Dēmos · Classical Athenian Democracy · a Stoa Publication
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The tribal heroes as a group: history.
The tribal heroes as a group: mythology.
→ The individual heroes: Aigeus.
The individual heroes: Akamas.
The individual heroes: Antiochos.
The individual heroes: Erechtheus.
The individual heroes: Hippothoon.
The individual heroes: Kekrops.
The individual heroes: Oineus.
The individual heroes: Pandion.
Images of the heroes: sculpture.
Images of the heroes: paintings.
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Amy C. Smith, edition of January 18 2003
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Apollodorus (Apollod.).
Euripides (Eur. Med.).
Apollodorus (Apollod. E.).
Plutarch (Plut. Thes.).
Pausanias (Paus.).
Diodorus (Diod.).
Plot on a Map
Troizen.
Mythology: 
Aigeus was said to be the son of Pandion or Skyrios (Apollod. 3.15.5), or perhaps was adopted by Pandion (Plut. Thes. 13.1) and, despite several marriages (to Meta [Melite?] and Chalkiope), remained childless until he slept with Aithra (who subsequently bore Theseus) at Troizen (Apollod. 3.15.7; Plut. Thes. 3.5). He later married Medea (Eur. Med. 1384 ff.; Apollod. Epit. 1.5; Paus. 2.3.8), then was reunited with his son, Theseus (Plut. Thes. 12.2-6), and leapt to his death by jumping off the Acropolis when he saw black sails on Theseus’ ship (Paus. 1.22.5; Diod. 4.61.7).
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Harpocration (Harpoc).
Plutarch (Plut. Thes.).
Pausanias (Paus.).
Plot on a Map
Athens.
Sanctuary of Aphrodite Ourania.
Worship: Aigeus received a heroon (that is, a hero-shrine) at Athens, according to Paus. 1.22.5 (supported by Harpocration s.v. “Aigeion”); this may have been at the Delphinion, where he was said to live (Plut. Thes. 12.6), or the Sanctuary of Aphrodite Ourania, which he founded on account of his childlessness, according to Paus. 1.14.7.
Tribal connection: The only tribal detail relevant to Aigeus that is known to have been recorded is that Aigeus’ priest was chosen from among the tribesman of the Aigeis tribe (IG II2, 952).
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When using this article as a resource, cite it thus:
Amy C. Smith, “Athenian Political Art from the fifth and fourth centuries: Images of Tribal (Eponymous) Heroes,” in C.W. Blackwell, ed., Dēmos: Classical Athenian Democracy (A. Mahoney and R. Scaife, edd., The Stoa: a consortium for electronic publication in the humanities [www.stoa.org]) edition of January 18 2003. Contact: cwb@stoa.org.
© January 18 2003, Amy C. Smith. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Dēmos · Classical Athenian Democracy · a Stoa Publication