A young man named Theseus stood before a massive stone on the road from Troezen to Athens. It was a rock with a hollow just large enough to receive objects, as Plutarch described. He lifted it and found a sword and sandals buried beneath. His mother Aethra had told him that if he could move this heavy stone, he would know his true father was Aegeus, king of Athens. Before leaving for the city, Aegeus had hidden these items there when he left Aethra pregnant. Theseus chose to walk the dangerous land route instead of taking the safe sea path. He intended to prove his worth by defeating six chthonic bandits guarding entrances to the Underworld along the Saronic Gulf. This journey began his transformation from a boy raised in Troezen into a hero destined for Athens.
Six Labours Of The Road
Theseus arrived at Epidaurus where Periphetes, known as the Club Bearer, beat opponents into the earth. The hero took the stout staff from the bandit and used it to identify himself later in vase paintings. At the Isthmus, Sinis tied travelers between two pine trees bent to the ground before releasing them to tear victims apart. Theseus slew Sinis using the same method against him. He then seduced Sinis's daughter Perigune and fathered Melanippus. North of the Isthmus at Crommyon, an enormous pig named the Crommyonian Sow terrorized the area. Phaea bred this creature which some versions claimed was offspring of Typhon and Echidna. Theseus killed the sow and continued northward toward Megara. Sciron forced travelers to wash his feet on a narrow cliff pathway before kicking them off into the sea to be eaten by a giant turtle. Theseus pushed Sciron off the cliff instead. Cercyon challenged passers-by to wrestling matches at Eleusis and killed those he defeated. Theseus beat Cercyon at wrestling and killed him. Procrustes offered beds that stretched or cut legs off to fit guests. Theseus employed Procrustes's own method to decapitate him with an axe.