Theseus, son of Aegeus, lifted a rock to retrieve his father’s sword and sandals, then defeated criminals and a sow. He later killed the Minotaur with the help of Ariadne, but forgot to raise white sails on his return to Athens, causing his father to commit suicide. As king, Theseus married Ariadne’s sister and had many adventures, but was eventually deposed and banished before his death.
In Greek mythology, Theseus is one of a group of heroes that also includes
Perseus, Achilles, Jason, Ulysses, Hercules and Bellerophon. The story of Theseus begins with his father, Aegeus. Aegeus was the king of Athens and received a prophecy in Delphi that he did not understand. He told the prophecy to his friend King Pittheus, and Pittheus realized that Aegeus was destined to have a great son, so Pittheus presented his daughter, Ethra, to Aegeus and got Aegeus drunk.
Before returning home to Athens, Aegeus placed his sandals and sword under a very large rock and told Etra that if she conceived a son and if the son was able to lift the rock, he should send the son with the symbols in Athens, where it would be recognized. When he returned home, however, the sorceress Medea had come and she had taken refuge in the city and enchanted Aegeus, so that he eventually married her, and they had a son, Medus.
Etra bore a son and Pittheus said that his father was Poseidon. He was given the name of Theseus. When Theseus was sixteen, Ethra took him to the rock, which Theseus lifted easily, recovering his sandals and sword. Etra told him the true story of him and left for Athens. Along the way, he cleared the land of several murderous criminals and a monstrous sow that had killed several people and ruined their crops. His last adventure before reaching the city was in the house of Procrustes who ironed or cut his guests to fit on his bed. Theseus also killed Procrustes.
When Theseus arrived at the courthouse, Medea recognized him, but told Aegeus that the visitor was a foreigner seeking the throne. Medea persuaded Aegeus to send Theseus to fight the Cretan bull, hoping he would die in battle, but he won. So Medea planned to poison him during a dinner at the palace, but Aegeus recognized the sword he had left under the rock and knocked over the goblet of poison, forcing Medea and her son to flee Athens.
Aegeus then explained the difficult situation facing the Athenians. The son of King Minos of Crete had been murdered in Athens years earlier. In return, the Athenians were obliged to send seven young men and seven maidens each year to feed the Minotaur in the Labyrinth of Crete. Theseus decided to place himself among the victims of the sacrifice and see what he could do, despite his father’s horror. So he set sail for Crete, promising to wave white sails on his return if all goes well.
In Crete, he immediately spoke with Minos and, to the king’s surprise, recovered – with the help of Poseidon’s consort – a ring that Minos had thrown into the harbor to test Theseus. Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, saw everything and fell in love with Theseus. She secretly explained the Labyrinth to Theseus, gave him a ball of thread to guide him through the Labyrinth, and hid a sword inside to be used to slay the Minotaur.
Theseus killed the Minotaur, freed the other young Athenians and ran home with Ariadne. It is unclear why, but she is left behind on Naxos on the way back to Athens. But Theseus forgot his promise to fly white sails, and his father threw himself into the sea, giving it his name, the Aegean.
Theseus’ adventures as king of Athens include marrying an Amazon, hunting the Calydonian boar, kidnapping Helen of Troy, and attempting to steal Persephone from Hades. It was Theseus who sheltered Oedipus in his last hours and cared for Hercules when he went mad. Theseus married Ariadne’s sister Phaedra, but Aphrodite’s interference created a tragedy, and he was later deposed and banished. His life ended when he became a guest of the king of Scyros, and the king, not wanting the trouble of having Theseus around him, pushed him to his death and told everyone that the old man had lost his footing and fallen accidentally.
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