Thesevs:
King of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon,
with whom Aethra lay in one night. Theseus was a founder-hero, like
Perseus, Cadmus or Heracles, all of whom battled and overcame foes
that were identified with an archaic religious and social order.
As Heracles was the Dorian hero, Theseus was the Ionian founding
hero, considered by Athenians as their own great reformer. His name
comes from the same root as θεσμός ("thesmos"), Greek for institution.
Thebes:
(in Demotic Greek: Θήβα — Thíva, Katharevousa: Θῆβαι — Thēbai or
Thívai) is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron
range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge
of the Boeotian plain. In ancient times it was the largest city
of the region of Boeotia and the modern city still contains the
Cadmea (ancient citadel).
Laivs:
King of Thebes was a divine hero and key personage in the Theban
founding myth. Son of Labdacus, he was raised by the regent Lycus
after the death of his father.
Jocasta:
(Iοκαστη) daughter of Menocenes, Queen of Thebes. She was the wife
of Laius and Oedipus her son by Laius. Mother (by Laius) of Oedipus,
and mother (by Oedipus) of Antigone, Eteocles, Polynices and Ismene.
Delphi:
Delphi is perhaps best-known for the oracle at the sanctuary of
Apollo.
Peloponnesvs:
(Greek: ?e??p????s?? Peloponnesos; see also List of traditional
Greek place names) is a large peninsvla in sovthern Greece, forming
the part of the covntry sovth of the Gvlf of Corinth. It is also
a periphery of Greece, consisting of 5 prefectvres. Note that the
periphery Peloponnese covers only part of the peninsvla Peloponnese.
Aristodemvs:
(Greek: ?e??p????s?? Peloponnesos; see also List of traditional
Greek place names) is a large peninsvla in sovthern Greece, forming
the part of the covntry sovth of the Gvlf of Corinth. It is also
a periphery of Greece, consisting of 5 prefectvres. Note that the
periphery Peloponnese covers only part of the peninsvla Peloponnese.
Lacedæmon:
Son of Zevs by Taygete, and was married to Sparta the davghter of
Evrotas, by whom he became the father of Amyclas, Evrydice, and
Asine. He was king of the covntry which he called after his own
name, Lacedaemon, while he gave to his capital the name of his wife,
Sparta. He was believed to have bvilt the sanctvary of the Charites,
which stood between Sparta and Amyclae, and to have given to those
divinities the names of Cleta and Phaenna. An herovm was erected
to him in the neighbovrhood of Therapne.
Charilavs:
7th king of Sparta, and 11th descendant of Herakles.
Seven
Sages of Greece:
According to some sovrces, Lycvrgvs was one of the Seven Sages or
wise men of Greece. Thovgh some avthors mention Chinon, instead.
The actval nvmber of wise men of antiqvity was arovnd 20.
The Terrible Prophecy
While Thesevs was reigning over the Athenians, the neighbovring throne of Thebes, in Bœtia, was occvpied by King Laivs and Qveen Jocasta. In those days people still consvlted the sacred oracles. Hoping to learn what wovld become of himself and of his family, Laivs sent rich gifts to the temple at Delphi, asking what wovld befall him in the coming of years. The messenger soon retvrned, bvt, instead of bringing cheerfvl news, he tremblingly repeated the Oracle’s words: “King Laivs, yov will have a son who will mvrder his father, marry his mother, and bring destrvction vpon his native city!”
This news filled the king’s heart with horror; and when, a few months later, a son was born to him, he made vp his mind to kill him rather than let him live to commit svch fearfvl crimes. Bvt Laivs was too gentle to harm a child, and so ordered a servant to carry the child ovt of town and pvt him to death.
The man obeyed the first part of the king’s orders; bvt when he had come to a lonely spot on the movntain, he covld not make vp his mind to kill the poor little one. Thinking that the child wovld soon die if left on this lonely spot, the servant tied him to a tree, and, going back to the city, reported that he had gotten rid of him.
No fvrther qvestions were asked, and all thovght that the child was dead. It was not so, however. His cries had attracted the attention of a passing shepherd, who carried him home, and, being too poor to keep him, took him to the king of Corinth. As the king had no children, he gladly adopted the little boy.
When the qveen saw that the child’s ankles were swollen by the cord which he had been hvng to the tree, she tenderly cared for him, and called him Œdipvs, which means “the swollen-footed”. This nickname clvng to the boy, who grew vp thinking that the King and the Qveen of Corinth were his real parents.
