Heroes: Volume II of Mythos

U NDER THE R OCK Theseus did not feel that he was stronger this birthday than last. The palace guards joked with him that he was now tall enough to be one of their number if he chose. His beard sometimes needed trimming. It was darker than his hair, which was an unusual russety kind of red. He had hated that when he was young, but he was used to it by now. A girl he liked had told him it was attractive. Otherwise he was the same old Theseus. But this time the rock shifted! It really moved. Theseus could have sworn it was not the same rock, but that was nonsense. Perhaps he was not the same Theseus. He braced, dug in his feet and pushed further. With almost comical ease the rock turned one whole revolution towards the edge of the path, then another. ‘Shall I let it roll down the hill?’ ‘No, you can leave it just where it is.’ His mother was smiling. ‘It’s now exactly where it was before your father rolled it to the place it has stood for the last eighteen years.’ ‘But what does it all mean?’ ‘Have a dig in the ground and see if you can find anything.’ The grass was white where the boulder had rested on it all those years. Theseus scrabbled at the earth until his fingers found something and he came up with a pair of sandals, one of which was a little perished or had perhaps been chewed by beetles. ‘Great,’ he said. ‘Just what I wanted for my birthday. Some old leather sandals.’ ‘Keep digging,’ his mother said, smiling. He dug deeper and his fingers closed around something cold and metallic. He pulled up a sword, which gleamed like silver. ‘Whose is this?’ ‘It was your father’s, but now it’s yours.’ ‘Who was he?’ ‘Sit down on the bank and I will tell you.’ Aethra patted the grass. ‘Your father was and is King AEGEUS of Athens.’ ‘Athens!’ ‘He married twice, but neither union was blessed with children. He wanted a son and so he visited the oracle at Delphi. You know how strange her pronouncements can be. This was one of the strangest of all. Aegeus must not loosen the bulging mouth of the wineskin until he has reached the heights of Athens, or he will die of grief. ‘What does that mean?’ ‘Exactly. Now Aegeus happened to be a close friend of my father, good King Pittheus.’ ‘Grandfather?’ ‘Your grandpapa, exactly. So Aegeus went out of his way to stop by here in Troezen while travelling back from Delphi to see if perhaps Pittheus might be able to interpret the words of the oracle for him.’ ‘And could he?’ ‘Well now, Theseus, here you have to admire your grandfather’s cunning. He did understand the prophecy. He understood it perfectly. “The bulging mouth of the wineskin” meant, so far as he could see, Aegeus’s … manhood, let us say. So the prophecy was saying to Aegeus, “Don’t … er … conjoin with any woman until you return to Athens.” ’ ‘Conjoin? That’s a new one.’ ‘Shush. Now, Pittheus thought it might be rather wonderful for me, his daughter, to carry a child by a king of such a great city as Athens. It would allow the baby – you as it turned out – to be king of a united Athens and Troezen. So grandfather pretended he thought the prophecy meant that Aegeus should abstain from drinking wine until he got home to Athens. He then called for me and told me to show Aegeus round the palace and gardens. One thing led to another. We found ourselves in my bedchambers and …’ ‘… I was conceived,’ said a stunned Theseus. ‘Yes, but there’s more,’ sad Aethra, crimson with embarrassment. She had always known this day would come and had rehearsed her telling Theseus the story of his birth many times, but now that the day had come the words seemed to stick in her throat. ‘More?’ ‘That night, after Aegeus, your father, had … had …’ ‘… had loosened his bulging wineskin?’ ‘Yes, that. He rolled off and fell asleep. I couldn’t sleep, though. I went to the spring, the one down there dedicated to Poseidon, to cleanse myself and think. My father had sent me to sleep with a stranger so that he could play at politics. I was angry, but I had found to my surprise I liked Aegeus. He was kindly, manly and … exciting.’ ‘Mother, please …’ ‘But when I washed myself in the waters of the spring, who do you think arose from the pool?’ ‘Who?’ ‘The god Poseidon.’ ‘What?’ ‘And he … he took me too.’ ‘He … he … he …?’ ‘It’s not funny, Theseus …’ ‘I’m not laughing, mother. Believe me, I am not laughing. I’m just trying to understand. Don’t tell me Poseidon loosened his bulging wineskin?’ ‘I swear to you, it’s all true. The very same night that I slept with Aegeus, Poseidon took me too.’ ‘So which one is my father?’ ‘Both, I am quite sure of it. I returned to Aegeus’s bed, and when he awoke in the morning he embraced me and apologised. He was married, you see, so he could hardly take me back to Athens with him. We left the bedchamber before anyone else was awake and he brought me up to this place. He buried his sword and his sandals just there, and rolled the rock over the place. “If our union of last night bears fruit and a boy child is born to you, let him move the rock when he is man enough and tell him who he is. Then he may come to Athens and claim his birthright.” ’ As you can easily imagine, Theseus was thunderstruck by the news. His mother’s teasing over the years had convinced him that the idea that his mysterious father was a king or god was nothing but childish fantasy. ‘So grandpapa knew the prophecy meant that Aegeus, my father, would have a son the next time he … he had sex? And he decided you should be the mother?’ ‘That’s right.’ ‘But the prophecy said Aegeus should not loosen his bulging wineskin – where do these oracles get their metaphors from? – before he got to Athens, or he would die of grief.’ ‘Well, yes …’ ‘But he did loosen it before he got to Athens. Has he since died of grief?’ ‘Well, no, he hasn’t,’ Aethra conceded. ‘Oracles!’ They talked and talked until the evening star had risen. Mother and son wound their way home, Theseus swishing the sword at the long grass. When they arrived at the palace, Aethra sought for them an immediate interview with King Pittheus. ‘So, my boy. Now you know your history. A son of Troezen and a son of Athens. Think what this will mean for the Peloponnese! We can unite our fleets and rule Attica. Corinth will be furious. And Sparta! Ha, won’t they spit with envy! Now, what to do first? We’ll equip a ship for you as soon as possible to sail over to Piraeus – tomorrow! why not? – and you can get yourself up to the Athenian court and make yourself known to old Aegeus. He’ll be so tickled! You know he married Jason’s widow, don’t you – Medea of Colchis? Terrifying woman by all accounts fn4. A sorceress and murderer of her own close kin. I’ll hunt out a present for you, a little treasure of some kind you can give them both with my regards. Oh, that was a good night’s work. What a good night’s work that was.’ Pittheus embraced his daughter and punched his grandson playfully on the arm. Theseus had other ideas. He went to his room and wrapped his few possessions in a handkerchief. A Prince of Troezen arriving by ship, holding some jewelled trinket and waving a silver sword with a ‘Hello, daddy, it’s me!’ – how heroic was that? Not heroic at all. Would Heracles have presented himself like that, like an spoiled princeling? Never. Theseus knew that when he entered Athens he should enter as a hero – and he thought he had an idea how that could be achieved. There were only two ways to get to Athens from Troezen. By sea, across the waters of the Saronic Gulf, or by foot, walking around its coastline. The latter was a long and arduous journey, but more than that, it was notoriously dangerous. Some of the most brutal and merciless outlaws, robbers and murderers in all of Greece lay in wait there. Naturally it was the route any self-respecting hero would take. If Theseus arrived in Athens having rid the highway of its legendary brigands, now that would be something … Theseus put on his father’s old sandals, buckled the sword to his belt, wrapped his few other possessions and slipped out. A few moments later he was back. He scribbled a note to his mother and grandfather and left it on the bed. ‘Didn’t like the idea of a sea voyage. Thought I’d go on foot. Love, Theseus.’