Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

, Sinis (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

: Σίνης) was a bandit killed by

Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describ ...

on his way to

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Family

Pseudo-Apollodorus describes Sinis as the son of Polypemon and Sylea, daughter of

Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government refor ...

;Tripp, Edward. ''The Meridian Handbook of Classical Mythology''. Meridian, 1970, p. 532. he has also been described as the son of

Canethus In Greek mythology, the name Canethus (; Ancient Greek: Κάνηθος) may refer to: *Canethus, an Arcadian prince as one of the 50 sons of the King Lycaon either by the naiad Cyllene, Nonacris or by unknown woman. He and his siblings were th ...

and

Henioche In Greek mythology, the name Henioche (; Ancient Greek: ''Ἡνιόχη,'' fem. of ''ἠνίοχος'' "charioteer") may refer to: *Henioche, surname of Hera in Lebadea. *Henioche or Eniocha, wife of King Creon of Thebes according to some auth ...

.Plutarch. ''Parallel Lives
"Theseus", 25.4-5
'

Mythology

An Isthmian outlaw, Sinis would force travelers to help him bend

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

trees to the ground and then unexpectedly let go, catapulting the victims through the air. Alternative sources say that he tied people to two pine trees that he bent down to the ground, then let the trees go, tearing his victims apart. This led to him being called Pityocamptes (Πιτυοκάμπτης = "pine-bender"). Sinis was the second bandit to be killed by Theseus as the hero was traveling from

Troezen Troezen (; ancient Greek: Τροιζήν, modern Greek: Τροιζήνα ) is a small town and a former municipality in the northeastern Peloponnese, Greece, on the Argolid Peninsula. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the muni ...

to Athens, in the very same way that he had previously killed his own victims. Theseus then slept with Sinis's daughter,

Perigune In Greek mythology, Perigune (Ancient Greek: Περιγούνη) was the beautiful daughter of Sinis. Her name is also spelled Perigouna, Perigone, and as Perigenia in Shakespeare's '' A Midsummer Night's Dream''. After Theseus killed her father, ...

, who later bore Theseus's son,

Melanippus :''The name Melanippus is the masculine counterpart of Melanippe.'' In Greek mythology, there were eleven people named Melanippus (): *Melanippus, one of the sons of Agrius and possibly Dia, daughter of King Porthaon of Calydon. Along with his ...

. Perigune later married

Deioneus In Greek mythology, Deioneus (; Ancient Greek: Δηιονεύς means "ravager") or Deion (; Ancient Greek: ) is a name attributed to the following individuals: *Deioneus, king of Phocis and son of King Aeolus of Aeolia and Enarete, daughter of ...

of Oechalia.Ovid, VII, 440.

Notes

Children of Poseidon Labours of Theseus {{Greek-deity-stub