Editing Theseus (section)

==Birth and early years==
[[File:Laurent de la La Hyre 002.jpg|thumb|left|220px|upright=1.3|''Theseus and Aethra'', by [[Laurent de La Hyre]]]]
[[File:IG II2 971, Athenian decree for Telesias of Troizen (relief).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Theseus uncovers Aegeus' sword and sandals, relief sculpture on a decree of 140/39 BC]]
[[Aegeus]], one of the primordial [[kings of Athens]], was childless. Desiring an heir, he asked the [[Oracle of Delphi]] for advice. Her cryptic words were "Do not loosen the bulging mouth of the wineskin until you have reached the height of Athens, lest you die of grief." Aegeus did not understand the prophecy and was disappointed. He asked the advice of his host [[Pittheus]], king of [[Troezen]]. Pittheus understood the prophecy, got Aegeus drunk, and gave Aegeus his daughter [[Aethra (mother of Theseus)|Aethra]].<ref>Morford, Mark P. O., Robert J. Lenardon, and Michael Sham. 2014. ''Classical Mythology'' (10th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.</ref>

But following the instructions of [[Athena]] in a dream, Aethra left the sleeping Aegeus and waded across to the island of Sphairia that lay close to Troezen's shore. There, she poured a libation to Sphairos (Pelops's charioteer) and [[Poseidon]] and was possessed by the sea god in the night. The mix gave Theseus a combination of divine as well as mortal characteristics in his nature; such double paternity, with one immortal and one mortal, was a familiar feature of other [[Greek hero]]es. After Aethra became pregnant, Aegeus decided to return to Athens. Before leaving, however, he buried his sandals and sword under a huge rock<ref group="lower-roman">Rock "which had a hollow in it just large enough to receive these objects," Plutarch says.</ref> and told Aethra that when their son grew up, he should move the rock, if he were heroic enough, and take the tokens for himself as evidence of his royal parentage. In Athens, Aegeus was joined by [[Medea]], who had left [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]] after slaughtering the children she had borne to [[Jason]], and had taken Aegeus as her new consort.

Thus Theseus was raised in his mother's land. When Theseus grew up to be a young man, he moved the rock and recovered his father's tokens. His mother then told him the truth about his father's identity and that he must take the sword and sandals back to the king [[Aegeus]] to claim his birthright. To journey to Athens, Theseus could choose to go by sea (which was the safe way) or by land, following a dangerous path around the [[Saronic Gulf]], where he would encounter a string of six entrances to the [[Greek underworld|Underworld]],<ref group="lower-roman">Compared to [[Labours of Hercules|Hercules and his Labours]], "Theseus is occupied only with the sacred Entrances that are local to the lands of Athens" (Ruck and Staples 1994:204).</ref> each guarded by a [[chthonic]] enemy. Young, brave, and ambitious, Theseus decided to go alone by the land route and defeated many bandits along the way.