Lycomedes

Lycomedes led Theseus to a cliff on Scyros and pushed him over it. Theseus fell to his death. Lycomedes was king of Scyros and a close friend of Menestheus. He had received Theseus with the honours due to his fame and lineage, but feared that Theseus might take control of the island. Theseus had inherited an estate there.

Theseus had reached Scyros after returning from Tartarus weakened by his sufferings. Athens had become divided by faction and sedition, and he could no longer keep order. He secretly sent his children to Euboea, where Elpenor, son of Chalcodon, sheltered them. Some said that the children had gone there before Theseus returned. Theseus then stood on Mount Gargettus and solemnly cursed the Athenians.

He sailed towards Crete because Deucalion had promised him shelter. A storm drove his ship from its course, and his first landfall was Scyros, an island near Euboea. Another account says that Lycomedes acted at the urging of Menestheus. Menestheus was the Erechtheid who had ruled Athens during Theseus’s four years of absence. This account also praised Menestheus for his military skill.