A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

THESEUS, THESEUS. 1099
artists and poets, and the victories he obtained at which had been left by Aegeus, and proceeded
the Olympic games were immortalised by Pindar. to Athens. Eager to emulate Hercules, he went
The praises of the poet are confirmed by the more by land, displaying his prowess by destroyimpartial testimony of Diodorus. (Pind. 01. ii. ing the robbers and monsters that infested the
iii.; Diod. xi. 3, x. Exc. Vales. p..558.) A magni- country. Periphetes, Sinis, Phaea the Crornficent monument was erected to him in the neigh- myonian sow, Sciron, Cercyon, and Procrustes fell
bourhood of Agrigentum, at which heroic honours before the invincible hero. Arrived at Cephisus,
were paid to his memory. (Diod. 1. c. and xiii. he was purified by the Phytalidae. At Athens he
86.) [E. H. B.] was immediately recognised by Medea, who laid a
THERON (0~pcov), a Boeotian statuary, who plot for poisoning him at a banquet to which he
made the statue of the Olympic victor, Gorgus the was invited. By means of the sword which he
son of Eucletus, a Messenian. (Paus. vi. 14. ~ 5. carried, Theseus was recognised byAegens, acknows. 1.) [P. S.] ledged as his son, and declared his successor. The
TIHERSANDER (~p'paavspos). 1. A son of sons of Pallas, thus disappointed in their hopes of
Sisyphus, and father of Haliartus and Coronus. succeeding to the throne, attempted to secure the
(Paus. ix. 34. ~ 5.) succession by violence, and declared war; but,
2. A son of Agamididas, and the father of being betrayed by the herald Leos, were destroyed.
Lathria and Anaxandra, at Sparta. (Paus. iii. 16. The capture of the Marathonian bull was the next
~ 5.) exploit of Theseus [comp. HECALE]. It was this
3. A son of Polyneices and Argeia, and one of same enterprise in which Androgeos, the son of
the Epigoni; he was married to Demonassa, by Minos, had perished. When the occasion returned
whom he became the father of Tisamenus. After on which the Athenians had to send to Minos
having been made king of Thebes, he went with their tribute of seven youths and seven maidens,
Agamemnon to Troy, and was slain in that expe- Theseus voluntarily offered himself as one of the
dition by Telephus. His tomb was shown at youths, with the design of slaying the Minotaur,
Elaea in Mysia, and sacrifices were offered to him or perishing in the attempt. When they arrived
there. (Paus. iii. 15. ~ 4, vii. 3. ~ 1, ix. 5. ~ 7, x. at Crete, Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, became
10. ~ 2; Schol. ad Pind. 01. ii. 76; Dict. Cret. enamoured of Theseus, and provided him with a
ii. 2; Herod. iv. 147; Apollod. iii. 7. ~ 2.) Virgil sword with which he slew the Minotaur, and a
(Aen. ii. 261) enumerates Thersander among the clue of thread by which he found his way out of
Greeks concealed in the wooden horse. Homer the labyrinth. Having effected his object, and
does not mention him. [L. S.] rescued the band of victims, Tlheseus set sail, carTHERSI'TES (Oepof-rTs), a son of Agrius, the rying off Ariadne. (For the variations in the story,
most ugly and most impudent talker ameong the given by Cleidemus, the reader is referred to Plut.
Greeks at Troy. Once, when he had spoken in T]hrs. 19.) There were various accounts about
the assembly in an unbecoming manner against Ariadne [ARIADNE], btut most of them spoke of
Agamemnon, he was chastised by Odysseus. Theseus as having either lost or abandoned
(Hom, II. ii. 212, &c.; Apollod. i. 8. ~ 6.) Ac- Ariadne on the island of Naxos. He was generally
cording to the later poets he pulled the eyes out of believed to have had by her two sons, Oenopion
the dead body of Penthesileia, the queen of the and Staphylus. As the vessel in which they sailed
Amazons, who had been killed by Achilles, and approached Attica, they neglected to hoist tle white
also calumniated Achilles, for which, however, the sail, which was to have been the signal that the exlatter slew him. (Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 999.) In the pedition had had a prosperous issue. The neglect
Lesche of Delphi he was represented by Polygno- led to the death of Aegeus [AEGzvs]. A vessel
tus in the act of playing at dice with Palamedes. was in existence up to the time of Demetrius Pha(Panms. x. 31. ~ 1; Soph. Phziloct. 442.) [L. S.] lereus, which it was pretended was the very ship
THESEUS (O~o'ems), the great legendary in which Theseus had sailed to Crete. It was this
hero of Attica, is one of those mythological per- vessel which was sent every year to Delos with
sonages, whose legends it is by no mneans easy to the sacred envoys. It is worth noting, that aldisentangle, and represent in their original shape. though Homer mentions Ariadne as having been
The later belief of the Athenians, adopted and carried off by Theseus from Crete (Od. xi. 321),
strengthened by writers of authority, represented he says nothing about the Minotaur. All that part
him as a very much more historical person than he of the story is probably a later addition. The exreally was; and, in consequence, the rationalistic pedition to Crete was probably, in its original
mythologists took considerable pains to draw up a form, only one of the somewhat numerous amatory
narrative of his life in which the supernatural adventures of Theseus, several of which are noticed
should be kept as much as possible in the back by Plutarch (Thes. 29). Soon after he landed,
ground, and the character in which the Athenians Theseus is said to have instituted the festival
loved to regard him, as the founder of Attic termed Oschophoria (Dictionary of Antiquities, s. v.
nationality, be exhibited in as prominent a light as Oschlophoria). The origin of the Pyanepsia, and
the received traditions allowed. This was avow- the reinstitution of the Isthmian games, were also
edly the method upon which Plutarch proceeded. ascribed to Theseus.
According to the commonly received traditions One of the most renowned of the adventures of
Theseus was the son of Aegeus, king of Athens, Theseus was his expedition against the Amazons.
and Aethra, the daughter of Pittheus, king of He is said to have assailed them before they had
Troezen [AEGEUS]. Other legends, however, main- recovered from the attack of Hercules, and to have
tained their ground, which represented him as the carried off their queen Antiope. The Amazons in
son of Poseidon by Aethra. (Plut. TAes. 6; Diod. their turn invaded Attica, and penetrated into
iv. 59; Pans. i. 17. ~ 3; comp. AETHRA.) When Athens itself, the final battle in which Theseus
he reached maturity, Theseus, by his mother's di- overcame them having been fought in the very
rections, took the sword and sandals, the tokens midst of the city. Of the literal truth of this fact