LP0042 High King of Athens

Legendary Passages #0042 - High King of Athens - Theseus' return from the Labyrinth, from Plutarch's Lives.     Last time Theseus abandoned Ariadne on Naxos. This time Theseus makes the long voyage home, loses his father, and becomes High King of Athens.     When the ship of Theseus neared the tip of Attica, called Sounion, King Aegeus spotted it. But since Theseus had forgotten to change the sails, his father thought him eaten by the Minotaur, and jumped to his death. The city was elated at the victory of Theseus, but his coronation was bittersweet.     Several festivals and traditions were started to commemorate the victory against Crete. The Ship of Theseus was preserved for centuries by replacing old wood with new, and philosophers debate whether it was the same ship or not.     Theseus consolidated the citizens of Attica and moved everyone into Athens proper. He also welcomed immigration and instituted democratic reforms. Coins were stamped with a bull, representing the Marathon Bull, the Minotaur, or Taurus, general of Minos.     This is the last episode for now focusing specifically on Theseus. Eventually he joins the Argonauts, gets left behind with Hercules, and falls in love with an Amazon princess... High King of Athens a Legendary Passage from PLUTARCH's LIFE OF THESEUS TRANSLATED BY BERNADOTTE PERRIN XXI. - XXV.     On his voyage from Crete, Theseus put in at Delos, and having sacrificed to the god and dedicated in his temple the image of Aphrodite which he had received from Ariadne, he danced with his youths a dance which they say is still performed by the Delians, being an imitation of the circling passages in the Labyrinth, and consisting of certain rhythmic involutions and evolutions.     This kind of dance, as Dicaearchus tells us, is called by the Delians The Crane, and Theseus danced it round the altar called Keraton, which is constructed of horns (kerata) taken entirely from the left side of the head. They say that he also instituted athletic contests in Delos, and that the custom was then begun by him of giving a palm to the victors.     It is said, moreover, that as they drew nigh the coast of Attica, Theseus himself forgot, and his pilot forgot, such was their joy and exultation, to hoist the sail which was to have been the token of their safety to Aegeus, who therefore, in despair, threw himself down from the rock and was dashed in pieces. But Theseus, putting in to shore, sacrificed in person the sacrifices which he had vowed to the gods at Phalerum when he set sail, and then dispatched a herald to the city to announce his safe return.     The messenger found many of the people bewailing the death of their king, and others full of joy at his tidings, as was natural, and eager to welcome him and crown him with garlands for his good news. The garlands, then, he accepted, and twined them about his herald's staff and on returning to the sea-shore, finding that Theseus had not yet made his libations to the gods, remained outside the sacred precincts, not wishing to disturb the sacrifice.     But when the libations were made, he announced the death of Aegeus. Thereupon, with tumultuous lamentation, they went up in haste to the city. Whence it is, they say, that to this day, at the festival of the Oschophoria, it is not the herald that is crowned, but his herald's staff, and those who are present at the libations cry out: “Eleleu! Iou! Iou!” the first of which cries is the exclamation of eager haste and triumph, the second of consternation and confusion.     After burying his father, Theseus paid his vows to Apollo on the seventh day of the month Pyanepsion; for on that day they had come back to the city in safety. Now the custom of boiling all sorts of pulse on that day is said to have arisen from the fact that the youths who were brought safely