Pirithous

Wine loosened the Centaurs during Peirithous’s wedding feast. They were related to Hippodamia and had been invited to the banquet, but they were unused to wine and drank too quickly. When the bride entered, the Centaur Eurytion seized her and tried to carry her away. Other Centaurs seized women standing nearby. The feast fell into confusion, and screams filled the house.

Peirithous and Theseus went to Hippodamia’s rescue. Theseus pushed through the crowd and freed her. Eurytion attacked him, striking his chest and face. Theseus seized a large wine bowl and threw it at the Centaur. The vessel broke against him and killed him. Peirithous and the Lapiths then took up arms against the Centaurs. One account says that Peirithous put on his armour before he and Theseus began the battle. In that account, Theseus killed many Centaurs.

The fighting continued until nightfall. Caeneus, a Lapith, was killed during the struggle. The Centaurs suffered a serious defeat, and Theseus drove them from their hunting grounds on Mount Pelion. They withdrew towards the land of the Aethices near Mount Pindus. Ares and Eris were said to have encouraged the feud after being excluded from the wedding.

The Centaurs later rallied and invaded Lapith territory. They surprised and slaughtered the main Lapith army. The survivors fled to Pholoe in Elis. Another account says that the Lapiths eventually won the war and expelled the Centaurs from Thessaly into Arcadia.

After Hippodameia’s death, Pirithous persuaded Theseus to accompany him to Sparta. Theseus’s wife, Phaedra, had recently hanged herself. The two men wanted Helen, the daughter of Zeus and sister of Castor and Polydeuces, as a wife. At the place in Athens where the sanctuary of Serapis later stood, they swore to support each other. They agreed to draw lots for Helen after taking her, then to abduct another daughter of Zeus for the loser.

They led an army into Lacedaemon. Riding ahead of the main force, they seized Helen while she was making a sacrifice at the Temple of Upright Artemis in Sparta. They escaped from her pursuers at Tegea, where they drew lots. Theseus won, and Helen was placed in his keeping. Tyndareus is also said to have entrusted her to Theseus after learning that his nephew Enarephorus intended to abduct her. Theseus took Helen to Aphidnai. He expected the Athenians to disapprove of his attack on Tyndareus.

Some years later, when Helen was old enough for Theseus to marry her, Pirithous reminded him of their oath. They consulted an oracle of Zeus, whom they had called to witness their agreement. The oracle answered that Pirithous should go to Tartarus and claim Persephone, the wife of Hades, as his bride. Pirithous accepted the answer, and Theseus reluctantly went with him. They entered Tartarus by a cavern at Taenarus in Laconia and approached the gates of Hades’s palace. Hades received them as guests and asked them to sit on the Chair of Forgetfulness. They became fixed to it and were held by coils of snakes. Pirithous remained in Hades, while Heracles later brought Theseus back to the earth.

During Theseus’s absence, Castor and Polydeuces led the Lacedaemonians and Arcadians against Athens. They captured the city, recovered Helen, and took Theseus’s mother, Aithra, captive. The Dioscuri also brought Menestheus back from exile and made him regent of Athens. Aithra became Helen’s servant and was later taken to Troy. Demophon and Acamas eventually recovered her when Troy fell.

Pirithous drove a herd of cattle away from the pastures at Marathon in Attica. He ruled the Magnetes near the mouth of the river Peneus and had heard extraordinary reports of Theseus’s strength and courage. He wanted to discover whether those reports were true, so he raided Attica and carried the cattle away.

Theseus set out after him at once. He followed the tracks left by the herd and soon caught up with the raider. Pirithous did not try to escape. He turned towards Theseus and prepared to meet the man who had pursued him. The two heroes faced each other, with the stolen cattle between them.

They came together in combat. The struggle began over the raid, but neither man continued it once they had seen the other clearly. Each recognised the other’s noble appearance and worth. Their admiration overcame their anger, and the quarrel ended before either could claim victory.

Pirithous and Theseus abandoned the cattle. They swore an oath of everlasting friendship and left the field together. The raid therefore ended without a victor. Pirithous no longer treated Theseus as an enemy, and the two heroes became inseparable friends.