Chapter Sixteen, Lecture One
Theseus, Myths of Athens
Theseus
• Latecomer
• Myths are confused and pale
• Theseus becomes their “hero” almost
artificially
Cerops, Erichthonius and the
Daughters of Cecrops
Cerops, Erichthonius and the
Daughters of Cecrops
• Three different versions of the origins of
the Athenians:
– Descended from Athena (?)
– Autochthonous (from the earth itself)
– Descended from Cecrops
• Great founding ancestor, who brought laws,
civilization, proper worship of the gods
Cerops, Erichthonius and the
Daughters of Cecrops
• Born when Hephaestus tried to have his
way with Athena
• “The man of wool and earth”
• Given in a concealed basket to the
daughters of Cecrops (Aglauros, Hersê,
Pandrosus)
• Only Pandrosus refrains from looking –
Aglaurus and Hersê driven mad and
jump to their deaths from the Acropolis
Festival of the Dew Carriers
Festival of the Dew Carriers
• Yearly ritual of the Arrhephoria (“dew
carriers”) in late March
• The two arrhephoroi lived on the
Acropolis
• Wove a robe for a statue of Athena
• Sent at night to Aphrodite’s grove (near
the Acropolis) with baskets, to return with
a mysterious object
Procris and Cephalus
• In another myth, the daughters Aglaurus
and Hersê survive the jump
• Hermes lusts after Hersê, and at first
Aglaurus agrees to act as a go-between
for gold
• But Athena afflicts Aglaurus with jealousy,
and ties to deny Hermes passage
Procris and Cephalus
Procris and Cephalus
• Hermes turns her into a stone and
continues on his way
• Hersê becomes pregnant with a son,
Cephalus
• Cephalus, being a beautiful boy, is
carried away for a while by Eos, nymph
of the dawn
Early Legends of Athens
• Cephalus marries Procris, a daughter of
Erechthonius, soon giving way to
jealousy
• To test her, he approaches her in
disguise
Early Legends of Athens
• When once she gives in, she is banished
to Crete
• There Minos lusts after her, but his wife
Pasiphaë had cursed his sexuality
• Procris gives him an herbal remedy, and
in thanks Minos gives her Laelaps and a
magic spear
Early Legends of Athens
• Procris starts to fear Pasiphaë and
returns to Athens disguised as a boy,
with the gifts
• Cephalus lusts after this “boy’s” gifts, and
the “boy” offers them in exchange for sex
• He agrees, but the “boy” then reveals
“him”self, and they live happily ever after
– for a while
Early Legends of Athens
• But Procris fears that Cephalus is still
seeing his former girlfriend, Eos (Lat.
Aurora), a forest nymph of the fresh
winds of the dawn
Early Legends of Athens
• She hears a report that he’s been calling
out to “Dawn,” so one day she follows
him on his morning hunt. She hears him
calling “Dawn,” she thinks he’s having an
affair and jumps out of the woods to
confront him
• Thinking he’s being attacked by wild
animal, he kills her with the magic spear
she gave him
The Early Legends of Athens
• Cephalus forced into exile by the
Areopagus and he flees to Thebes
• Thebes being plagued by a “fox that can
never be caught.”
• Sends his dog against it
• Zeus “resolves” the contradiction by
turning both to stone
Procnê and Tereus
Procnê and Tereus
• Pandion, a son of Erichthonius, has two
daughters
– Procnê
– Philomela
• And two sons
– Butes
– Erechtheus
Procnê and Tereus
• Pandion (king in Athens) gives his
daughter Procnê to Tereus, the king of
the Thracians for his help in a war
against Thebes
• Procnê and Tereus have a son, Itys
• After a time, Procnê wants Tereus to go
to Athens and bring Philomela back for a
visit
Procnê and Tereus
• But Tereus lusts after Philomela when he
sees her
• On arrival in Thrace, he rapes her
• To keep her from talking, he cuts out her
tongue, hides her and tells Procnê that
her sister died
• Keeps her locked in a mountain house
Procnê and Tereus
• In her cell, Philomela weaves the story of
what happened in a tapestry and sends it
to Procnê
• Procnê understands the message
• In revenge, they kill Itys and serve him to
Tereus
• In the end, they all turn into birds
Tereus = Hoopoe
Click for its song in *.wma
Procnê = Nightingale
Lecture Two
Theseus