Periphetes
A monstrous son of Hephaestus who terrorized travelers on the road to Athens before being slain by Theseus.
The Myth of Periphetes
Periphetes was the son of Hephaestus and one of the first monsters slain by the hero Theseus on his journey from Troezen to Athens. He was known as the "club-bearer" (Corynetes) and killed travelers on the Saronic road by bludgeoning them with an enormous bronze club. Theseus killed him and took his club, which he carried throughout his heroic career as a trophy and weapon — a detail that parallels Heracles carrying the Nemean lion's skin. The story establishes a pattern in the Theseus cycle: the hero repays each monster in kind, using their own method of killing against them, representing justice as a form of poetic retribution.
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