DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.800#0082
CHARACTER OF THESEUS. 67
of Menestheus had done their work; Theseus hecame unpopular and
found himself obliged to abdicate. At Gargettus, a place on the south-
west side of Mount Pentelicus, he uttered a curse against the Athenians,
at the spot which continued to be called Araterion or Areterion (from apa
or apt},' an imprecation'). Then he retired to the isle of Scyros, ruled
at that time by Lycomedes, who treacherously put him to death.
From the preceding sketch of the life of Theseus it appears that the
Athenians regarded him in two characters: as a mythological hero, and
as a statesman who founded their political institutions. The question
then arises whether he is a wholly fabulous personage, or a real person
about whom an heroic halo has been thrown. There are some circum-
stances in his story which might lead us to incline to the latter opinion.
He. is very different from Heracles. The exploits of that demigod
extend over the greater part of the known world; he founds no state,
though the planting of colonies is ascribed to him; and there seems
reason to suppose that the idea of him was suggested by the maritime
enterprises of the Phoenicians. The exploits of Theseus, on the con-
trary, are chiefly confined to Attica and its neighbourhood; and his
ultimate expulsion from his kingdom, and death in a foreign land, have
a certain historical air, since the legend of the founder-hero of a state,
if wholly fictitious, would hardly end in misfortune and disgrace. He
and his predecessor Ion seem to represent revolutions which tempo-
rarily raised an Ionian to power, of which, however, they were deprived
by the legitimate line of the Ereehtheidsp. Theseus is thrice men-
tioned by Homer; once in the Iliad and twice in the Odyssey.1 It is
said indeed that the line in the Iliad—
Srjaca t ArycAp^ «Viei«Xoi/ ciQavaroiaiti—
must be spurious, because it also occurs in Hesiod.2 But would it
not be more reasonable to say that Hesiod took it from Homer ? One
of the reasons for abjudicating it from Homer is that it is not com-
mented on by Eustathius and the scholiasts.3 But if that is a test of
1 11. i. 265 j Od. xi. 321, 69ft ' S«i Clinton, Fast. Hell. t. i. p. H,
? Scut, Hero. 182. note v.
F 2
of Menestheus had done their work; Theseus hecame unpopular and
found himself obliged to abdicate. At Gargettus, a place on the south-
west side of Mount Pentelicus, he uttered a curse against the Athenians,
at the spot which continued to be called Araterion or Areterion (from apa
or apt},' an imprecation'). Then he retired to the isle of Scyros, ruled
at that time by Lycomedes, who treacherously put him to death.
From the preceding sketch of the life of Theseus it appears that the
Athenians regarded him in two characters: as a mythological hero, and
as a statesman who founded their political institutions. The question
then arises whether he is a wholly fabulous personage, or a real person
about whom an heroic halo has been thrown. There are some circum-
stances in his story which might lead us to incline to the latter opinion.
He. is very different from Heracles. The exploits of that demigod
extend over the greater part of the known world; he founds no state,
though the planting of colonies is ascribed to him; and there seems
reason to suppose that the idea of him was suggested by the maritime
enterprises of the Phoenicians. The exploits of Theseus, on the con-
trary, are chiefly confined to Attica and its neighbourhood; and his
ultimate expulsion from his kingdom, and death in a foreign land, have
a certain historical air, since the legend of the founder-hero of a state,
if wholly fictitious, would hardly end in misfortune and disgrace. He
and his predecessor Ion seem to represent revolutions which tempo-
rarily raised an Ionian to power, of which, however, they were deprived
by the legitimate line of the Ereehtheidsp. Theseus is thrice men-
tioned by Homer; once in the Iliad and twice in the Odyssey.1 It is
said indeed that the line in the Iliad—
Srjaca t ArycAp^ «Viei«Xoi/ ciQavaroiaiti—
must be spurious, because it also occurs in Hesiod.2 But would it
not be more reasonable to say that Hesiod took it from Homer ? One
of the reasons for abjudicating it from Homer is that it is not com-
mented on by Eustathius and the scholiasts.3 But if that is a test of
1 11. i. 265 j Od. xi. 321, 69ft ' S«i Clinton, Fast. Hell. t. i. p. H,
? Scut, Hero. 182. note v.
F 2