In this chapter we consider how three Imperial writers—Apollodoros, Plutarch, and Pausanias—treat the stories of Theseus in connection to the landscapes of the Greek mainland. These examples reveal the ever-present tension between the various narrative paths that run through a text, and in particular the interplay between the chronological linearity of a mythic biography and the geographical linearity of a hodological approach. Although some events are contested as one would expect when dealing with the mythical past, the three texts display surprising agreement about the major events of the hero’s biography. This fundamental consensus casts the authors’ different approaches in sharper relief. For ease of comparison, an Appendix charts the main episodes of Theseus’ life; there, one will find the biographical approach featured in Apollodoros’ Library and Plutarch’s Life of Theseus, alongside the more kaleidoscopic view encountered in Pausanias’ Description of Greece.
This article presents a systematic examination of matrilineal succession in Greek myth. It uses MANTO to identify 54 instances of kings who succeed their fathers-in-law, maternal grandfathers, step-fathers, or wives’ previous husbands. We show that matrilineal successors are not treated as necessarily illegitimate or inferior within the overwhelmingly patrilineal conventions of Greek myth. In fact, matrilineal calculations afford certain advantages, like the ability to integrate heroes from elsewhere, or to champion local kings with divine fathers. Matrilineal succession reveals the gendered dynamics inherent to Greek myth; we argue that, although in these instances regnal power is transferred through female relatives, the heroines involved are typically treated simply as nodes for this power and their roles in these stories do not necessarily correlate to a greater visibility or autonomy.
