Aegeus
King of Athens, son of Pandion. Being desirous of having children, he went to consult the oracle, and on his return stopped at the court of Pittheus, king of Troezene, who gave him his daughter Aethra in marriage.
He directed her, if she had a son, to send him to Athens as soon as he could lift a stone under which he had concealed his sword. Aethra became mother of Theseus, whom she sent to Athens with his father's sword.
When Theseus came to Athens, Medea, the wife of Aegeus, attempted to poison him, but he escaped; and upon showing Aegeus the sword, discovered himself to be his son.
When Theseus returned from Crete, after the killing of the Minotaur, he omitted to hoist up white sails, as he had agreed with Aegeus, in case he was successful, and at sight of black sails Aegeus, concluding that his son was dead, threw himself into the sea, which, as some suppose, has since been called the