Unchanged by any teller — how the centuries since have seen Aegeus.
The gallery
Themis and Aegeus
Attributed to the Kodros Painter, c. 440–430 BC
This Attic red-figure kylix, attributed to the Kodros Painter and found at Vulci, shows the Athenian king Aegeus consulting the oracle. He stands before the seated goddess Themis, who holds a phiale and laurel branch as she delivers the cryptic prophecy concerning his childlessness. Rendered against the lustrous black ground typical of high-classical Athenian pottery, the cup is among the most celebrated ancient depictions of Aegeus. It is held in the Antikensammlung, Berlin (inv. F 2538).
Theseus Recognized by his Father
Hippolyte Flandrin, 1832
Painted for the Prix de Rome, which it won, this neoclassical oil by Hippolyte Flandrin captures the tense instant of recognition between father and son. King Aegeus, having nearly offered the unknown young hero a poisoned cup at Medea's urging, recognizes Theseus by the sword and sandals he had left beneath a rock at Troezen. Flandrin orders the figures with restrained classical clarity, the king's gesture freezing the moment disaster is averted. The canvas (115 × 146 cm) is held at the Beaux-Arts de Paris.
Thésée reconnu par son père (Theseus Recognized by his Father)
Antoine-Placide Gibert, 1832
Antoine-Placide Gibert treats the same Prix de Rome subject of 1832: the recognition of Theseus by King Aegeus of Athens. At the banquet arranged by the sorceress Medea to poison the newly arrived stranger, Aegeus spies the family sword Theseus carries and dashes away the deadly cup, embracing the son he had never met. The dramatic, theatrically lit composition belongs to the museum tradition of French academic history painting and is housed in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux.
On screen
Medea
Lars von Trier
Von Trier keeps Aegeus in Euripides' Corinth frame: the Athenian king who offers Medea sanctuary, the political exit that lets her revenge proceed.
Minotaur, the Wild Beast of Crete
Silvio Amadio
The peplum keeps Aegeus as the father watching the black sail: the king whose suicide gives the Aegean its name when Theseus forgets the white signal.