedicated
to the hero. The Theseia was instituted in 475 B.C. as a festival of the Athenian state.
Kimon used Theseus to promote his own political causes through either direct
association with Theseus or family members. The return of Theseus' bones and
enshrinement earned Kimon permanent respect, "associating him in the popular
imagination with the new conception of Theseus as the national hero of Attilra."156 This is
clearly demonstrated in the Theseion. In literature, too, this link was cultivated. Ode 18 by
Bakkhylides is ﬁlled with references to Kimon and his family.157 It is even possible that
the contemporary Attic historian, Pherekydes, attempted to trace Kimon' s genealogy back
to 'Iheseus.168 Kimon also used his family ties to promote Theseus. Miltiades was the
father of Kimon and served as commander at the Battle of Marathon. It was at this battle

that Theseus allegedly appeared, rising from the ground to ward oﬁ‘ the enemy.
Many of those who fought at Marathon against the Medes

thought they saw an apparition of Theseus in arms
on in front of them against the Barbarians (Plutarch, Theseus 35.5)

This event was commemorated by a painting in the Stoa Poikile. The Stoa was a civic

building located across the Agora from the Theseion and was originally named the

 

155 Sarah P. Morris, Daidalos and the Origins of Greek Art (Princeton, New Jersey, 1992) 348.
156 Castriota, 7.

157 Bakkhylides describes Theseus as wearing a Lakonian helmet over his red hair.
About his body is a purple chiton, or woolly Thessalian cloak His eyes ﬂash Lemnian ﬁre. The
word used to describe the cloak is or'ihiog. Ot'rluo; is usually translated as meaning terrible or
destructive, but Barron concludes that this adjective is hardly appropriate and therefore the
meaning must be woollen. Oﬁhrog is also a proper name; in the work of Pherekydes,
interestingly, one of the sons of Kimon was named Oulios. Kimon also had two other sons -
Lakedaimonios and Thessalos. Barron proposes that the Lakonian helmet and the woolly
Thessalian cloak are allusions to the three sons of Kimon. Further allusions to the family of
Kimon may also be discerned. Theseus is described as having Lemnian ﬁre in his eyes;
Militiades, the father of Kimon, had annexed the island of Lemnos for Athens. Finally,
Bakkhylides writes that Theseus had red hair. Auburn hair is characteristic of foreigners.
Kimon's mother was not a native Greek, but a Thrakian Was the mother of Kimon a red head
and thus referred to in Bakkhylides ode? See J.P. Barron, 3108 27 (1980): 1-4

158 See Barron, 3103 27 (1980): 1.4.

88

Peisianaktios, alter Kimon's brother-in-law, Peisianax. The paintings in this building are
described by Pausanias:

On the middle part of the walls Theseus and his Athenians

are ﬁghting Amazons. . . Next to the Amazons, the Greeks

have just taken Troy. . . The last part of the painting is the

men who fought at Marathon. . . The hero Marathon, from

whom the level ground got its name, is standing there, with

Theseus rising out of the earth, and Athene and Herakles. . .

In the picture of the ﬁghting, you can most clearly make out
Kallimachos. . . and General Miltiades. (Guide to Greece, 1.15.1-4)

E.B. Harrison has contended that Miltiades was a driving force of inspiration in the
battle.159 Similarly then, "[olne may readily conclude that the depiction of Miltiades in the
Marathon painting was intended to reﬂect directly upon the aims and accomplishments of
his son, Kimon."160 The Stoa painting is paralleled by a Marathon monument at Delphi.

Pausanias says:

[Tlhese images were dedicated ﬁom the tithes of Marathon:

they represent Athene and Apollo and one of the commanders,

Miltiades, and some divine heroes, Erechtheus, Kekrops and

Pandion, Leos and Antiochos, (the son of Herakles by Phylas’s

daughter Meda), also Aigeus and Akamas (one of the sons of

Theseus). . . There are also Kodros, son of Melanthos, and

Theseus and Neleus, who are not yet name-heroes.

(Guide to Greece, 10.10.1)
This statue group is directly related to the Stoa Poikile painting of the battle where the
Marathonian exploits of Miltiades were juxtaposed with those of Theseus. Castriota has
concluded that, ”[iln both these monuments, Kimon was an unseen presence, the ﬁnal link
in a chain uniting the remote and recent past with contemporary events."161 He further
adds that these monuments, "asserted that the legacy of the ancient Attic heroes and their
progeny had been reborn in Miltiades and his son."162

Around 475 B.C. Kimon married Isodike - daughter of Euryptolemos, an Alkmeonid.

”In allying himselfwith the Alkmeonids and marrying one of their daughters, Cimon

apparently adopted the legendary ﬁgure connected with the glory of their family in the recent

 

159 See Evelyn B. Harrison, AM 76 (1972): 356.
160 Castriota, 80.

161 ibid, 81.

162 ibid

89
past, Theseus, the mythical prototype of Cleisthenes."163 In addition, Theseus would

undoubtedly be a reminder of the battle of Marathon where he was alleged to have
appeared on the plain. The glory of Miltiades was revived and consequently Kimon's
popularity increased. Kimon used Theseus to promote his own causes. It is in this context,

then, that the return of Theseus' bones should be viewed. Sourvinou-Inwood notes:

It becomes clear then that he had every reason for giving

importance to the event and for trying to complement this

gesture with the dedication of monuments representing

Theseus which would commemorate the recovery of the bones

and at the same time contribute to the further gloriﬁcation of

the hero.164

There is no questioning Theseus' rise in popularity to the prominence of Athenian

national hero. This promotion cannot be attributed solely to one individual, but rather
several men were instrumental - Peisistratos, Kleisthenes and Kimon. Peisistratos
undoubtedly favored Herakles and promoted the Dorian hero, yet Plutarch records two
instances in which the tyrant tampered with ancient texts in an eﬁ‘ort to improve Theseus‘
image. The successor of Peisistratos, Kleisthenes, consciously associated himself with
Theseus, relating his democratic reforms with the synoecism of Attica accorded to Theseus.
In addition, the increasing popularity of Theseus is evident in the extant art, most notably
the cycle cups and the Athenian treasury at Delphi, which may, indeed, be a reﬂection of
Kleisthenes‘ attempts to glorify Theseus. The concept of Theseus as the national hero of the
Athenians is fully realized during the time of Kimon. The bones of Theseus were retrieved
ﬁom Skyros and enshrined in a building, located in the heart of Athens, dedicated to the
hero. By the mid-ﬁfth century, Theseus had become a part of the fabric of Athenian history -

he had become the Athenian hero parexcellence

 

133 Sourvinou-Inwood, JHS 91 (1971): 109.
164 ibid

CHAPTER6
HERAKLES AS A PARALLEL FIGURE

"'Ahhog oin'o; 'Hpaxhﬁs" (Theseus, 29.3)

Herakles is the most famous of all the Greek heroes. A panhellenic hero, Herakles
was very popular in Athens in the second half of the sixth century B.C.165 Gradually,
however, Theseus superseded Herakles as the popular hero of the Athenians. Theseus
reached his greatest popularity during the time of Kimon. The parallels between Theseus
and Herakles are strong; Theseus was modeled after Herakles and thus the saying that
Theseus was another, or a second, Herakles has some merit.

Born in Thebes, Herakles was the son of Zeus and a mortal woman, Alkmene. Zeus
admired Alkmene and disguising himself as her husband, Amphitryon, slept with her.
Amphitryon, too, slept with Alkmene that night and she eventually bore twins - Herakles

and Iphikles. Apollodorus relates:

Before Amphitryon arrived in Thebes, Zeus went there one
night (making it three times the length of an ordinary night),
took the shape of Amphitryon, and slept with Alcmene, to
whom he recounted the adventures with the Teleboans. When
Amphitryon reached home and saw that his wife was less
than overjoyed to have him, he asked her the reason. She
pointed out that he had just slept with her the previous night.
Amphitryon then learned from questioning Teiresias that Zeus
had made love to her. Alcmene bore two sons: to Zeus she
bore Heracles, older than his brother by one night, and to
Amphitryon she bore Iphicles. (The Library, 2.61)

 

165 John Boardman convincingly argues that Peisistratos consciously associated himself
with Herakles. This association was discussed in chapter 5.

90

9 1
For every Herakles myth there often exist several diﬂ'erent versions. By the Classical era his

exploits had been categorized into three groups: the Labors which numbered twelve and
were performed in the service of King Eurystheus; the Deeds which vary in number and
were performed independently; and the Incidentals which occurred while the Labors were
being completed.

The twelve labors, or Dodekathlos, are ﬁrst represented in their entirety on the
metopes from the interior porches of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. The temple dates from
circa 470-456 B.C. Pausanias mentions the subjects of the six metopes on the west end and
the ﬁve subjects on the east. 166 However, it is not certain that the order he relates was the
original order. The order established by Apollodorus is the accepted canon.

The ﬁrst task determined by King Eurystheus was to kill the lion from Nemea.
Herakles wrestled the beast and ﬁnally killed it, thereafter wearing the skin of the lion as a
cloak; the skin of the lion coupled with the club are the most common attributes associated
with Herakles. The killing of the Hydra and the capture of the Kerynitian hind, sacred to
Artemis, followed. Herakles' fourth task was to capture the boar which had been ravaging
the countryside around Mount Erymanthos. This labor is a frequent subject in Attic black-
ﬁgure vases from the second halfof the sixth century. Herakles is either depicted carrying
the boar around his shoulders or lifting the savage creature by its hind legs and pushing it
forward. Following the capture of the Erymanthian boar, Herakles was given the task of
cleaning the Augean stables and then to rid the region near Lake Stymphalos of a ﬂock of
bothersome birds.

The six labors recounted shove constituted what is known as the Peloponnesian
Group. The ﬁrst of his non-Peloponnesian labors was the capture of the Cretan bull. In this
seventh labor, Herakles drove the bull to Mycenae, presented it to King Eurystheus and then
released the animal. This bull then, according to some accounts, made its way to Marathon

where Theseus later subdued it. Herakles' capture of the Cretan bull is the subject of more

 

166 Pausanias, Guide to Greece 5.10.9

92
than two-hundred Attic black-ﬁgure vases which mostly date from the last third of the sixth

century or the early ﬁfth century. There are similarities between these depictions and those
showing Theseus and the Marathonian bull. Often only the quiver and bow seen hanging
nearby serve to distinguish the two scenes. The next labor of Herakles was the return of the
man-eating mares of Diomedes. Eurystheus then requested the belt of the Amazon queen,
Hippolyte. For his tenth labor, Herakles was sent to Erytheia to retrieve the cattle of
Geryon. The golden apples had been a wedding gift from Gaia to Hera; the apples grew in
the garden of the Hesperides and Eurystheus requested that Herakles bring him these
apples. During the course of this labor, Herakles encountered several notorious men, most
notably Antaios. Herakles was forced to wrestle the giant - the son of Poseidon and Gaia -
and this ﬁght appears on both Attic black and red-ﬁgure vases ﬁom the last quarter of the
sixth century and the ﬁrst quarter of the ﬁfth century. The twelﬁh and ﬁnal labor of
Herakles was the capture of Kerberos, the hound of Hades, and to bring him up from the
underworld.

The appearance of Herakles has evolved in Greek art. Before the Geometric period,
he is depicted without the skin of the Nemean lion or his club. In the seventh century, he
uses a bow and this weapon soon becomes one of his attributes; a bow is mentioned in
connection with Herakles in both the Iliad and the Odyssey.”7 The hero may begin to wear
the lion skin in the second quarter of the sixth century in Attic art and the club appears
around this time, too. Finally, in archaic representations he is usually bearded and this
continues to characterize the hero, but on occasion he may appear as a beardless youth.168

Theseus' rise in popularity at the end of the sixth century is evident in art and
suspected in literature. T.H. Carpenter notes that, "[t]he popularity of the hero Theseus as
a subject for Attic vase-paintings approaches that of his contemporary Herakles at the end of

the sixth century."169 It was during this period that the cycle cups of Theseus ﬁrst

 

167 Iliad 5.392. Odyssey 8.244; 9.60611:
168 This occurs in representations from the last decades of the sixth century and
sometimes earlier when Herakles wrestles the Nemean Lion.

169 T.H. Carpenter, Art and Myth in Ancient Greece (London, 1991) 160.

93
appeared, circa 510 B.C. These cycle deeds may be viewed as rivaling the labors of

Herakles. Several of these deeds are indeed derived from Herakles' labors.

The most obvious derivation is the capture of the Marathonian bull, which imitates
Herakles' encounter with the Cretan bull.1'70 The similarities of the two episodes has
resulted in much confusion in identifying the scene. The sow episode is likewise derived
ﬁom Herakles' capture of the Erymanthian boar. This imitation is especially obvious on the
early cycle cup in London (Figure 8).1'71 Theseus drags away a live boar, not a sow, by its
hind legs. Subsequent representations of this episode are depicted in a different manner
which becomes the standard - the animal is a sow and is being slain. Finally, there exists a
similarity between the wrestling match of Theseus and Kerkyon as compared to Herakles
and Antaios. The derivative nature of this deed is not as obvious as the previous two
examples. Theseus uses his skill as a palestra-trained youth the overcome Kerkyon,
whereas Herakles relies on his brute strength to defeat the giant Antaios. Nonetheless, it is
obvious that these deeds owe much to the representations of Herakles.

Theseus and Herakles are repeatedly juxtaposed in vase painting.

The similarity between Herakles and Theseus, both

monster-ﬁghters, was one which had been observed by artists

long before any deeper signiﬁcance was read into their

relationshig and without reference to any possible association

in myth.1'7
This juxtaposition may ﬁrst be evidenced on a Corinthian cup in Brussels!73 This cup,
circa 570-560 B.C., shows Theseus and the Minotaur on one side, Herakles and Acheloos on
the other. Later, Herakles and the Nemean lion are linked with Theseus and the

Minotaur. 174 In the late sixth century, Theseus and the Marathonian bull replace Theseus

 

170 Unlike most of the other cycle deeds, the capture of the Marathonian hull was
popular in the black-ﬁgure period; the earliest depiction dates from 540 B.C.

171 London, British Museum E36; ARVZ 115, no. 3.

172 John Boardman, "Herakles, Theseus and Amazons," The Eye of Greece: Studies in
the Art of Athens, edited by Donna Kurtz and Brian Sparkes (Cambridge, 1982) 2.

173 Brussels, Musées Royaux A1374.

174 The Group E Painters were especially fond of this juxtaposition See Wurzburg,
Martin von Wagner Museum 248; ABV 134, no. 18. Rome, Conservatori 348; ABV 134, no. 19.
Munich, Museum Antiker Kleinkunst 1397; ABV 134, no. 20. See Paris, Musée du Louvre F33;
ABV 141, no. 3.

94
and the Minotaur as the counterpart to Herakles and the Nemean lion.1'75 This

juxtaposition is also observed in pairs of ﬁghting/wrestling scenes - Herakles and Antaios
compared with Theseus and Sldron or Theseus and Prokrustesr76

The parallel between Theseus and Herakles is foreshadowed in vase painting, but
consciously spelled out in sculpture. The Athenian Treasury at Delphi and the Hephaisteion
in Athens serve to illustrate this. The Athenian Treasury was constructed sometime around
500 - 490 B.C.l'77 The treasury is located in the politically and religiously important center
of Delphi and the themes chosen to decorate this structure are deliberate, telling us much
about Athens. Of the thirty metopes, fifteen are reserved for Herakles, six for Theseus and
regarding the sculpture Boardman notes that, ”the iconographic futures of the old Herakles
and the new Theseus are still being decided."1"78

The south metopes illustrate various Theseus encounters: Sinis, Kerkyon, Skiron,
Athena, the bull of Marathon, the Minotaur and an Amazon. On the north side, Herakles
appears with the Nemean Lion, a centaur, a horse (?). the Kerynitian Hind, Atlas, Kyknos
and an Amazon. The six metopes placed on the eastern front of the treasury depicts an
Amazonomachy. The Geryon adventure of Herakles decorates the six west metopes.

Neils says that the Athenian treasury, "acts as a propagandistic statement which
consciously sets out a sophisticatedly uniﬁed program of sculpture which makes obvious. . .

the parallels between the great Dorian Herakles and the young Athenian Theseus.”179 The

 

175 Rome, Marchese Giorgio Guglielmi, no inventory number, ARV2 148, no.1. Leipzig
T3625; ARV2 148, no. 2. Philadelphia, University Museum L64.185; ARVZ 187, no. 62. Florence V
58; ARV2 413, no. 24.

1'76 Florence v; ARV2 355, no.46. Athens, National Museum 1666; MW2 1567, no. 13.

177 The date is questioned Pausanias (Guide to Greece, 10.115) and the French date it
to aﬁer Marathon based on spolia Some scholars date the treasury to just before 500 B.C. and
regard it as a statement against the tyranny of Peisistratos; "[tlhe preeminence of Theseus in
the metopes would thus be in the nature of an immediate anti-Peisistratid communique."
(Hurwit, 318.) Most date the Athenian treasury to the ﬁrst decade of the ﬁfth century. See
Evelyn B. Harrison, Archaic and Archaistic Sculpture, The Athenian Agom, vol.II (Princeton,
1965) 10-11; Brunhilde S. Ridgeway, The Archaic Style in Greek Sculpture (Princeton, 1977) 236;
John Boardman, Greek Sculpture, The Archaic Period (New York, 1978) 159. For further discussion
of the dating problem see Werner Gauer, Weihgeschenhe aus den Perserhriqen, IstMitt Beiheﬁ 2
(Tubingen, 1968) 45-65.

178 Boardman, 3.

179 Neils, 51.

95
individual Amazonomachies of Theseus and Herakles, placed on the easternmost south and

north sides respectively, demonstrate this parallel. They, "show how Theseus is
deliberately cast in the image of another Herakles."180 On the Athenian Treasury, the two
heroes were equated; they were not portrayed as rivals, but rather Theseus was raised to
the level of Herakles.

Yet, in spite of this parallel, the two homes are clearly diﬁ‘erentiawd. Theseus'
capture of the Marathonian bull is not reduplicaWd by Herakles' capture of the Cretan bull
nor is the Centauromachy which involves Herakles. The boar and sow episodes of the two
heroes are omitwd entirely. It might even be argued that the treasury served to promote the
Athenian over the Dorian hero. Athena appears only once in the sculptural decoration of the
building - with Theseus in the Sacra Conversazione. Athena is the protectress of Herakles;
the appearance of Athena had hitherto mostly been accorded to the Dorian hero. Instead,
on the treasury, Athena accompanies Theseus. "This makes the whole design look very
much like a presentation of Theseus the Athenian at the centre of the Greek world."181

"The Athenian Treasury was constructed in honor of Apollo but in celebration of

Theseus and the city that intentionally bestowed Heraklean stature on him."182

Athenian artists had nothing against Herakles aﬁer the
expulsion of the tyrants in 510, and to depict him was not an
indication of sympathy for the old regime; the heroic protege
and the consummate workman of civilization simply could not
be ignored no matter how he had been used before. But the
young democracy needed a hero it could call its own, even if it

had to create one in Herakles' own image.183
"It is remarkable that from this time forward various deeds of 'Iheseus emerge in art
and that they are immediately arranged in a series in metopes and in cyclical form in vase
painting.”184 This is especially true in light of the sculpture of the Athenian Treasury. The

treasury sculpture dates to the period around the time of the creation of the cycle cups. A

 

13° ibid, 50-51.

181 Boardman, 4.

182 Hurwit, 316.

133 ibid, 311.

184 Frank Brommer, Heracles (New York, 1979) 58.

96
cycle did not exist for Herakles. In vase painting a labor would sometimes be depicted on

the obverse and reverse of a vessel, but this does not constitute a cyclical narration. On the
Athenian Treasury, ﬁﬁeen metopes were reserved for Herakles. There was certainly enough
room to include all twelve of the hero's labors, yet, at the most, only eight of the labors are
illustrated. Only the Temple of Zeus at Olympia presents the Dodekathlos in its entirety in
all of Greek art.

The Hephaisteion was constructed around 450 B.C.185 It commemorates the
youthful deeds of Theseus. Like the Athenian Treasury, it, too, juxtaposes the deeds of
Theseus with the labors of Herakles. Ten metopes are reserved for Herakles, eight for
Theseus. The ten metopes on the east front depict the following labors of Herakles: the
Nemean Lion; Hydra; the Kerynitian Hind; the Erymanthian boar; the capture of
Diomedes‘ horses; Kerberos; an Amazon; Geryon; and the retrieval of golden apples of the
Hesperides. The subject matter of the ten metopes devoted to Herakles are all taken from
the Dodekathlos.186 The deeds of Theseus are seen on eight metopes - four each on the
eastern end of the north and south sides. The deeds are: the Krommyon sow, Skiron,
Kerkyon and Prokrustes on the north side; Periphetes, Sinis, the Marathonian bull and the
Minotaur on the south end. Greater prominence has been given to Herakles on the
Hephaisteion, but Homer Thompson notes that this is a reﬂection of the literary
t;radit:ion.18'7 Brommer has said of the Athenian Treasury and the Hephaisteion that, "the
attempt to create a Theseus cycle has inﬂuenced the representations of Heracles' deeds in a

cyclical form."188 This is evident when the Hephaisteion metopes are examined, but as

 

185 supra n. 76.

186 T‘w0 of the ten metopes depict Herakles' capture of Geryon's cattle. This is rather
unusual. On the Temple of Zeus, the adventure had been conﬁned to one metope; on the
Athenian Treasm'y, the six west metopes represented this, but this made sense because the labor
was conﬁned to one entire side of the structure.

187 Regarding the literary tradition, Theseus is hospitable to Herakles and welcomes
him at the end of Euripides' Herakles. Theseus also gives sanctuaries in Attica to the Dorian
hero. See Euripides, Herakles, 1L1328-31. Plutarch notes, "[alll the sacred precincts which the
city had previously set apart for himself , he now dedicated to Heracles." (Theseus, 35.2).

188 Brommer, 58.

97
noted earlier, cyclical narration of Herakles' labors never becomes popular, in contrast to the

canonical representation of the youthful deeds of Theseus.

Herakles was the pan-Hellenic hero after whom Theseus was modeled. Theseus'
Isthmian deeds were a promotional vehicle based on the twelve Labors of Herakles. Several
of Theseus' deeds, in fact, are directly descended from Herakles' Labors. The two heroes are
juxtaposed in art. In sculpture especially, the parallels between Theseus and Herakles are
proclaimed; the Treasury of the Athenians at Delphi and the Hephaisteion are notable

examples. Theseus was "autos or'rrog 'Hpaxhﬁs.

CONCLUSION

Theseus was a ﬁgure of legend in Greek mythology. He is known primarily for the
battle he fought against the Minotaur and this particular episode is frequently depicted in
black-ﬁgure pottery. By the sixth century B.C., the story of Theseus and the Minotaur was
widely known and depicted in art throughout Greece. The Peloponnesians were the ﬁrst to
produce artistic representations of this confrontation and ﬁve gold plaques ﬁom the mid-
seventh century B.C. survive. On these plaques Theseus grabs the horn of the Minotaur and
plunges his sword into the chest of the creature; this battle format becomes standardized
circa 550 B.C.

The slaying of the Minotaur is represented on over two hunhd black-ﬁgure vessels.
The Minotaur theme reached its popularity in the period 540-530 B.C., particularly in the
work of the Group E painters. Towards the end of the sixth century, Theseus was given a
new image - he was heralded as the national hero of the Athenians. This elevation
prompted the creation of a series of deeds which Theseus performed on the road from
Troizen to Athens. The previous exploits of Theseus are not forgotten and the popularity of
the Cretan adventure continues, but to this established repétoire are added the deeds.
These deeds are combined in a cyclical fashion on a series ofAttic red-ﬁgure vases and are
thus often termed cycle cups; it is during the period 510-500 B.C. that the cycle cups ﬁrst
appear. The presentation of Theseus' dads in a cyclical fashion is unique to the hero. The

cycle cups associated with Theseus were used to promote the newly creamd deeds of the

98

99
youth - to prove that he performed these deeds in addition to his well-known encounter with

the Minotaur.

The period 480-450 B.C. marks the peak interest in the youthful Theseus, yet,
conversely, interest in the combat between Theseus and the Minotaur decreases. The
artists are, instead more interested in his Athenians connections. The relationship between
Theseus and Poseidon is explored and Theseus is, increasingly, a combatant in what has
been termed the "big battles" of Greek history - the Amazonomachy and the Centuaromachy.
Gradually, these themes supersede the Minotaur combat as favorites of the artists, but the
slaying of the Minotaur continues to decorate Greek vases.

Particularly important to this study is the type of weapon wielded by Theseus
against the Minotaur - a sword. In most extant black-ﬁgures examples, Theseus uses a
sword to ﬁll the Minotaur. In two examples, however, Theseus uses a club. On a seventh
century Sicilian stamnos, the hero grips a club in his left hand and on an amphora ﬁom the
mid-sixth century by the Aﬁ'ecter Painter, Theseus wields a club over his head, ready to
strike the ﬂeeing creature. In red-ﬁgured depictions of this same battle, the iconography
remains unchanged ﬁom black-ﬁgured representations - Theseus uses a sword the ﬁll the
beast. Yet, as had occurred in black-ﬁgure, there are exceptions. On a cup by the Meleager
Painter from the ﬁrst third of the fourth century B.C. and a later calyx krater by the LC.
Group, Theseus wields a club.

The possible reasons for the appearance of the club have been explored - the
relevance of the cycle cups and the deeds depicted on them and, more speciﬁcally, the
pertinence of Periphetes and the Bull of Marathon and, secondly, the importance of
Herakles. Periphetes was the ﬁrst villain that Theseus encountered on his journey from
Thoizen to Athens; after defeating this club-wielding brigand, Theseus took the club and,
thereafter, carried as his own. The Bull of Marathon was a savage creature which ravaged
the Attic countryside and soon after arriving in Athens, Theseus set out to capture this bull.

It is probable that a club should ﬁrst appear in this context because it is adventure which

100
demands a weapon powerful enough to tame a large, raging animal. In addition, this

adventure is very similar to an event in the life of Herakles - the capture of the Cretan bull.

Parallels between Theseus and Herakles were evident in Greek art. The two heroes
were juxtaposed on numerous painted vessels and in several sculptural programs, too, most
notably on the Athenian Treasury at Delphi and the Hephaisteion in Athens. Herakles was
the pan-Hellenic hero after whom Theseus was modeled. In fact, several of Theseus'
youthful deeds are directly descended from the Labors of Herakles. Theseus was another
Herakles and he eventually surpasses Herakles as the national hero of the Athenians. The
eﬁ‘orts of Peisistratos, Kleisthenes and Kimon were instrumental in Theseus' prominent
rise, for each man could adopt the hero as his own and promote those aspects which best
suited his political purposes.

The appropriation of the club in four Greek vase paintings may be connected to
depictions of Periphetes, the hull of Marathon and Herakles. The use of a club to slay the
Minotaur should not be regarded as insigniﬁcant and these depictions merit the attention

they have been given.

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