Pittheus- Greek FigureMortal"King of Troezen"

King of Troezen

Pittheus was a son of Pelops and Hippodamia, brother to Atreus and Thyestes. Where his brothers fell into the cycle of murder and curse that would consume their houses for generations, Pittheus ruled quietly at Troezen, a small city on the Saronic Gulf. He was known for his wisdom: ancient tradition credited him with writing a treatise on rhetoric, and his judgment seat — a bench of three stones — was still pointed out to visitors when Pausanias passed through Troezen centuries later.

The Oracle and the Scheme

When Aegeus, king of Athens, stopped at Troezen on his way home from Delphi, he brought a riddle he could not solve. The oracle had told him: "Do not loosen the projecting foot of the wineskin until you have reached the height of Athens." Aegeus had no idea what it meant. Pittheus understood at once — the oracle was warning Aegeus not to lie with a woman until he returned home, lest the child be born away from Athens.

Pittheus saw his opening. He plied Aegeus with wine until the king was thoroughly drunk, then brought his daughter Aethra to his bed. In some traditions, Aethra also lay with Poseidon that same night at a shrine on the island of Sphairia, giving the child dual parentage — mortal and divine. From that night came Theseus, and through him the houses of Troezen and Athens were bound together, exactly as Pittheus had planned.

Grandfather of Theseus

When Aegeus left the next morning, he placed his sword and sandals beneath a heavy rock and told Aethra: when their son could lift the stone, he should take the tokens and come to Athens. Pittheus raised the boy at Troezen. It was under his roof that Theseus grew strong enough to shift the boulder, claim his father's sword, and walk the road to Athens that his grandfather had made possible.