The birth and upbringing of Theseus
Son Pandion, Aegeus, ruled in Athens after he and his brothers expelled their relatives from Attica, the sons of Metion, who seized power by right. For a long time, Aegeus ruled happily. The only thing that saddened him was that he had no children. Finally, Aegeus went to the oracle of Apollo in Delphi and there asked the radiant god why the gods did not send him children. The Oracle gave Aegeus an unclear answer. He thought for a long time, trying to unravel the innermost meaning of the answer, but could not unravel it. Finally, Egey decided to go to the city Troisen to the wise king of Argolis Pitfei, so that he would solve the mystery of Apollo's answer to him. Pitfey immediately guessed the meaning of the answer. He realized that Aegeus must have a son who would be the greatest hero of Athens. Pitfei wanted the honor of being the birthplace of the great hero to belong to Troisen. He therefore gave his daughter to Aegeus as a wife Efru. And so Ephra, when she became the wife of Aegeus, had a son, but it was the son of God Poseidon, not Aegeus. The newborn was given a name Theseus. Shortly after the birth of Theseus, King Aegeus had to leave Troisena and return to Athens. Leaving, Aegeus took his sword and sandals, put them under a rock in the mountains near Troisena and said to Efre:
- When my son Theseus is able to move this rock and get my sword and sandals, then send him with them to me in Athens. I recognize him by my sword and sandals.
Until the age of sixteen, Theseus was brought up in the house of his grandfather Pitfei. Pitfey, famous for his wisdom, took care of his grandson's upbringing and was happy to see that his grandson surpassed his peers in everything. But now Theseus was sixteen years old; even then no one could match him either in strength, or in dexterity, or in the ability to wield weapons. Theseus was beautiful: tall, slender, with a clear look of beautiful eyes, dark curls that fell in lush rings to his shoulders; in front, on his forehead, the curls were cut off, as he dedicated them to Apollo; the young muscular body of the hero clearly spoke of his mighty strength.