τὸν μὲν οὖν ἄλλον χρόνον ἔκρυπτεν Αἴθρα τὴν ἀληθινὴν τοῦ Θησέως γένεσιν· ἦν δὲ λόγος ὑπὸ τοῦ Πιτθέως διαδοθεὶς ὡς ἐκ Ποσειδῶνος τεκνωθείη. Ποσειδῶνα γὰρ Τροιζήνιοι σέβονται διαφερόντως, καὶ θεὸς οὗτός ἐστιν αὐτοῖς πολιοῦχος, ᾧ καὶ καρπῶν ἀπάρχονται καὶ τρίαιναν ἐπίσημον ἔχουσι τοῦ νομίσματος.
During the rest of the time, then, Aethra kept his true birth concealed from Theseus, and a report was spread abroad by Pittheus that he was begotten by Poseidon. For Poseidon is highly honored by the people of Troezen, and he is the patron god of their city; to him they offer first fruits in sacrifice, and they have his trident as an emblem on their coinage.
ἐπεὶ δὲ μειράκιον ὤν, ἅμα τῇ τοῦ σώματος ῥώμῃ διέφαινεν ἀλκὴν καὶ φρόνημα μετὰ νοῦ καὶ συνέσεως βέβαιον, οὕτως αὐτὸν ἡ Αἴθρα πρὸς τὴν πέτραν προσαγαγοῦσα, καὶ φράσασα περὶ τῆς γενέσεως τἀληθές, ἐκέλευσεν ὑφελεῖν τὰ πατρῷα σύμβολα καὶ πλεῖν εἰς Ἀθήνας.
But when, in his young manhood, Theseus displayed, along with his vigor of body, prowess also, and a firm spirit united with intelligence and sagacity, then Aethra brought him to the rock, told him the truth about his birth, and bade him take away his fathers tokens and go by sea to Athens.
ὁ δὲ τὴν μὲν πέτραν ὑπέδυ καὶ ῥᾳδίως ἀνέωσε, πλεῖν δὲ ἀπέγνω, καίπερ οὔσης ἀσφαλείας καὶ δεομένων τοῦ τε πάππου καὶ τῆς μητρός. χαλεπὸν γὰρ ἦν πεζῇ πορεύεσθαι τὴν εἰς Ἀθήνας ὁδόν, οὐδὲν μέρος καθαρὸν οὐδὲ ἀκίνδυνον ὑπὸ λῃστῶν καὶ κακούργων ἔχουσαν.
Theseus put his shoulder to the rock and easily raised it up, but he refused to make his journey by sea, although safety lay in that course, and his grandfather and his mother begged him to take it. For it was difficult to make the journey to Athens by land, since no part of it was clear nor yet without peril from robbers and miscreants.
ὁ γὰρ δὴ χρόνος ἐκεῖνος ἤνεγκεν ἀνθρώπους χειρῶν μὲν ἔργοις καὶ ποδῶν τάχεσι καὶ σωμάτων ῥώμαις, ὡς ἔοικεν, ὑπερφυεῖς καὶ ἀκαμάτους, πρὸς οὐδὲν δὲ τῇ φύσει χρωμένους ἐπιεικὲς οὐδὲ ὠφέλιμον, ἀλλʼ ὕβρει τε χαίροντας ὑπερηφάνῳ, καὶ ἀπολαύοντας τῆς δυνάμεως ὠμότητι καὶ πικρίᾳ, καὶ τῷ κρατεῖν τε καὶ βιάζεσθαι καὶ διαφθείρειν τὸ παραπῖπτον, αἰδῶ δὲ καὶ δικαιοσύνην καὶ τὸ ἴσον καὶ τὸ φιλάνθρωπον, ὡς ἀτολμίᾳ τοῦ ἀδικεῖν καὶ φόβῳ τοῦ ἀδικεῖσθαι τοὺς πολλοὺς ἐπαινοῦντας, οὐδὲν οἰομένους προσήκειν τοῖς πλέον ἔχειν δυναμένοις.
For verily that age produced men who, in work of hand and speed of foot and vigor of body, were extraordinary and indefatigable, but they applied their powers to nothing that was fitting or useful. Nay rather, they exulted in monstrous insolence, and reaped from their strength a harvest of cruelty and bitterness, mastering and forcing and destroying everything that came in their path. And as for reverence and righteousness, justice and humanity, they thought that most men praised these qualities for lack of courage to do wrong and for fear of being wronged, and considered them no concern of men who were strong enough to get the upper hand.
τούτων Ἡρακλῆς τοὺς μὲν ἐξέκοπτε καὶ ἀνῄρει περιϊών, οἱ δὲ λανθάνοντες ἐκείνου παριόντος ἔπτησσον καὶ ἀνεδύοντο καὶ παρημελοῦντο ταπεινὰ πράττοντες. ἐπεὶ δὲ Ἡρακλῆς ἐχρήσατο συμφορᾷ, καὶ κτείνας Ἴφιτον εἰς Λυδίαν ἀπῆρε καὶ συχνὸν ἐκεῖ χρόνον ἐδούλευε παρʼ Ὀμφάλῃ, δίκην τοῦ φόνου ταύτην ἐπιθεὶς αὑτῷ, τότε τὰ μὲν Λυδῶν πράγματα πολλὴν ἔσχεν εἰρήνην καὶ ἄδειαν· ἐν δὲ τοῖς περὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα τόποις αὖθις ἐξήνθησαν αἱ κακίαι καὶ ἀνερράγησαν, οὐδενὸς πιεζοῦντος οὐδὲ κατείργοντος.
Some of these creatures Heracles cut off and destroyed as he went about, but some escaped his notice as he passed by, crouching down and shrinking back, and were overlooked in their abjectness. And when Heracles met with calamity and, after the slaying of Iphitus, removed into Lydia and for a long time did slave’s service there in the house of Omphale, then Lydia indeed obtained great peace and security; but in the regions of Hellas the old villainies burst forth and broke out anew, there being none to rebuke and none to restrain them.
ἦν οὖν ὀλέθριος ἡ πορεία τοῖς Ἀθήναζε πεζῇ βαδίζουσιν ἐκ Πελοποννήσου· καὶ τῶν κακούργων ἕκαστον ἐξηγούμενος Πιτθεὺς ὁποῖος εἴη καὶ ὁποῖα δρῴη περὶ τοὺς ξένους, ἔπειθε τὸν Θησέα κομίζεσθαι διὰ θαλάττης. τὸν δὲ πάλαι μέν, ὡς ἔοικε, λεληθότως διέκαιεν ἡ δόξα τῆς Ἡρακλέους ἀρετῆς, καὶ πλεῖστον ἐκείνου λόγον εἶχε, καὶ προθυμότατος ἀκροατὴς ἐγίνετο τῶν διηγουμένων ἐκεῖνον οἷος εἴη, μάλιστα δὲ τῶν αὐτὸν ἑωρακότων καὶ πράττοντι καὶ λέγοντι προστετυχηκότων·
The journey was therefore a perilous one for travellers by land from Peloponnesus to Athens, and Pittheus, by describing each of the miscreants at length, what sort of a monster he was, and what deeds he wrought upon strangers, tried to persuade Theseus to make his journey by sea. But he, as it would seem, had long since been secretly fired by the glorious valor of Heracles, and made the greatest account of that hero, and was a most eager listener to those who told what manner of man he was, and above all to those who had seen him and been present at some deed or speech of his.
τότε δὲ παντάπασιν ἦν φανερὸς πεπονθὼς ὅπερ ὕστερον χρόνοις πολλοῖς Θεμιστοκλῆς ἔπαθε, καὶ εἶπεν ὡς καθεύδειν αὐτὸν οὐκ ἐῴη τὸ Μιλτιάδου τρόπαιον· οὕτως ἐκείνῳ τοῦ Ἡρακλέους θαυμάζοντι τὴν ἀρετήν, καὶ νύκτωρ ὄνειρος ἦσαν αἱ πράξεις, καὶ μεθʼ ἡμέραν ἐξῆγεν αὐτὸν ὁ ζῆλος καὶ ἀνηρέθιζε ταὐτὰ πράττειν διανοούμενον.
And it is altogether plain that he then experienced what Themistocles many generations afterwards experienced, when he said that he could not sleep for the trophy of Miltiades. In like manner Theseus admired the valor of Heracles, until by night his dreams were of the hero’s achievements, and by day his ardor led him along and spurred him on in his purpose to achieve the like.
ἐτύγχανον δὲ καὶ γένους κοινωνοῦντες ἐξ ἀνεψιῶν ὄντες. Αἴθρα μὲν γὰρ ἦν Πιτθέως θυγάτηρ, Ἀλκμήνη δὲ Λυσιδίκης, Λυσιδίκη δὲ καὶ Πιτθεὺς ἀδελφοὶ γεγονότες ἐξ Ἱπποδαμείας καὶ Πέλοπος. δεινὸν οὖν ἐποιεῖτο καὶ οὐκ ἀνεκτὸν ἐκεῖνον μὲν ἐπὶ τοὺς πανταχοῦ πονηροὺς βαδίζοντα καθαίρειν γῆν καὶ θάλατταν, αὐτὸν δὲ τοὺς ἐμποδὼν ἄθλους ἀποδιδράσκειν,
And besides, they were kinsmen, being sons of cousins-german. For Aethra was daughter of Pittheus, as Alcmene was of Lysidice, and Lysidice and Pittheus were brother and sister, children of Hippodameia and Pelops. Accordingly, he thought it a dreadful and unendurable thing that his famous cousin should go out against the wicked everywhere and purge land and sea of them, while he himself ran away from the struggles which lay in his path,
τὸν μὲν λόγῳ καὶ δόξῃ πατέρα καταισχύνων διὰ θαλάττης φυγῇ κομιζόμενος, τῷ δὲ ὄντι προσφέρων γνωρίσματα πέδιλα καὶ ξίφος ἀναίμακτον, οὐκ ἔργοις εὐθὺς ἀγαθοῖς καὶ πράξεσι παρέχων ἐμφανῆ χαρακτῆρα τῆς εὐγενείας. τοιούτῳ φρονήματι καὶ τοιούτοις λογισμοῖς ἐξώρμησεν, ὡς ἀδικήσων μὲν οὐδένα, τοὺς δὲ ὑπάρχοντας βίας ἀμυνούμενος.
disgracing his reputed father by journeying like a fugitive over the sea, and bringing to his real father as proofs of his birth only sandals and a sword unstained with blood, instead of at once offering noble deeds and achievements as the manifest mark of his noble birth. In such a spirit and with such thoughts he set out, determined to do no man any wrong, but to punish those who offered him violence.
καὶ πρῶτον μὲν ἐν τῇ Ἐπιδαυρίᾳ Περιφήτην, ὅπλῳ χρώμενον κορύνῃ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο Κορυνήτην ἐπικαλούμενον, ἁπτόμενον αὐτοῦ καὶ κωλύοντα προάγειν συμβαλὼν ἀπέκτεινεν· ἡσθεὶς δὲ τῇ κορύνῃ λαβὼν ὅπλον ἐποιήσατο καὶ διετέλει χρώμενος, ὥσπερ ὁ Ἡρακλῆς τῷ δέρματι τοῦ λέοντος. ἐκείνῳ μὲν οὖν ἐπίδειξις ἦν φορούμενον ἡλίκου τὸ μέγεθος θηρίου κρατήσειεν, οὗτος δὲ τὴν κορύνην ἐπεδείκνυεν ἡττημένην μὲν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ, μετʼ αὐτοῦ δὲ ἀήττητον οὖσαν.
And so in the first place, in Epidauria, when Periphetes, who used a club as his weapon and on this account was called Club-bearer, laid hold of him and tried to stop his progress, he grappled with him and slew him. And being pleased with the club, he took it and made it his weapon and continued to use it, just as Heracles did with the lion’s skin. That hero wore the skin to prove how great a wild beast he had mastered, and so Theseus carried the club to show that although it had been vanquished by him, in his own hands it was invincible.
ἐν δʼ Ἰσθμῷ Σίνιν τὸν πιτυοκάμπτην ᾧ τρόπῳ πολλοὺς ἀνῄρει, τούτῳ διέφθειρεν αὐτός, οὐ μεμελετηκὼς οὐδʼ εἰθισμένος, ἐπιδείξας δὲ τὴν ἀρετὴν ὅτι καί τέχνης περίεστι καὶ μελέτης ἁπάσης. ἦν δὲ τῷ Σίνιδι καλλίστη καὶ μεγίστη θυγάτηρ, ὄνομα Περιγούνη. ταύτην τοῦ πατρὸς ἀνῃρημένου φυγοῦσαν ἐζήτει περιϊὼν ὁ Θησεύς· ἡ δʼ εἰς τόπον ἀπελθοῦσα λόχμην ἔχοντα πολλὴν στοιβήν τε πλείστην καὶ ἀσφάραγον, ἀκάκως πάνυ καὶ παιδικῶς ὥσπερ αἰσθανομένων δεομένη προσεύχετο μεθʼ ὅρκων, ἂν σώσωσιν αὐτὴν καὶ ἀποκρύψωσι, μηδέποτε λυμανεῖσθαι μηδὲ καύσειν.
On the Isthmus, too, he slew Sinis the Pine-bender in the very manner in which many men had been destroyed by himself, and he did this without practice or even acquaintance with the monster’s device, but showing that valor is superior to all device and practice. Now Sinis had a very beautiful and stately daughter, named Perigune. This daughter took to flight when her father was killed, and Theseus went about in search of her. But she had gone off into a place which abounded greatly in shrubs and rushes and wild asparagus, and with exceeding innocence and childish simplicity was supplicating these plants, as if they understood her, and vowing that if they would hide and save her, she would never trample them down nor burn them.
ἀνακαλουμένου δὲ τοῦ Θησέως καὶ πίστιν διδόντος ὡς ἐπιμελήσεται καλῶς αὐτῆς καὶ οὐδὲν ἀδικήσει, προῆλθε· καὶ τῷ μὲν Θησεῖ συγγενομένη Μελάνιππον ἔτεκε, Δηϊονεῖ δὲ τῷ Εὐρύτου τοῦ Οἰχαλιέως ὕστερον συνῴκησε, Θησέως δόντος. ἐκ δὲ Μελανίππου τοῦ Θησέως γενόμενος Ἴωξος Ὀρνύτῳ τῆς εἰς Καρίαν ἀποικίας μετέσχεν· ὅθεν Ἰωξίδαις καὶ Ἰωξίσι πάτριον κατέστη μήτε ἄκανθαν ἀσφαράγου μήτε στοιβὴν καίειν, ἀλλὰ σέβεσθαι καὶ τιμᾶν.
When, however, Theseus called upon her and gave her a pledge that he would treat her honorably and do her no wrong, she came forth, and after consorting with Theseus, bore him Melanippus, and afterwards lived with Deioneus, son of Eurytus the Oechalian, to whom Theseus gave her. From Melanippus the son of Theseus, Ioxus was born, who took part with Ornytus in leading a colony into Caria whence it is ancestral usage with the Ioxids, men and women, not to burn either the asparagus-thorn or the rush, but to revere and honor them.
ἡ δὲ Κρομμυωνία σῦς, ἣν Φαιὰν προσωνόμαζον, οὐ φαῦλον ἦν θηρίον, ἀλλὰ μάχιμον καὶ χαλεπὸν κρατηθῆναι. ταύτην ὁδοῦ πάρεργον, ὡς μὴ δοκοίη πάντα πρὸς ἀνάγκην πονεῖν, ὑποστὰς ἀνεῖλε, καὶ ἅμα τῶν μὲν ἀνθρώπων τοῖς πονηροῖς ἀμυνόμενον οἰόμενος δεῖν τὸν ἀγαθὸν προσφέρεσθαι, τῶν δὲ θηρίων καὶ προεπιχειροῦντα τοῖς γενναίοις μάχεσθαι καὶ διακινδυνεύειν. ἔνιοι δέ φασι τὴν Φαιὰν λῃστρίδα γενέσθαι γυναῖκα φονικὴν καὶ ἀκόλαστον, αὐτόθι κατοικοῦσαν ἐν Κρομμυῶνι, σῦν δὲ ἐπονομασθεῖσαν διὰ τὸ ἦθος καὶ τὸν βίον εἶτα ὑπὸ Θησέως ἀποθανεῖν.
Now the Crommyonian sow, which they called Phaea, was no insignificant creature, but fierce and hard to master. This sow he went out of his way to encounter and slay, that he might not be thought to perform all his exploits under compulsion, and at the same time because he thought that while the brave man ought to attack villainous men only in self defence, he should seek occasion to risk his life in battle with the nobler beasts. However, some say that Phaea was a female robber, a woman of murderous and unbridled spirit, who dwelt in Crommyon, was called Sow because of her life and manners, and was afterwards slain by Theseus.
Σκείρωνα δὲ πρὸ τῆς Μεγαρικῆς ἀνεῖλε ῥίψας κατὰ τῶν πετρῶν, ὡς μὲν ὁ πολὺς λόγος λῃστεύοντα τοὺς παριόντας, ὡς δʼ ἔνιοι λέγουσιν ὕβρει καὶ τρυφῇ προτείνοντα τὼ πόδε τοῖς ξένοις καὶ κελεύοντα νίπτειν, εἶτα λακτίζοντα καὶ ἀπωθοῦντα νίπτοντας εἰς τὴν θάλατταν.
He also slew Sciron on the borders of Megara, by hurling him down the cliffs. Sciron robbed the passers by, according to the prevalent tradition; but as some say, he would insolently and wantonly thrust out his feet to strangers and bid them wash them, and then, while they were washing them, kick them off into the sea.
οἱ δὲ Μεγαρόθεν συγγραφεῖς, ὁμόσε τῇ φήμῃ βαδίζοντες καὶ τῷ πολλῷ χρόνῳ, κατὰ Σιμωνίδην, πολεμοῦντες, οὔτε ὑβριστὴν οὔτε λῃστὴν γεγονέναι τὸν Σκείρωνά φασιν, ἀλλὰ λῃστῶν μὲν κολαστήν, ἀγαθῶν δὲ καὶ δικαίων οἰκεῖον ἀνδρῶν καὶ φίλον. Αἰακόν τε γὰρ Ἑλλήνων ὁσιώτατον νομίζεσθαι, καὶ Κυχρέα τιμὰς θεῶν ἔχειν Ἀθήνησι τὸν Σαλαμίνιον, τὴν δὲ Πηλέως καὶ Τελαμῶνος ἀρετὴν ὑπʼ οὐδενὸς ἀγνοεῖσθαι.
Megarian writers, however, taking issue with current report, and, as Simonides expresses it, waging war with antiquity, say that Sciron was neither a violent man nor a robber, but a chastiser of robbers, and a kinsman and friend of good and just men. For Aeacus, they say, is regarded as the most righteous of Hellenes, and Cychreus the Salaminian has divine honors at Athens, and the virtues of Peleus and Telamon are known to all men.
Σκείρωνα τοίνυν Κυχρέως μὲν γενέσθαι γαμβρόν, Αἰακοῦ δὲ πενθερόν, Πηλέως δὲ καὶ Τελαμῶνος πάππον, ἐξ Ἐνδηίδος γεγονότων τῆς Σκείρωνος καὶ Χαρικλοῦς θυγατρός. οὔκουν εἰκὸς εἶναι τῷ κακίστῳ τοὺς ἀρίστους εἰς κοινωνίαν γένους ἐλθεῖν, τὰ μέγιστα καὶ τιμιώτατα λαμβάνοντας καὶ διδόντας. ἀλλὰ Θησέα φασὶν οὐχ ὅτε τὸ πρῶτον ἐβάδιζεν εἰς Ἀθήνας, ἀλλʼ ὕστερον Ἐλευσῖνά τε λαβεῖν Μεγαρέων ἐχόντων, παρακρουσάμενον Διοκλέα τὸν ἄρχοντα, καὶ Σκείρωνα ἀποκτεῖναι. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἔχει τοιαύτας ἀντιλογίας.
Well, then, Sciron was a son-in-law of Cychreus, father-in-law of Aeacus, and grandfather of Peleus and Telamon, who were the sons of Endeis, daughter of Sciron and Chariclo. It is not likely, then, they say, that the best of men made family alliances with the basest, receiving and giving the greatest and most valuable pledges. It was not, they say, when Theseus first journeyed to Athens, but afterwards, that he captured Eleusis from the Megarians, having circumvented Diocles its ruler, and slew Sciron. Such, then, are the contradictions in which these matters are involved.
ἐν δὲ Ἐλευσῖνι Κερκύονα τὸν ἐξ Ἀρκαδίας καταπαλαίσας ἀνεῖλε· καὶ μικρὸν προελθὼν Δαμάστην ἐν Ἐρινεῷ τὸν Προκρούστην, ἀναγκάσας αὑτὸν ἀπισοῦν τοῖς κλιντῆρσιν ὥσπερ τοὺς ξένους ἐκεῖνος. ἔπραττε δὲ ταῦτα μιμούμενος τὸν Ἡρακλέα. καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος οἷς ἐπεβουλεύετο τρόποις ἀμυνόμενος τοὺς προεπιχειροῦντας, ἔθυσε τὸν Βούσιριν καὶ κατεπάλαισε τὸν Ἀνταῖον καὶ τὸν Κύκνον κατεμονομάχησε καὶ τὸν Τέρμερον συρρήξας τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀπέκτεινεν.
In Eleusis, moreover, he out-wrestled Cercyon the Arcadian and killed him and going on a little farther, at Erineus, he killed Damastes, surnamed Procrustes, by compelling him to make his own body fit his bed, as he had been wont to do with those of strangers. And he did this in imitation of Heracles. For that hero punished those who offered him violence in the manner in which they had plotted to serve him, and therefore sacrificed Busiris, wrestled Antaeus to death, slew Cycnus in single combat, and killed Termerus by dashing in his skull.
ἀφʼ οὗ δὴ καὶ τὸ Τερμέρειον κακὸν ὀνομασθῆναι λέγουσι· παίων γάρ, ὡς ἔοικε, τῇ κεφαλῇ τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας ὁ Τέρμερος ἀπώλλυεν. οὕτω δὴ καὶ Θησεὺς κολάζων τοὺς πονηροὺς ἐπεξῆλθεν, οἷς μὲν ἐβιάζοντο τοὺς ἄλλους, ὑπʼ ἐκείνου καταβιαζομένους, ἐν δὲ τοῖς τρόποις τῆς ἑαυτῶν ἀδικίας τὰ δίκαια πάσχοντας.
It is from him, indeed, as they say, that the name Termerian mischief comes, for Termerus, as it would seem, used to kill those who encountered him by dashing his head against theirs. Thus Theseus also went on his way chastising the wicked, who were visited with the same violence from him which they were visiting upon others, and suffered justice after the manner of their own injustice.
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