Theseus, a king of Athens, and son of Ægeus by Æthra the daughter of Pittheus, was one of the most celebrated of the heroes of antiquity. He was educated at Trœzene in the house of Pittheus, and as he was not publicly acknowledged to be the son of the king of Athens, he passed for the son of Neptune. When he came to years of maturity, he was sent by his mother to his father, and a sword was given him, by which he might make himself known to Ægeus in a private manner. See: [Ægeus]. His journey to Athens was not across the sea, as it was usual with travellers, but Theseus determined to signalize himself in going by land, and encountering difficulties. The road which led from Trœzene to Athens was infested with robbers and wild beasts, and almost impassable; but these obstacles were easily removed by the courageous son of Ægeus. He destroyed Corynetes, Synnis, Sciron, Cercyon, Procrustes, and the celebrated Phæa. At Athens, however, his reception was not cordial; Medea lived there with Ægeus, and as she knew that her influence would fall to the ground, if Theseus was received in his father’s house, she attempted to destroy him before his arrival was made public. Ægeus was himself to give the cup of poison to this unknown stranger at a feast, but the sight of his sword on the side of Theseus reminded him of his amours with Æthra. He knew him to be his son, and the people of Athens were glad to find that this illustrious stranger, who had cleared Attica from robbers and pirates, was the son of their monarch. The Pallantides, who expected to succeed their uncle Ægeus on the throne, as he apparently had no children, attempted to assassinate Theseus; but they fell a prey to their own barbarity, and were all put to death by the young prince. The bull of Marathon next engaged the attention of Theseus. The labour seemed arduous, but he caught the animal alive, and after he had led it through the streets of Athens, he sacrificed it to Minerva, or the god of Delphi. After this Theseus went to Crete among the seven chosen youths whom the Athenians yearly sent to be devoured by the Minotaur. The wish to deliver his country from so dreadful a tribute, engaged him to undertake this expedition. He was successful by means of Ariadne the daughter of Minos, who was enamoured of him, and after he had escaped from the labyrinth with a clue of thread, and killed the Minotaur [See: [Minotaurus]], he sailed from Crete with the six boys and seven maidens, whom his victory had equally redeemed from death. In the island of Naxos, where he was driven by the winds, he had the meanness to abandon Ariadne, to whom he was indebted for his safety. The rejoicings which his return might have occasioned at Athens were interrupted by the death of Ægeus, who threw himself into the sea when he saw his son’s ship return with black sails, which was the signal of ill success. See: [Ægeus]. His ascension on his father’s throne was universally applauded, B.C. 1235. The Athenians were governed with mildness, and Theseus made new regulations, and enacted new laws. The number of the inhabitants of Athens was increased by the liberality of the monarch, religious worship was attended with more than usual solemnity, a court was instituted which had the care of all civil affairs, and Theseus made the government democratical, while he reserved for himself only the command of the armies. The fame which he had gained by his victories and policy, made his alliance courted; but Pirithous king of the Lapithæ, alone wished to gain his friendship, by meeting him in the field of battle. He invaded the territories of Attica, and when Theseus had marched out to meet him, the two enemies, struck at the sight of each other, rushed between their two armies, to embrace one another in the most cordial and affectionate manner, and from that time began the most sincere and admired friendship, which has become proverbial. Theseus was present at the nuptials of his friend, and was the most eager and courageous of the Lapithæ, in the defence of Hippodamia and her female attendants, against the brutal attempts of the Centaurs. When Pirithous had lost Hippodamia, he agreed with Theseus, whose wife Phædra was also dead, to carry away some of the daughters of the gods. Their first attempt was upon Helen the daughter of Leda, and after they had obtained this beautiful prize, they cast lots, and she became the property of Theseus. The Athenian monarch entrusted her to the care of his mother Æthra, at Aphidnæ, till she was of nubile years, but the resentment of Castor and Pollux soon obliged him to restore her safe into their hands. Helen, before she reached Sparta, became mother of a daughter by Theseus, but this tradition, confirmed by some ancient mythologists, is confuted by others, who affirm that she was but nine years old when carried away by the two royal friends, and Ovid introduces her in one of his epistles, saying, Excepto redii passa timore nihil. Some time after Theseus assisted his friend in procuring a wife, and they both descended into the infernal regions to carry away Proserpine. Pluto, apprised of their intentions, stopped them. Pirithous was placed on his father’s wheel, and Theseus was tied to a huge stone on which he had sat to rest himself. Virgil represents him in this eternal state of punishment repeating to the shades in Tartarus the words of Discite justitiam moniti, et non temnere divos. Apollodorus, however, and others declare that he was not long detained in hell; when Hercules came to steal the dog Cerberus, he tore him away from the stone, but with such violence, that his skin was left behind. The same assistance was given to Pirithous, and the two friends returned upon the earth by the favour of Hercules and the consent of the infernal deities, not, however, without suffering the most excruciating torments. During the captivity of Theseus in the kingdom of Pluto, Mnestheus, one of the descendants of Erechtheus, ingratiated himself into the favours of the people of Athens, and obtained the crown in preference to the children of the absent monarch. At his return Theseus attempted to eject the usurper, but to no purpose. The Athenians had forgotten his many services, and he retired with great mortification to the court of Lycomedes king of the island of Scyros. After paying him much attention, Lycomedes, either jealous of his fame, or bribed by the presence of Mnestheus, carried him to a high rock, on pretence of showing him the extent of his dominions, and threw him down a deep precipice. Some suppose that Theseus inadvertently fell down this precipice, and that he was crushed to death without receiving any violence from Lycomedes. The children of Theseus, after the death of Mnestheus, recovered the Athenian throne, and that the memory of their father might not be without the honours due to a hero, they brought his remains from Scyros, and gave them a magnificent burial. They also raised him statues and a temple, and festivals and games were publicly instituted to commemorate the actions of a hero who had rendered such services to the people of Athens. These festivals were still celebrated with original solemnity in the age of Pausanias and Plutarch, about 1200 years after the death of Theseus. The historians disagree from the poets in their accounts about this hero, and they all suppose that, instead of attempting to carry away the wife of Pluto, the two friends wished to seduce a daughter of Aidoneus king of the Molossi. This daughter, as they say, bore the name of Proserpine, and the dog which kept the gates of the palace was called Cerberus, and hence, perhaps, arises the fiction of the poets. Pirithous was torn to pieces by the dog, but Theseus was confined in prison, from whence he made his escape some time after by the assistance of Hercules. Some authors place Theseus and his friend in the number of the Argonauts, but they were both detained, either in the infernal regions, or in the country of the Molossi, in the time of Jason’s expedition to Colchis. Plutarch, Lives.—Apollodorus, bk. 3.—Hyginus, fables 14 & 79.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 2, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 433; Ibis, li. 412; Fasti, bk. 3, lis. 473 & 491; Heroides.—Diodorus, bks. 1 & 4.—Lucan, bk. 2, li. 612.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 21, li. 293.—Hesiod, Shield of Heracles.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 4, ch. 5.—Statius, Thebaid, bk. 5, li. 432—Propertius, bk. 3.—Lactantius, on Thebaid of Statius.—Philostratus, Imagines, bk. 1.—Flaccus, bk. 2.—Apollonius, bk. 1.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 617.—Seneca, Hippolytus.—Statius, Achilles, bk. 1.
Thesīdæ, a name given to the people of Athens, because they were governed by Theseus.
Thesĭdes, a patronymic applied to the children of Theseus, especially Hippolytus. Ovid, Heroides, poem 4, li. 65.
Thesmophŏra, a surname of Ceres, as lawgiver, in whose honour festivals were instituted called Thesmophoria. The Thesmophoria were instituted by Triptolemus, or, according to some, by Orpheus, or the daughters of Danaus. The greatest part of the Grecian cities, especially Athens, observed them with great solemnity. The worshippers were free-born women, whose husbands were obliged to defray the expenses of the festival. They were assisted by a priest called στεφανοφορος, because he carried a crown on his head. There were also certain virgins who officiated, and were maintained at the public expense. The freeborn women were dressed in white robes, to intimate their spotless innocence; they were charged to observe the strictest chastity during three or five days before the celebration, and during the four days of the solemnity; and on that account it was usual for them to strew their bed with agnus castus, fleabane, and all such herbs as were supposed to have the power of expelling all venereal propensities. They were also charged not to eat pomegranates, or to wear garlands on their heads, as the whole was to be observed with the greatest signs of seriousness and gravity, without any display of wantonness or levity. It was, however, usual to jest at one another, as the goddess Ceres had been made to smile by a merry expression when she was sad and melancholy for the recent loss of her daughter Proserpine. Three days were required for the preparation, and upon the 11th of the month called Pyanepsion, the women went to Eleusis, carrying books on their heads, in which the laws which the goddess had invented were contained. On the 14th of the same month the festival began, on the 16th day a fast was observed, and the women sat on the ground in token of humiliation. It was usual during the festival to offer prayers to Ceres, Proserpine, Pluto, and Calligenia, whom some suppose to be the nurse or favourite maid of the goddess of corn, or perhaps one of her surnames. There were some sacrifices of a mysterious nature, and all persons whose offence was small were released from confinement. Such as were initiated at the festivals of Eleusis assisted at the Thesmophoria. The place of high priest was hereditary in the family of Eumolpus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, li. 431; Fasti, bk. 4, li. 619.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 4.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 4, li. 58.—Sophocles, Œdipus at Colonus.—Clement of Alexandria.
Thesmothĕtæ, a name given to the last six Archons among the Athenians, because they took particular care to enforce the laws, and to see justice impartially administered. They were at that time nine in number.
Thespia, now Neocorio, a town of Bœotia, at the foot of mount Helicon, which received its name from Thespia the daughter of Asopus, or from Thespius. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 7.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 26.—Strabo, bk. 9.
Thespiădæ, the sons of Thespiades. See: [Thespius].
Thespiădes, a name given to the 50 daughters of Thespius. See: [Thespius]. Diodorus, bk. 4.—Seneca, Hercules Œtaeus, li. 369.——Also a surname of the nine muses, because they were held in great veneration in Thespia. Flaccus, bk. 2, li. 368.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 310.
Thespis, a Greek poet of Attica, supposed by some to be the inventor of tragedy, 536 years before Christ. His representations were very rustic and imperfect. He went from town to town upon a cart, on which was erected a temporary stage, where two actors, whose faces were daubed with the lees of wine, entertained the audience with choral songs, &c. Solon was a great enemy to his dramatic representations. Horace, Art of Poetry, li. 276.—Diogenes Laërtius.
Thespius, a king of Thespia, in Bœotia, son of Erechtheus, according to some authors. He was desirous that his 50 daughters should have children by Hercules, and therefore when that hero was at his court he permitted him to enjoy their company. This, which, according to some, was effected in one night, passes for the 13th and most arduous of the labours of Hercules, as the two following lines from the arcana arcanissima indicate: