Pittheus
King of Troezen. Pittheus was the son of Pelops and Hippodaemia. He was the brother of Troezen, Atreus, Thyestes, Alcathous, and several sisters.
Originally the kingdom of Troezen was two separate towns, Hypereia and Antheia, when Pittheus and Troezen settled on the land. When Troezen died, Pittheus combined the two towns together and renamed the city after his brother.
Pittheus was the father of Aethra. At first, Aethra was due to marry Bellerophon, son of Glaucus, king of Corinth, but the hero was banished from Corinth for murder. Pittheus had to seek a new suitor for his daughter. It was at this time that Aegeus, king of Athens, arrived in Troezen.
Aegeus had just come from Delphi, where he was told to go to Troezen, where he would gain a son to rule after him. Pittheus warmly received his royal guest and heard of Aegeus' oracle. Pittheus realised that his own daughter would be the mother of this son that the oracle had mentioned, and got Aegeus drunk so he would sleep in Pittheus' daughter's room.
That night, Poseidon visited Aethra who conceived a new child while Aegeus was still passed out from excessive consumption of wine. When Aegeus found out that Aethra was pregnant, the king thought he would be the father. Before Aegeus left and returned to Athens, he left his sword, his ring and a pair of sandals under a large rock. Aegeus told Aethra to only send his son to Athens when he could remove these items from under the rock.
Aethra gave birth to a son whom she named Theseus. Theseus' real father was therefore Poseidon, not Aegeus. Pittheus raised his grandson in Troezen until he was old enough to remove Aegeus' sword.
When Theseus later abducted Helen, daughter of Zeus and Leda, the hero brought the girl to Troezen and put her in the care of his mother. However, Castor and Polydeuces (Dioscuri), the brothers of Helen, rescued their sister and took Aethra as a slave of Helen.
Theseus returned to Troezen, in exile from Athens. Troezen was the scene for Euripides' play, Hippolytus. Hippolytus was the son of Theseus and the Amazon Antiope, and he was meant to rule after Pittheus, but Hippolytus was mortally wounded by Theseus' curse.
There was no myth about Pittheus' death, but the kingdom was absorbed into either that of Agamemnon in Mycenae or that of Diomedes in Argos.
Related Information
Name
Pittheus, Πιτθεύς.
Troezen, Τροιζήν.
Sources
Library and Epitome were written by Apollodorus.
Theseus was written by Plutarch.
Medea was written by Euripides.
Related Articles
Pelops, Hippodaemia, Aethra, Aegeus, Theseus, Hippolytus, Helen, Castor and Polydeuces (Dioscuri), Bellerophon, Glaucus.
By Jimmy Joe
