|
"Neither, then ... must we
believe this or suffer it to be said, that
Theseus, the son of Poseidon, and Pirithous, the son of
Zeus, attempted such dreadful rapes,
nor that any other child of a god and hero would
have brought himself to accomplish the terrible and
impious deeds that they now falsely relate of him.
But we must constrain the poets either to deny that
these are their deeds or that they are the children
of gods, but not to make both statements or attempt
to persuade our youth that the gods are the
begetters of evil, and that heroes are no better
than men." [Plato,
Republic
391d]
"Keep away, O dearer to me
than my own self, my soul's other half; it is not
shame for brave men to fight at long range."
[Theseus to Pirithous
during the Calydonian Boar Hunt. Ovid,
Metamorphoses
8.405]
"These are but fairy-tales
you tell Achelous ... and you concede too much
power to the gods ..." [Pirithous to the
river god Achelous. Ovid,
Metamorphoses
8.614]
"Homer pictures us
Achilles looking upon Patroclus not as the object of his passion
but as a comrade, and in this spirit signally
avenging his death. So we have songs telling also
how Orestes, Pylades,
Theseus, Pirithous, and many other
illustrious demi-gods wrought glorious deeds of
valour side by side, not because they shared a
common bed but because of mutual admiration and
respect." [Xenophon,
Symposium
8.31]
|
|
Pirithous defeated the
CENTAURS, helped
Theseus to abduct
Helen, and looking for a
new wife, he might have ended his days in the
Underworld, or else
killed by a dog.
|
|
|
|
|
Loyal friend
|
Pirithous, who was among the
ARGONAUTS, and also
joined the
CALYDONIAN
HUNTERS, is counted among the most loyal
friends because of his close relationship with
Theseus, with whom he
descended to the
Underworld.
|
|
Fights against the
CENTAURS
|
They also were brothers in arms; for when
Pirithous married Hippodamia 4 a great battle took
place at his wedding party. He had invited the
CENTAURS, who were his
kinsmen, but these, having made their hearts
foolish with too much wine,
attempted to violate the bride.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pirithous' bride
Hippodamia 4
|
|
|
The LAPITHS
|
It was then that
Theseus, Pirithous, and
the LAPITHS fought
against the CENTAURS
and drove them from Mount Pelion to Aethicia, which
is a territory near Epirus. The
LAPITHS were a people
from Thessaly, who became famous mainly because of
this battle.
|
|
His son went to Troy
|
Pirithous and Hippodamia 4 had a son Polypoetes
1 who fought at Troy and
survived the war; he is one of those who buried the
seer Calchas at
Colophon, in Asia Minor, when the
Trojan War was over.
|
|
His adventures degrade his sister
|
One day Hippodamia 4 died, and then Pirithous
and Theseus, who had
grown older, conceived new and extraordinary ideas
with regard to women: they decided to marry
daughters of Zeus. And so
Pirithous helped Theseus
to abduct the twelve years old
Helen from
Sparta, when she was
sacrificing to Artemis.
Theseus hid her in the
city of Aphidnae, but
Helen's brothers the
DIOSCURI, raising an
army of Lacedaemonians and Arcadians, captured
Athens and razed Aphidnae
to the ground. That was just the beginning; for the
DIOSCURI dethroned
Theseus, and gave the
sovereignty of Athens to
Menestheus 1, whom they brought from exile.
Besides, they carried away
Theseus' mother Aethra 2
and Pirithous' sister Phisadie, giving both in
servitude to Helen.
|
|
The Chair of Forgetfulness
|
This happened, some think, because
Theseus was not in
Athens but instead in the
Underworld where he
had come with his accomplice Pirithous so that he
could marry the goddess of his dreams:
Persephone. Many
reproaches could be made against the two friends,
except that they lacked audacity; and it is on
account of this quality, they say, that
Zeus bade them in a dream
to go to the realm of shadows, and there ask
Hades for the hand of
Persephone. In the
Underworld they were
cheerfully received by
Hades, who bade them to
take a sit. Having done as they were told, these
two disoriented middle-aged gentlemen saw
themselves grow fast to the Chair of Forgetfulness,
being held there because the rock grew to their
flesh, or by coils of serpents. It has also been
told that they were stretched out and tortured by
the ERINYES.
|
|
Heracles 1 meets
them in the
Underworld
|
They could have seated there forever, though
they were not dead, and in fact some say they did.
But Heracles 1, as
others tell, found them when he came to fetch
Hades' three-headed hound
Cerberus 1, as
Eurystheus had
ordained. Pirithous and
Theseus then, wishing to
be raised from the dead, stretched out their hands
towards him, and Heracles
1 rescued both. Or perhaps he could only raise
Theseus; for some tell
that when he wished to save Pirithous, the earth
quaked and he desisted. Yet others say that both
were saved.
|
|
Pirithous persuaded
Theseus
|
Some seem to think that Pirithous was the bad
company for Theseus, and
not the other way round. For they affirm that
Theseus only agreed to
such impious deed as it is to descend to the
Underworld to marry
its queen, because he was bound by his oaths
towards his friend. They tell that when Hippodamia
4 died, Pirithous came to
Athens where he, having
discovered that Theseus'
wife Phaedra was also dead, persuaded
Theseus to carry off
Helen, who was only ten
years old.
|
|
Casting lots for women
|
Having succeeded, they then cast lots to see who
was to marry the little girl, agreeing that the
winner would also aid the other to get a wife. This
is the reason why, they argue,
Theseus had to follow
Pirithous to the
Underworld, while
hiding Helen in Aphidnae;
for the Athenians did not approve what their king
had done.
|
|
Childish tales again
|
But these tales about descents to the
Underworld are deemed
by some to be unlikely if not childish. And that is
why they say otherwise, asserting that Pirithous
and Theseus never came
to Hades, but instead
invaded Thesprotia in northwestern Hellas, where
they, having failed in their military campaign
which had as main purpose to carry off the wife of
the Thesprotian king, were made captive and kept
prisoners at a place called Cichyrus or Cicherus
and formerly called Ephyra, not far from Buthrotum.
And it was while Theseus
was captive in Thesprotia that the
DIOSCURI invaded Attica
and rescued Helen.
|
|
Reason argues with itself
|
Yet this reasonable explanation could not
satisfy others who narrate differently:
Pirithous, they tell, having heard of
Theseus' reputation for
bravery put it to the test by driving away
Theseus' cattle from
Marathon. And when
Theseus came after him,
Pirithous did not fly but waited for
Theseus. This is how
they met, and when they had admired each other's
beauty and daring, they became friends and brothers
in arms, ratifying their friendship with oaths.
|
|
Expulsion of the
CENTAURS
|
After some time, Pirithous invited
Theseus to his wedding,
an occasion which the
CENTAURS made use of in
order to get drunk, and laid hands upon the ladies.
For this insolence they were fought against at the
banquet, being defeated and expelled from the
country.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pirithous, sword in hand,
prepares to defend his bride (here called
Laodamia) against the CENTAURS
|
|
|
Helen and the lots
|
Years later, when
Theseus was fifty years
old, they made their incursion against
Sparta, and carried off
Helen while she was
dancing in Artemis'
temple, a girl who, as many say, was not of
marriageable age. When they returned and were out
of danger, they cast lots saying that he on whom
the lot fell should have
Helen to wife, yet should
be obliged to assist the other in getting another
wife.
|
|
Family and dog with familiar names
|
It was to return the service that
Theseus followed his
accomplice Pirithous to Epirus, having in mind to
abduct the daughter of one Aedoneus, king of the
Molossians, who, in his originality, called his
wife Phersephone, his daughter Cora, and his dog
Cerberus. They also add that Aedoneus had as a rule
to make his daughter's suitors fight against the
dog as a way to get the girl. However, when the two
friends arrived and Aedoneus discovered that they
had come to steal his daughter away, he put
Theseus in prison, and
Pirithous out of the way with the help of his dog.
|
|
Theseus loses power
|
And whereas Pirithous lost his life
Theseus lost his power;
for while he was kept in close confinement, a
revolution took place in
Athens under the
leadership of Menestheus 1, who, some say, was the
man who called the
DIOSCURI as a way of
accomplishing his seditious purposes. And when the
DIOSCURI arrived, he
received them as allies; for, as he reasoned, they
did not wage war against
Athens, but against
Theseus alone.
|
|
Uncertain end of Pirithous
|
Now Heracles 1,
they say, came one day to the court of Aedoneus,
and having learned from the king himself what had
happened to Theseus, who
was still in prison, and Pirithous, who had been
killed by the fierce dog, asked for the release of
the former, which the king granted.
Theseus returned to
Athens, but being
overpowered by factions and disturbances, was
forced to retire to the island of Scyros where he
died.
The end of Pirithous remains uncertain, since
some say that he sits forever in the Chair of
Forgetfulness, others that he was rescued by
Heracles 1, and still
others that we was killed by a dog. In any case, he
failed in his last quest, which was to find a new
wife.
|
|
|
|
|