CLA 2323 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Soltyrei, Hubris, Athenian Democracy
10 Dec 2017
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Theseus attacks the minotaur in the labyrinth, in a painted scene on an athenian cup of about 510 b. c. The monster"s use of a rock as weapon identifies him as an enemy of civilization (by ancient greek artistic convention): Plutarch"s life of theseus (circa 100 a. d. ) Also euripides" suppliant women (circa 422 b. c. ) and heracles insane (circa 414 b. c. Theseus is the only substantial athenian hero of greek mythology. Without doubt, the long, busy theseus myth that we inherit is partly a product of athenian government propaganda and myth-making in the 500s . By the mid-400s b. c. , under its statesman pericles, athens was the richest and most powerful. Greek city and a suitably great mythical hero had to be (partly) fabricated. In other words, certain parts of the theseus myth are genuinely old, but other parts seem to have been added later, as the centuries passed. The source for much of the latter layer would have been the public relations.
