Medea and the sword

Theseus finally reached Athens the following mourning. It was the larges city he had ever seen. He insistently when to his fathers castle and found that he had wed Medea. She was a sorceress and a matriarchal symbol. She had allied with Theseus' father and wanted to kill Theseus by putting poison into his wine. She had allied with Theseus father who invited him to a feast. At the feast just as theseus was about to drink the wine his father recognises him because he carried his sword, flung the poison wine from his hands as it was about to reach his lips and recign9sed chis son causing Medea to leave Athens carried off by dragons in a chariot. The alliance was wed by a divine blood cup that Theseus would have drank if it were not for the sword that represented his father's sword. This authority unified Athens and the rightful throne to Theseus.

more on this next week.

the big and the small of it

Persues followed the road to Athens once more. On the road he saw a house and decided to seek refuge for the night from its owner. When he knocked on the door "Welcome young man. Come in, you look tired. My name is Procustes. I have a magic bed for you to stay the night on. It is exactly six feet long, but can fit anyone, be they short or tall." said Procustes upon opening the door. Theseus had heard of Procustes and his magic bed. It was said that the bed fit one six foot and if you were shorter in stature he tore you apart tieing your arms and legs and pulling you apart. If one was taller he would chop your legs off. If you were six foot he just killed you. Theseus knowing this threw Procustes onto said bed the moment he saw it and chopped off his legs and to make sure he was not in pain cut off his head. The magic bed represents the bed of his alliance that unified a people. If you were greater and stronger, taller in sature he would cut you down to size and kill you. If you were weaker and smaller he would tear or break you apart killing you. I you were the same which was rare he would kill you. Usually one was either stronger or weaker in comparison to his people. As Procustes represented a people larger than the people Theseus represented he chopped Procustes legs off. Thus Theseus became the measure or authority of these people, or the six foot man and Procustes the larger person that did not fit the alliance or bed. Theseus did this by taking his head or authority representing it and unifying this people using the same authority represented by Procustes.

Ham, making bavon goddess style

North of Isthmus, Theseus is said to have killed a sow named Pjaea or the Crommyonian sow. Apollodorus described Crommyonian sow as an offspring of Typhon and Echidna.

"THE HUS KROMMYON (or Crommyonian Sow) was monstrous wild pig which terrorized the countryside around Krommyon on the Korinthian Isthmus. It was the pet of an old hag named Phaia ("the Grey").

Both the boar and its mistress were slain by Theseus when the hero was travelling the road from Troizenos to Athens clearing the thoroughfare of its assorted bandits and miscreants.

The boar is quite common in Athenian vase painting depicting the Labours of Theseus."

http://www.theoi.com/Ther/HusKrommyon.html
one notices that is some tales the sow is called Phaea while in truth the pigs owner is called Phaea. In fact the sow is the owner, the Hag is the sow.

Theseus against the Crommyonian sow

In a place north of Isthmus, called Crommyon, Theseus killed an enormous pig, the Crommyonian sow.

?The Crommyonian sow, which they called Phaea, was a savage and formidable wild beast, by no means an enemy to be despised. Theseus killed her, going out of his way on purpose to meet and engage her, so that he might not seem to perform all his great exploits out of mere necessity ; being also of opinion that it was the part of a brave man to chastise villainous and wicked men when attacked by them, but to seek out and overcome the more noble wild beasts. Others relate that Phaea was a woman, a robber full of cruelty and lust, that lived in Crommyon, and had the name of Sow given her from the foulness of her life and manners, and afterwards was killed by Theseus, Plutarch Theseus"http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythology/CrommyonianSow.html

I will let you think about this feat as it is not like the other bandits that were met on the road to Athens, yet it was. The Phaea grey? Celtic, like Circe? Matriarchal society made up of male companions who were like Ulysses men- pigs- in front of Circe? The first bandits representing their people were patriarchal and did not resemble the stories of Ulysses as does the Pheae story, Thea, these Phaea.( Goddess) The title grey refers to druidic or wicca, witch or a Goddess religions.

Bending over pine rod merge birth

Theseus walked down the road further and encountered Sinis who looked a lot like Sciron. This resemblance portrays the fact that Sinis' people like Sciron used older technologies. Many of their weapons were made of wood including their catapult. Sinus was found near Isthmian the land he represented. He was a giant and considered the son of Poseidon. Sinis was nicknamed pine bender as the use of pine, for weapons for instance and even executions. In Greek Pityocamptes (Πιτυοκάμπτης = "pine-bender"). When Theseus approached he bend a pine down and asked him to hold it down, Often Sinis was said to bend the pine in such a manner and by asking travelers to hold down the bent tree he would let go catapulting the victim into the air. Thus, the strength of these people that allowed them to maintain or even have their authority was tested by the travelers, everyone was weaker than Sinis and his peo0ple and it was not till Theseus came along that someone equaled his strength. Sinis' rod of authority was the pine tree, using the same technic Theseus held the tree down and when Sinis bent over to examine the tree , or authority iota represented , to see if he had broken it to allow Theseus to prove himself as strong utilising the same tech and authority Theseus let go catapulting Sinis. This metaphor represents the complaints Sinis had as some of his people did that something must be wrong with their systems that allowed Theseus to use their tech and authority as they do proving himself as equal. This challenge led to Theseus using this authority which was not broken to dispose of Sinis and merge his people with the Greeks Theseus represented.
It was said sometimes Sinis tied people to two trees letting go tearing the victim apart. However this was an after thought based on the metaphor that Theseus tied Sinis being knocked out by the tree he held down, tied his legs to one pine and his arms to another tearing him apart after letting go of them. This represents and further reinforces the conflict over the system that tears Sinis; people apart allowing Theseus to conquer their hearts using their own symbol of authority and merge them with his people, see two trees of the same authority tore him into pieces or splintered them.

After killing Sinis it is said “Theseus then raped Sinis' daughter, Perigune, who later bore Theseus' son, Melanippus. She later married Deioneus of Oechalia. According to Pausanias Sinis' pine was still alive and known during his times." http://wiki.ask.com/Sinis_%28mythology%29?qsrc=3044

Melanippus means something like Melado and thus is the child of the merge of Theseus' people and Sinis' people. In Greek Theseus used via or authority to cause the wedding and birth, he did not rape her as by force of strength but by the strength of the authority that allowed the merge. The word rape would have been the word used by those splintered against Sinis. In other words it was the use of the authority that led to this union Sinis daughter later married another king: Deioneus of Oechalia. Thus Theseus wedding to Sinis daughter was either short or unofficial as many would call such a sexual union by via not temple blessing. More to the point some would call the child illegitamate since it was a union not endorsed by all of Sinis' people but rather based on the force of the authority Theseus usurped by proving himself as strong as any of Sinis' people. However the sex was conceptual.

Twigs cutting giant axe style

Theseus continued down the road to his throne in Athens and then encountered Sciron who claimed these hills were his. thus he was the leader of those hills. He told Theseus that if he did not wash his feet he would chop his head off with his battle axe. In Christianity the washing of another feet is a humbling task that often servants do. Theseus in subservience knelt down to wash the giants feet. While doing so he noticed a turtle laying below the cliff. He recalled the story that the giant would kick those washing his feet down the cliff to be eaten by the carnivorous turtle. Once the giant began to kick Theseus, he moved away and jerked the giant down the cliff to be eaten by the turtle. Here Sciron uses a battle axe, he is described as huge and thus his authority is a product strength and old technology. His power was pure brute strength unlike the power of new tech like brass that he insulted as a twig or small and not brutish by strength alone. The giant would force subservience and mistreat people and cause them to be devoured by the old slow society and brutish authority. Using the brutish strength and the subservience to get close to the people of this society to devour the giant and consequently unify the people of these hills. Thus using the same ancient brutish authority represent by the turtle and the giant holding the huge battle axe, Theseus was able to overcome and ally with the people as the symbol strong than the giant as both servant and equal leader. He as Hegel would say as a servant the ancient Greeks represented by Theseus and captured the heart of the hill people and used their culture represented by the turtle that is symbolic of an old and slowly moving or changing society and prove himself as cunning and stronger holding the twig or brass rod to be able to prove his Greeks equals and strong enough to ally as equal with these people. Actually he proved himself strong and more cunning than the brute strength of the older weapons and technologies.

Welcome to the club

Periphetes the Corynetes is often called the clubber. He is said to have roamed the roads between Athens to Troezen. He was a son of Hephaestus and Anticleia. "Like his father, he was lame in one leg with only one eye as a Cyclopes would have." http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/The_Myths/Theseus_Adventures/theseus_adventures.html This connotation links the clubber with the Cyclops found in the Odyssey. In one tail Theseus kills the clubber by throwing a bolder at him. In another tradition he uses his brass rod to kill him. The bolder is symbolic of the authority Theseus gained from the arms and sandals of his father. It was what hid them but also the test of competence and thus the ability to hold said authority. The lands between Troezen and Athens were called Corynetes. Thus in the first tale it’s the authority of his father and mother that allows Theseus to conquer Corynetes, In the second case Theseus fools the clubber into giving him his rod and authority, which he uses to conquer Corynetes.

"I am Periphetes the cudgel man and I'm going to bash you're head with this club," he said. "That's a mighty fine club you have there," replied Theseus.

"Pure brass."

"I bet it isn't."

"Yes it is."

"It's just wood wrapped in brass."

"Here, look at it to make sure."

Periphetes handed the club to Theseus. Theseus knocked Periphetes in the side of the head with it. "Not bad," thought Theseus, "not bad at all. I think I'll keep this." http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/The_Myths/Theseus_Adventures/theseus_adventures.html

In both stories Theseus takes and uses the brass rod as his weapon and is often symbolised as holding it. Thus this brass rod becomes the symbol of his authority and inclusively his military might. It was not his fathers sword that became the symbol of his authority and might, but his unity with the clubber who would “bash his enemies into the earth" or conquer them making them his vassals The clubber is the son of Hephaestus, who is the Greek god of technology and fire. The club is made of brass and this new metal alloy in those times made it superior to the copper sword of King Aegeus of Athens. In other word the clubber had gain authority by way of the use of brass and this unity between Theseus and the clubbers people created the alliance that began Theseus age of a unified free ancient Greek people. The metaphor of the rod is both to reflect the authority of the people who have strength by way of their technology, like Hephaestus the ruler who reflects them or heroes is a spitting image of the god who represents the edge pf technology and metal working. The trick is that Theseus gained the technological upgrade of the Corynetes and with an equal strength and their authority as an ally people Theseus added these people to the alliance forged by way of the authority of his father and mother and the Medea, the corythean allied through Theseus' father.
If one merges the story of Theseus said above one realises that fooling or better yet gaining without real foolingthe clubber meant gaining the peoples technology and trust till technological equality caused them to ally under Theseus. the technological upgrade once made now represented Theseus' people’s authority or the bolder of his father, the very authority that allowed Theseus to do what he did, while the other story focuses on the use of the authority gained by the use of brass. Both end with the Corynetes’ brass rod of authority being representative of the authority and might of Theseus, who represents the new rise of the unity of a free ancient Greece, a freedom symbolised by the end of the minion control over Athens, but that is for later.

Theseus' birthright

Theseus' birthright

It was said that Theseus ,mother had swam through the sea to an island called Sphairia where she lay with Poseidon through her husband to sire Theseus through the unity of god and mortal. The great stone was placed on this and under it the sword and sanded. Theseus' father added this to the instructions to his wife concerning his son, when he is old enough to wield them and hero enough to move the stone was he to take his fathers role and be a greater hero than he. Only when he was ready to be the hero bestowed into his DNA through the union of god and mortal would said rock be moved and only if Theseus was truly as he was to be. The items are said in many versions of the myth to be symbols of the royal lineage, legacy and bestowal. His mother returned to Athens in one version and later was in exile in Troezen. It was said that Theseus was brought up in his mother's lands thus Troezen was in the lands under her lineages control. "At Athens, Aegeus was joined by Medea, who had fled Corinth after slaughtering the children she had borne Jason, and had taken up a new consort in Aegeus. Priestess and consort together represented the old order at Athens." http://wiki.ask.com/Theseus If you notice the old authority of Greece made up of Athens and Corinth united. It is after the sacrifice of the children born of the union with Jason as the new alliance was fleeing from the old pack and subsuming the new young into a newer union through Athens. this ios a crucial point for understanding the environment that led to the necessity of Theseus and the politics that entails said environment.

lastly to understand the symbolic real authority bestowed in the sandals and sword one must remember that Theseus' "mother then told him the truth about his father's identity and that he must take the weapons back to the king and claim his birthright." so these symbols where the means to becoming king of Athens and exercising the right of the use of thier authority.

While you are thinking about the first bandit Periphetes, Theseus encountered recall that they were symbolised by a club/

Sandals shoes to walk in

Theseus was brought up in a town called Troezen. When he was of age he fulfilled his fathers wishes and remove the stone from where his fathers sword and sandals were hidden. We spoke about the sword but what do the sandals represent? A shoe is a sandal, one walks in the shoes of another, so Theseus would be walking in the shoes of his father the king. Upon retrieving said items Theseus was to go to Athens. The instructions was to go to Athens with his fathers sword or military authority and his sandals, as him in his shoes, as the king or being the king. The sandal represents the things one where that interact with the ground one walks on, in his case the ground his father governed. It seems as his father with his authority over the land by way of his sandals and the authority to his military might he had to go to Athens to complete the destiny being the wielder of both must do to fulfill this all.

What does Periphetes represent as he is the first person Theseus encounters on the way to Athens?