Mnemosyne — Classical Greek Myth Library

Theseus entered Athens as a stranger. Aegeus was then living with Medea, who had fled Corinth after the murder of her children and had found asylum with the childless king; by some accounts she had already borne him a son, Medus. Medea knew who Theseus was—by magic or by rumor of the road—and feared for her own child’s succession. She persuaded Aegeus that the newcomer was a threat and prepared poison (aconite, in the Ovidian Roman telling that preserves the Greek episode) for him at a feast. As Theseus was about to drink, he carved the meat with his sword—or showed the sword and sandals—so that Aegeus recognized the tokens he had left under the Trozenian rock. Aegeus dashed the cup from his son’s hand (or spat the wine out), embraced Theseus, and acknowledged him before the citizens. Medea fled Athens with Medus, some say by her winged chariot to Asia, where Medus later gave his name to the Medes. Theseus was introduced to the people as heir. Soon after, he had to face the Pallantidai—fifty sons of Pallas who disputed Aegeus’s rule—and defeated them by ambush or open fight, securing his place in the city. The recognition scene is the hinge between the road cycle and the Attic kingship legends: tokens prove blood; Medea’s exile clears the court; the Pallantid war removes the rival branch.