< Theseus, son of Aegeus >
1 Origin
In 1263 BC, Theseus was born in Troezen, Argolis.
Theseus' father was Aegeus, the 9th King of Athens.
Theseus' mother was Aethra, daughter of Pittheus.
2 Family
2.1 Perigune
Theseus married Perigune, daughter of Sinis of Isthmus.
Theseus and Perigune had a son, Melanippus.
Later, Theseus divorced Perigune.
Perigune remarried to Deioneus, son of Eurytus of Oechalia in Messenia.
2.2 Antiope
Theseus married Antiope of Amazons.
Theseus and Antiope had a son Hippolytus (or Demophoon).
2.3 Aegle
Theseus married Aegle, daughter of Panopeus.
2.4 Iope
Theseus married Iope, daughter of Iphicles.
2.5 Phaedra
Theseus married Phaedra, daughter of Minos.
Theseus and Phaedra had a son Demophon.
Theseus and Phaedra had a son Acamas.
3 Others
3.1 Emigration to Athens
In 1247 BC, Theseus emigrated from Troezen to Athens at the request of his father Aegeus.
Presumably, Aegeus had sons who were his heirs. However, it is presumed that the battle with the sons of Pallas resulted in Aegeus having no sons to succeed him, and thus he brought Theseus to Athens.
3.2 Tribute to Minos
Tradition has it that Theseus went to Crete as tribute to Minos after Athens was defeated in battle.
However, this tradition is a fiction.
Theseus was a son born to Aegeus after Aegeus was defeated in battle against Minos and exiled to Troezen.
There is no way that Aegeus could have summoned Theseus from Troezen, knowing Athens' promise to send tribute to Minos.
3.3 Marriage to Phaedra
In 1241 BC, Theseus married Phaedra, daughter of Minos.
Deucalion, son of Minos, married his sister Phaedra to Theseus, son of Aegeus, Athenian king, in order to form an alliance with the Athenians.
After this, Iapyx, son of Daedalus, and Botton emigrated from Crete to the Italian peninsula and Macedonia. Presumably, the war within Crete necessitated an alliance with the Athenians.
3.4 Paying tribute to Crete
After the marriage of Theseus and Phaedra, tribute payments from Athens to Crete appear to have been discontinued.
In 1264 BC, the Athenians were defeated in battle against Minos and made peace by paying tribute every ninth year, seven young men and seven young women.
It is estimated that the third and last tribute was paid in 1246 BC.
3.5 Accession of King Athens
In 1239 BC, Aegeus died, and Theseus ascended the throne as the 10th King of Athens at the age of 24.
Theseus fought and won against Pandion's son Pallas and his sons.
Theseus' rise to power was probably due in large part to Anaphlystus and Sphettus, who had migrated with their father Aegeus from Troezen to Athens and established a town there, and who were paternal cousins of Theseus' mother Aethra.
3.6 Consolidation of the Twelve Towns
Theseus united the towns of Attica, which had previously been divided into 12 towns and were in constant strife, into one.
Strabon names 11 towns: Cecropia, Tetrapolis, Epacria, Deceleia, Eleusis, Aphidna, Thoricus, Brauron, Cytherus, Sphettus, and Cephisia. Another is presumed to be Anaphlystus, founded at the same time as Sphettus.
3.7 Protection of Heracleidae
In 1218 BC, Theseus accepted the children of Heracles, who had been driven out of Trachis, and sent them to live in Tricorythus in Attica.
One of Theseus' wives, Iope, was the sister of Iolaus, the protector of the children of Heracles, and Theseus and Iolaus were brothers-in-law.
In 1217 BC, Eurystheus led the Mycenaeans into Athens, where the Heracleidae lived, but Eurystheus and his sons were killed in battle.
3.8 Mediation between Argos and Thebes
In 1215 BC, Athens was not involved in Adrastus' attack on Thebes. However, at the request of Adrastus, who was defeated by the Thebans, Theseus sent a messenger to request permission from the Thebans to take back his dead.
The 4th century BC orator Isocrates tells us that Athens threatened Thebes.
Thebes was probably threatened by Athenians, who had defeated the army of Eurystheus of Mycenae, which at the time was a force that outnumbered the other towns.
3.9 The Battle with Menestheus
The consolidation of the 12 towns, carried out by Theseus, provoked a backlash from those who ruled each of them.
Menestheus, son of Peteos, son of Orneus, son of Erechtheus (Pandion), incited them.
When Menestheus had denounced the malcontents and was preparing to rebel against Theseus, Theseus went to the oracle that invoked the dead in Aornum in Thesprotis for his wife Phaedra, who had died not long before.
3.10 Uprising of Menestheus
Dioscuri from Lacedaemon appeared to Athens while Theseus was away to reclaim his sister Helen, and Menestheus rose up at the same time.
In 1210 BC, Theseus' two sons, Demophon and Acamas, fled to Elephenor, son of Chalcodon of Chalcis in Euboea.
It is reported that Theseus evacuated his sons, but they were adults and acted of their own volition.
Elephenor was the brother of Chalciope, wife of Aegeus. In other words, Elephenor was the brother of Theseus' mother-in-law.
3.11 Death of Theseus
In 1209 BC, Theseus returned to Athens from Thesprotis and, unable to control the animosity of the inhabitants, went to Scyros.
Theseus did not know that his sons had gone to Euboea; if Theseus had known that his sons had disappeared, he would have gone to Chalcis, not to Scyros.
Lycomedes, fearing that Theseus would stay and take his place, killed Theseus.
Or perhaps Lycomedes was in cahoots with Menestheus.
Lycomedes was the father of Deidamia, wife of Achilles, and grandfather of Neoptolemus.
Lycomedes was the grandson of Scyrius, the biological father of Aegeus, and presumably a cousin of Theseus.
