Source Verification: Aegeus
Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.
What the Sources Attest
Why did King Aegeus believe his son was dead?
Because Theseus came home under the wrong sail. Before the voyage to Crete, Aegeus told his son to replace the ship's black sail with a white one if he returned alive. Apollodorus says Theseus, grieving for Ariadne, forgot the signal. Plutarch says the joy of the homecoming made both Theseus and his pilot forget. Seeing the black sail approach, Aegeus concluded that the Minotaur had killed his son. Plutarch also cites Simonides, for whom the signal of safety was a scarlet sail rather than a white one.
Source: Apollodorus, Epitome 1.7-1.10
What did King Aegeus do?
Aegeus ruled Athens after he and his brothers expelled the Metionids, who had driven out their father Pandion. Childless, he consulted the Delphic oracle and fathered Theseus on Aethra at Troezen. Apollodorus holds him responsible for the death of Minos's son Androgeus, sent against the bull of Marathon, which led to Minos's war and the tribute of youths for the Minotaur. He later married Medea and almost poisoned Theseus before recognising him by his sword. He died believing Theseus had been killed in Crete.
Source: Apollodorus, Library 3.15.6-3.15.7
Who was the father of Theseus?
The ancient sources give two fathers, and several keep both. Apollodorus says Aegeus lay with Aethra at Troezen and that Poseidon had her the same night. Hyginus adds that Poseidon gave up the child to Aegeus. In practice Aegeus is the father who counts on earth: he leaves the sword and sandals, recognises Theseus by the sword, and names him his heir. Poseidon's claim explains the divine favour Theseus enjoys at sea in other parts of his story.
Source: Apollodorus, Library 3.15.7
What does an Aegeus do in Medea?
In Euripides's Medea, Aegeus arrives in Corinth on his way home from the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, where he asked how he might have children. Medea tells him Jason has abandoned her and that Creon is banishing her. She begs for refuge and promises that her drugs will end his childlessness. Aegeus agrees to shelter her if she reaches Athens on her own. At her insistence, he swears by Earth, the Sun and all the gods never to hand her over.
Source: Euripides, Medea 663-756
Where Accounts Differ
- where Aegeus leapt to his death
- whether Aegeus or Poseidon fathered Theseus
- whether Aegeus was a true son of Pandion
- how Androgeus died
- the colour of the agreed sail
- How and where Aegeus died differs by source. Apollodorus (Epitome 1.10) has him watch from the Acropolis and cast himself down, Pausanias (1.22.4-1.22.5) places the leap beside the temple of Wingless Victory, Plutarch (Theseus 22) says he threw himself from the rock, and Catullus (64) has him fling himself from the citadel's height. Only Hyginus's Fabulae sends him into the sea and derives the name of the Aegean from him.
- Theseus's paternity is double. Apollodorus (Library 3.15.7) has Poseidon lie with Aethra on the same night as Aegeus, and Hyginus says Poseidon ceded the child to Aegeus. Apollodorus (Library 3.16.1) still calls Theseus the son Aethra bore to Aegeus.
- Aegeus's own descent is disputed. Apollodorus (Library 3.15.5) makes him a son of Pandion but records that some called him a son of Scyrius whom Pandion passed off as his own. In Plutarch (Theseus 13), the sons of Pallas call him only an adopted son of Pandion.
- Apollodorus (Library 3.15.7) gives two deaths for Androgeus: killed by the bull of Marathon after Aegeus sent him against it, or ambushed by jealous competitors on the way to games at Thebes. Only the first makes Aegeus responsible.
- Plutarch (Theseus 17) records that Simonides made the agreed signal of safety a scarlet sail, not a white one.
- Plutarch is cited from the Dryden-Clough translation held in the site's source library, with chapter numbers checked against Bernadotte Perrin's Loeb translation.
Sources
- Apollodorus, Library 3.15.5
- Apollodorus, Library 3.15.6-3.15.7
- Apollodorus, Library 3.15.7
- Apollodorus, Library 3.15.7-3.15.8
- Apollodorus, Library 3.16.1
- Apollodorus, Library 2.5.7
- Apollodorus, Epitome 1.5-1.6
- Apollodorus, Epitome 1.7-1.10
- Euripides, Medea 663-756
- Plutarch, Life of Theseus 3
- Plutarch, Life of Theseus 12
- Plutarch, Life of Theseus 13
- Plutarch, Life of Theseus 17
- Plutarch, Life of Theseus 22
- Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.5.2-1.5.4
- Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.22.4-1.22.5
- Catullus, Carmina 64.212-245
- Hyginus, Fabulae