Aegeus ( / ˈ iː dʒ i . ə s / , / ˈ iː dʒ uː s / ; Ancient Greek : Αἰγεύς , romanized : Aigeús ) was one of the kings of Athens in Greek mythology , who gave his name to the Aegean Sea , was the father of Theseus , and founded Athenian institutions.
66-469: Aegeus was the son of Pandion II , king of Athens and Pylia , daughter of King Pylas of Megara and thus, brother to Pallas , Nysus , Lykos and the wife of Sciron . But, in some accounts, he was regarded as the son of Scyrius or Phemius and was not of the stock of the Erechtheids , since he was only an adopted son of Pandion. Aegeus' first wife was Meta , daughter of Hoples and his second wife
132-510: A brave young man. He managed to move the rock and took his father's weapons. His mother then told him the identity of his father and that he should take the weapons back to him at Athens and be acknowledged. Theseus decided to go to Athens and had the choice of going by sea, which was the safe way, or by land, following a dangerous path with thieves and bandits all the way. Young, brave and ambitious, Theseus decided to go to Athens by land. When Theseus arrived, he did not reveal his true identity. He
198-742: A hero shrine at Megara at the Bluff of Athene the Diver-bird. After this death, his other sons returned to Athens and drove out the sons of Metion , putting Aegeus on the throne. Either Pandion II or Pandion I was usually identified with Pandion , the eponymous hero of the Attic tribe Pandionis. This article relating to Greek mythology is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Medea In Greek mythology , Medea ( / m ɪ ˈ d iː ə / ; Ancient Greek : Μήδεια , romanized : Mḗdeia ; lit. ' planner, schemer ' )
264-640: A later invention in order to fill a gap in the mythical history of Athens. Pausanias calls this Pandion the father of Procne and Philomela , usually considered to be the daughters of Pandion I . Pandion was exiled from Athens by the sons of his uncle Metion who sought to put Metion on the throne. Pandion fled to Megara where he married Pylia, daughter of King Pylas. Later, Pylas went into voluntary exile to Messenia , because he had killed his uncle, Bias . Pylas then arranged for his son-in-law to be king of Megara. Pylia bore Pandion his four sons. When Pandion died at Megara, Nisos succeeded him as king. He had
330-459: A monument for them while traveling in Corinth. Fleeing from Jason, Medea made her way to Thebes , where she healed Heracles (the former Argonaut) from the curse of Hera (that led him to slay his sons). After the murder of her children, Medea fled to Athens , where she met and married Aegeus . They had one son, Medus . Another version from Hesiod makes Medus the son of Jason. Her domestic bliss
396-434: A myth states that Medea ended a famine in Corinth by sacrificing to Demeter and the nymphs . Zeus then desired her, but she declined his advances in order not to incur Hera 's wrath. As a reward, Hera offered to make her children immortal. In Corinth, Jason abandoned Medea for the king, Creon 's daughter, Glauce . Before the fifth century BCE, there seem to have been two variants of the myth's conclusion. According to
462-465: A pot. Unfortunately, the King never came to life. Having killed Pelias, Jason and Medea fled to Corinth . While in Corinth, the couple were married and lived together for 10 years. They had between one and fourteen children depending on the source. The known children are sons Alcimenes , Thessalus , Tisander , Mermeros and Pheres , Medus , and Argos, and a daughter, Eriopis . As well as having children,
528-507: A princess of Corinth, where Jason loses Hera's favor and gains Medea's wrath. King Creon tells Medea that she has twenty-four hours to leave, and if she doesn't she'll be killed. Jason comes to scold Medea and she in turn accuses him of denying his oath to the gods. Despite her previous crimes, Medea seems to have the approval of the gods. Next Medea resolves her time to kill Glauce with a potion that causes her to catch fire. Her father Creon dies also when he in grief hugs his daughter and dies from
594-405: A young woman who is desperately in love with Jason. So much in love that she decides to defy her father and kill her brother in order to help him. James J. Clauss writes about this Medea, attempting to unearth another version of this character for scholarship and discussion. He looks into different passages in the original text to define the meaning and draw connection to the different feelings Medea
660-477: A young, mortal woman who is directly influenced by the Greek gods Hera and Aphrodite. While she possesses magical abilities, she is still a mortal with divine ancestry. Other accounts, like Euripides's play Medea , focus on her mortality. Hesiod's Theogony places her marriage to Jason on the list of marriages between mortals and divine, suggesting that she is predominantly divine. She also has connections with Hecate ,
726-783: Is best known from Euripides 's tragedy Medea and Apollonius of Rhodes 's epic Argonautica . As a daughter of King Aeëtes she is a mythical granddaughter of the sun god Helios and a niece of Circe , an enchantress goddess. Her mother might have been Idyia . She plays the archetypal role of helper-maiden, aiding Jason in his search for the Golden Fleece. In said quest, she uses her magic to save his life and kills her brother to allow Jason to escape. Once he finishes his quest, she abandons her native home of Colchis and flees westwards with Jason, where they eventually settle in Corinth and marry. Euripides's 5th-century BC tragedy Medea depicts
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#1733106727739792-554: Is exiled from Corinth by King Creon, and is offered refuge in Athens by King Aegeus after she offers to help him get an heir with her magic. In revenge against Jason, Medea murders her own sons and Jason's new bride, King Creon's daughter, with a poisoned crown and robes, so that Jason will be without heir and legacy for the rest of his life. What happens afterwards varies according to several accounts. Herodotus in his Histories mentions that she ended up leaving Athens and settling in
858-684: Is first introduced in Greek Mythology after Jason came from Iolcus to Colchis in an attempt to claim his inheritance and throne by retrieving the Golden Fleece . In the most complete surviving account, the Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes, Hera convinced Aphrodite or Eros to cast a spell on Medea so that she would fall in love with Jason and promise her skills to help him. She does promise her skills, but only if he agreed to marry her. Jason agreed, knowing Medea and her powers would help him in
924-659: Is his son and throws the drink away. Medea is forced to leave with Medus, where they return to Colchis where Medus eventually claims the title of king. Medea sits in an odd position where though she kills many people, she never seems to face any divine consequence from it. Perhaps her actions are in keeping with the favor of the gods. True or not, Medea is framed as a curiously nuanced figure, something rare for women in Greek Mythology. In his book The Happiness Hypothesis , social psychologist Jonathan Haidt quotes Medea talking about her struggle between her love to Jason and obligation to her father, as an example for "The divided Self" and
990-541: Is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis . In the myth of Jason and the Argonauts , she aids Jason in his search for the Golden Fleece . Medea later marries him, but eventually kills their children and his other bride according to some versions of her story. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress and is often depicted as a priestess of the goddess Hecate . She first appears in Hesiod 's Theogony around 700 BCE, but
1056-713: The Iranian plateau among the Aryans , who subsequently changed their name to the Medes . Medea is a direct descendant of the sun god Helios (son of the Titan Hyperion ) through her father King Aeëtes of Colchis. According to Hesiod ( Theogony 956–962), Helios and the Oceanid Perseis produced two children, Circe and Aeëtes . Aeëtes then married the Oceanid Idyia and Medea
1122-550: The Medes . Recounting the many variations of Medea's story, the 1st century BCE historian Diodorus Siculus wrote, "Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvelous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out." In Euripides's play Medea, she is a woman scorned, rejected by her husband Jason and revenge seeking. Deborah Boedeker writes about different images and symbolism Euripides used in his play to evoke responses from his original Athenian audience. The Nurse, one of
1188-674: The Panathenaic Games . Out of envy, Aegeus sent him to conquer the Marathonian Bull , which killed him. Minos was angry and declared war on Athens. He offered the Athenians peace, however, under the condition that Athens would send seven young men and seven young women every nine years to Crete to be fed to the Minotaur , a vicious monster. This continued until Theseus killed the Minotaur with
1254-457: The Athenian audience. Griffiths also acknowledges the paradox of the methods Medea uses to kill. She poisons the princess, which would have been seen as a feminine way of murder, yet kills her children in cold blood, which is seen as more masculine. Medea is also shown as a 'normal' Athenian mother by having a dialogue about her children and showing a strong maternal love and connection to them. Yet at
1320-468: The Cretan Idomeneus as the judge, who declared Thetis to be the most beautiful. In her anger, Medea called all Cretans liars, and cursed them to never say the truth. Jason, celebrating his return with the Golden Fleece, noted that his father Aeson was too aged and infirm to participate in the celebrations. Medea understood the impact this had on Jason and was able to invigorate him by withdrawing
1386-532: The blood from Aeson's body, infused it with certain herbs, and returning it to his veins. The daughters of King Pelias saw this and asked Medea to perform the same service on their father. Medea agreed. However, the service was never performed. Hera , who was angry at Pelias, conspired to make Jason fall in love with Medea, who, Hera hoped, would kill Pelias. Hera's plan worked, and the pair fell in love with each other. When they returned to Iolcus, Pelias refused to give up his throne to Jason. Jason had been promised
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#17331067277391452-473: The burial of the dead, prophesies the future," and "announces the foundation of a cult." This deliberate murder of her children by Medea appears to be Euripides's invention, although some scholars believe Neophron created this alternate tradition. Her filicide would go on to become the standard for later writers. Pausanias , writing in the late 2nd century CE, records five different versions of what happened to Medea's children after reporting that he has seen
1518-441: The characters, gives descriptions of Medea in the prologue, highlighting comparisons to great forces of nature and different animals. There are also many nautical references throughout the play either used by other characters when describing Medea or by Medea herself. By including these references, Boedeker argues that these comparisons were used to create connections to the type of woman Medea was. She holds great power (referred to by
1584-484: The chronographer Castor of Rhodes (probably from the late third-century Eratosthenes ) and the Bibliotheca . He was preceded by Cecrops I , Cranaus , Amphictyon , Erichthonius , Pandion I , Erechtheus , and Cecrops II , and succeeded by Aegeus and Theseus . Castor gives his reign as 25 years (1307/6–1282/1). Originally there may have been a single Pandion, and either Pandion I or Pandion II may have been
1650-507: The comparisons to forces of nature), she relies on her basic animal-like instincts and emotions (connections to different animals like bulls and lions), and it draws the audience back to her original myth of Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece and the sea voyage taken by Jason, Medea, and the Argonauts. Emma Griffiths also adds to the analysis of Medea's character in Euripides's play by discussing
1716-486: The cup from Medea's hand, Aegeus embraced Theseus as his own. Medea returned to Colchis and found that Aeëtes had been deposed by his brother Perses , which prompted her to kill her uncle and restore the kingdom to her father. Herodotus reports another version, in which Medea and her son Medus fled from Athens, on her flying chariot. They landed in the Iranian plateau and lived among the Aryans , who then changed their name to
1782-415: The deaths of both the princess and the king, Creon , when he went to save his daughter. Medea then continued her revenge, murdering two of her children herself and refusing to allow Jason to hold the bodies. Afterward, she left Corinth and flew to Athens in a golden chariot driven by dragons sent by her grandfather, Helios, god of the sun. Although Jason in Euripides calls Medea most hateful to gods and men,
1848-470: The deed. This is one of the times we see Medea use her powers. During the fight, Atalanta , someone helping Jason in his quest, was seriously wounded. Medea was able to use her powers to heal the wound. On the way back to Thessaly , Medea prophesied that Euphemus , the helmsman of Jason's ship, the Argo , would one day rule over all of Libya . Pindar alleges that this came true through Battus , saying that he
1914-423: The end of the play, she is able to kill her children as part of her revenge. It is through these opposites that Euripides creates a complicated character for his protagonist. Marianne McDonald argues that "Medea's anger turns to violent action, which can make her into a symbol of freedom, and emblem for the colonized turning the tables on the colonizer. Euripides, more than all other tragedians, has predicted many of
1980-418: The ending of her union with Jason, when after ten years of marriage, Jason intends to abandon her to wed King Creon 's daughter Creusa . Jason argues that their sons will have a better future in the city if he marries the King's daughter and his sons stay in the same city with him. He claims the sacred vows he has with Medea can be broken because she is a foreigner, which makes their marriage illegitimate. Medea
2046-548: The fact that the chariot is given to her by Helios indicates that she has the Gods on her side. As Bernard Knox points out, Medea's last scene parallels that of a number of indisputably divine beings in other plays by Euripides. Just like these gods, Medea "interrupts and puts a stop to the violent action of the human being on the lower level" and "justifies her savage revenge on the grounds that she has been treated with disrespect and mockery" so that she "takes measures and gives orders for
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2112-409: The field, Jason had to sow the teeth of a dragon . This task seemed to be fairly simple, but Medea forewarned him that the teeth would spring into soldiers. To combat this, she told him to throw a rock into the crowd to cause confusion among the soldiers. The soldiers, now confused, would then begin to attack and kill each other instead of Jason. For the last task, Aeëtes assigned Jason to fight and kill
2178-466: The goddess of magic, which could be one of the main sources from which she draws her magical ties. Although distinct from the Titan known as Perses , who is known for fathering Hecate , the goddess of witchcraft, Diodorus Siculus in his Bibliotheca historica made Perses of Colchis the father of Hecate by an unknown mother; Perses' brother Aeëtes then married Hecate and had Medea and Circe by her. Medea
2244-535: The help of Ariadne , Minos' daughter. After his adventures in Crete, Theseus returned by ship to Athens. His father, Aegeus previously had asked him to hang a white sail as a sign that Theseus is alive, but Theseus neglected this request. When Aegeus saw Theseus' ships without a white sail, he assumed the worst and threw himself in his grief into the sea, named after him the Aegean Sea. In Troezen, Theseus grew up and became
2310-499: The help of Thetis. To convince the sea nymph, Hera told Thetis of her deep love and affection for her, as she never gave in to Zeus' advances, no matter how strongly he felt towards the nymph. Hera also calls unto Thetis' motherly love for her son Achilles, to protect Medea, his future beloved, stating that the day will come when, in the Elysian Fields, "it is fated that he wed Medea, Aeëtes' daughter, there." In some versions, Medea
2376-425: The horrors that occur in the modern world, showing both the glory and the monstrosity of the oppressed turned oppressor." Although not the first depiction of Medea, the Argonautica by Apollonios Rhodios gives a fuller description of events that lead up to Euripides's play, mainly surrounding Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece. In this literary work, Medea is presented not as a powerful woman seeking justice, but as
2442-427: The long run. In a familiar mythic motif, Jason is promised the Golden Fleece through Aeëtes, but only if Jason could complete a list of tasks. The first harrowing task was ploughing a field with fire-breathing oxen that Jason had to yoke himself. To aid him in this, Medea gave him an unguent , called the "Charm of Prometheus", to anoint himself and his weapons, to protect them from the bulls' fiery breath. After ploughing
2508-402: The male/female dichotomy created by Euripides. Medea does not fit into the mold of a "normal woman" according to Athenian philosophy. She is depicted as having great intelligence and skill, traits typically viewed as masculine by Euripides's original audience. On the other hand, she uses her intelligence to manipulate the men around her. This manipulation would have been a negative female trait to
2574-605: The nail, or was killed by Poeas 's arrow. In the Argonautica , Medea hypnotized him from the Argo , driving him mad so that he dislodged the nail, ichor flowed from the wound, and he bled to death. After Talos died, the Argo landed. At some point while in Thessaly, Medea and the Nereid , Thetis (the future mother of Achilles ), argued over which one was the most beautiful. They appointed
2640-448: The number of children, Medea eventually leaves Jason in Corinth, and marries the King of Athens ( Aegeus ) and bears him a son. While with him, it is questioned if that was when she had her son Medeius, who goes on to become the ancestor of the Medes by conquering their lands. Understanding Medea's genealogy helps define her divinity. By some accounts, like the Argonautica , she is depicted as
2706-426: The oracle were "Do not loosen the bulging mouth of the wineskin until you have reached the height of Athens, lest you die of grief." Aegeus did not understand the prophecy and was disappointed. This puzzling oracle forced Aegeus to visit Pittheus , king of Troezen , who was famous for his wisdom and skill at expounding oracles. Pittheus understood the prophecy and introduced Aegeus to his daughter, Aethra , when Aegeus
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2772-541: The others stop at her aunt Circe's island, Aeaea , to be absolved of the crime. When they return to Iolcus, in Thessaly, Medea convinces Pelias's daughters to kill their father with trickery. After this, they are, technically, an accessory to a murder—and Pelias corrupt supporters amongst Iolcus's noble class in his own usurpation of his half-brother's throne unite to block Jason's claim to his father's throne to protect their own status—so they're forced to leave. They go to Corinth, where Jason proceeds to court and marry Glauce,
2838-489: The poet Eumelus , to whom the fragmentary epic Korinthiaka is usually attributed, Medea killed her children by accident. She buried them alive in the Temple of Hera, believing this would make them immortal. The poet Creophylus , however, blamed their murders on the citizens of Corinth. According to Euripides 's version , Medea took her revenge by sending Glauce a dress and golden coronet, covered in poison. This resulted in
2904-461: The same poison. Medea proceeds to kill her and Jason's children as well, and before Jason can stop her, she is escorted away on a flying chariot sent by her grandfather, Helios. Later, Medea marries King Aegeus and the two produce a son named Medus. When Theseus returns in an attempt to prove he is Aegeus's son, Medea recognizes that he will be the heir to the throne rather than Medus, and convinces Aegeus to poison Theseus's drink. Aegeus realizes Theseus
2970-466: The shorelands, assigning to him as the eldest the best portion of this land; then to Lycus he assigns Euboea's garden that lies side by side therewith; and for Nisus he selects the neighboring land of Sceiron's shore; and the southerly part of the land fell to this rugged Pallas, breeder of giants. Later on, Lycus was driven from the territory by Aegeus himself, and had to seek refuge in Arene, Messenia which
3036-483: The sleepless dragon that guarded the fleece. Medea aided Jason in this task by putting the beast to sleep with her narcotic herbs. Once the dragon was asleep, Jason then took the fleece and sailed away with Medea as promised. Medea distracted her father as they fled by killing her brother Absyrtus . Knowing that the Argonaut's journey back home would be just as perilous and deadly without divine intervention, Hera requested
3102-451: The sons of Metion who seized the throne. After the death of Pandion, now king of Megara, Aegeus in conjunction with his three brothers successfully attacked Athens, took control over the government and expelled the usurpers, the Metionids. Then, they divide the power among themselves but Aegeus obtained the sovereignty of Attica , succeeding Pandion to the throne. It has been said that Megara
3168-440: The story, like she is in Euripides's Medea , this version of Medea is reduced to a supporting role. Her main purpose is to help the hero with his quest. Jason would never have been successful on his quest without Medea's help, something that is pointed out and referenced many times in ancient texts and contemporary scholarly work. Other, non-literary traditions guided the vase-painters, and a localized, chthonic presence of Medea
3234-416: The throne in turn for the Golden Fleece. So, Medea conspired to have Pelias's own daughters kill him. She demonstrated her powers to them by showing her cutting up an old ram and putting the pieces in stew. Once the pieces were in, Medea added some magic herbs and stirred the concoction, a young ram suddenly jumping out of the stew. Excited at the sight, the girls cut their father into pieces and threw him into
3300-511: The traveller Pausanias was informed in the second-century CE that the cult of Aphrodite Urania above the Kerameikos was so ancient that it had been established by Aegeus, whose sisters were barren, and he still childless himself. There was a heroon of Aigeus in Athens, called Aigeion (Αἰγεῖον). Pandion II In Greek mythology , Pandion II ( / ˈ p æ n d i ə n / or / ˈ p æ n d i ɒ n / ; Ancient Greek : Πανδίων)
3366-636: The two differing accounts, it is known that Medea has a sister and a brother. As she becomes older, Medea marries Jason and together they have children. The number and names of their children are questioned by scholars. Depending on the account, it is two to fourteen children. In his play, Medea , Euripides mentions two unnamed sons. According to other accounts, her children were " Mermerus , Pheres or Thessalus, Alcimenes and Tisander, and according to others, she had seven sons and seven daughters, while others mention only two children, Medus (some call him Polyxenus ) and Eriopis , or one son Argos ." No matter
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#17331067277393432-564: The wrath of Jason . Aegeus and Medea had one son named Medus . When Theseus grew up, he found his father's belongings left for him and went to Athens to claim his birthright. Aegeus recognized him as his son by his sword, shield, and sandals. Medea, Aegeus' wife perceived Theseus to be a threat for her children's inheritance and first tried to discredit and then to poison Theseus. When Aegeus discovered these schemes, he drove Medea out of Athens. While visiting in Athens, King Minos ' son, Androgeus managed to defeat Aegeus in every contest during
3498-539: Was Chalciope , daughter of Rhexenor , neither of whom bore him any children. He was also credited to be the father of Medus by the witch Medea . In a rare account, Pallas was also said to be the son of Aegeus. The latter was also said to fathered Megareus , eponymous founder of Megara . Aegeides (Αἰγείδης), was a patronymic from Aegeus and especially used to designate Theseus. Aegeus was born in Megara where his father Pandion had settled after being expelled from Athens by
3564-404: Was a distant descendant of Euphemus (by 17 generations). After the prophecy, the Argo reached the island of Crete , guarded by the bronze man, Talos (Talus). Talos had one vein which went from his neck to his ankle, bound shut by a single bronze nail. According to Apollodorus, Talos was slain either when Medea drove him mad with drugs, deceived him that she would make him immortal by removing
3630-399: Was a legendary King of Athens , the son and heir of King Cecrops II and his wife Metiadusa , daughter of Eupalamus . Pandion was the father of Aegeus , Pallas , Nisos , Lycus and the wife of Sciron by Pylia , daughter of King Pylas of Megara . Pandion II was the eighth king of Athens in the traditional line of succession as given by the third century BC Parian Chronicle ,
3696-407: Was at the time a part of Attica, and that Nisus received his part when he became king of that city. Lycus became king of Euboea whereas Pallas received the southern part of the territory. Aegeus, being the eldest of the brothers, received what they all regarded as the best part: Athens. The division of the land was explained further in the following text by the geographer Strabo : ... when Attica
3762-601: Was divided into four parts, Nisus obtained Megaris as his portion and founded Nisaea . Now, according to Philochorus , his rule extended from the Isthmus to the Pythium, but according to Andron , only as far as Eleusis and the Thriasian Plain . Although different writers have stated the division into four parts in different ways, it suffices to take the following from Sophocles : Aegeus says that his father ordered him to depart to
3828-496: Was drunk. They lay with each other, and then in some versions, Aethra waded to the island of Sphairia (a.k.a. Calauria) and bedded Poseidon. When Aethra became pregnant, Aegeus decided to return to Athens. Before leaving, he buried his sandal, shield, and sword under a huge rock and told her that, when their son grew up, he should move the rock and bring the weapons to his father, who would acknowledge him. Upon his return to Athens, Aegeus married Medea , who had fled from Corinth and
3894-401: Was going through. He argues the feelings of Medea's initial love for Jason, the shame she feels for loving him and for going against her family, and final agreement to help Jason in his quest. Multiple scholars have discussed Medea's use as a "helper maiden" to Jason's quest. A helper maid is typically a young woman who helps on a hero's quest, usually out of love. Instead of being the center of
3960-524: Was once again shattered by the arrival of Aegeus's long-lost son, Theseus . Determined to preserve her own son's inheritance, Medea convinced her husband that Theseus was an imposter, making him a threat and that he needed to be disposed of. To do this, Medea was planning on poisoning him as she previously had other victims. As Medea handed Theseus a cup of poison, Aegeus recognized the young man's sword as his own, which he had left behind many years previously for his newborn son as soon as he came of age. Knocking
4026-498: Was propitiated with unrecorded emotional overtones at Corinth, at the sanctuary devoted to her slain children, or locally venerated elsewhere as a foundress of cities. A mortal with divine ancestry—Medea is the granddaughter of Helios—she seems to kill without consequence, suggesting that she acts as an agent of divine force (similar to Nemesis ) and is immune from vengeance that typically comes to mortals who commit injustice: After Medea kills her brother, Absyrtus, she, Jason, and
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#17331067277394092-429: Was ruled by King Aphareus . Pallas and his fifty sons revolted at a later time, being crushed by Aegeus' son Theseus. Still without a male heir with his previous marriages, Aegeus asked the oracle at Delphi for advice. According to Pausanias , Aegeus ascribed this misfortune to the anger of Aphrodite and in order to conciliate her introduced her worship as Aphrodite Urania (Heavenly) in Athens. The cryptic words of
4158-424: Was said to have dismembered her brother's body and scattered his parts on an island, knowing her father would stop to retrieve them for proper burial; in other versions, it was Absyrtus himself who pursued them and was killed by Jason. However, in the Argonautica , Medea and Jason stopped on her aunt Circe 's private isle of Aiaia so that she could be cleansed after murdering her brother, relieving her of blame for
4224-612: Was successful in killing the Minotaur. However, when Theseus returned, he forgot these instructions. When Aegeus saw the black sails coming into Athens, mistaken in his belief that his son had been slain, he killed himself by jumping from a height: according to some, from the Acropolis or another unnamed rock; according to some Latin authors, into the sea which was therefore known as the Aegean Sea. Sophocles' tragedy Aegeus has been lost, but Aegeus features in Euripides ' Medea . At Athens,
4290-447: Was their child. From here, Medea's family tree becomes a little more complicated and disputed. By some accounts , Aeëtes and Idyia only had two daughters, Medea and Chalciope (or Chalkiope). There was one son, Absyrtus (or Apsyrtus), who was the son of Aeëtes through Asterodea. This would make him a half-brother to Medea herself. According to others, Idyia gave birth to Medea and Apsyrtus while Asterodea gave birth to Chalciope. Even with
4356-570: Was welcomed by Aegeus, who was suspicious about the stranger who came to Athens. Medea tried to have Theseus killed by encouraging Aegeus to ask him to capture the Marathonian Bull, but Theseus succeeded. She tried to poison him, but at the last second, Aegeus recognized his son and knocked the poisoned cup out of Theseus' hand. Father and son were thus reunited, and Medea was sent away to Asia . Theseus departed for Crete. Upon his departure, Aegeus told him to put up white sails when returning if he
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