Theseus
Theseus, mythological king of Athens, is one of the greatest heroes in mythology. He was revered as a great warrior, daring adventurer, wise and just leader, and protector of the weak and helpless.
Theseus was born to the princess Aethra, daughter of a wise and very strong king, Pittheus of Troezen. But his father's identity was somewhat in doubt. The king of Athens, Aegeus, had no children and was very worried about it. He consulted first the Delphian oracle and then King Pittheus for advice. Pittheus made Aegeus drunk and had him lie with Aethra for a night. (However, the very next night the sea god Poseidon was also with Aethra.)
When Aegeus departed for Athens the next morning, he left a pair of sandals and a sword under a very large rock. He told Aethra that, if she bore a son who was strong enough to lift the stone and retrieve the gifts, he should come to Athens to claim the throne as Aegeus' own son. Nine months later she gave birth to Theseus, who became an extremely strong youth and amazingly clever. He combined both skills to become a very talented wrestler, using strength to outpower weaker opponents and brains to outsmart stronger foes. His grandfather had hinted to Theseus that Poseidon was his sire and he believed himself to be a half-god. But he was able easily to lift the stone and grab the sword and sandals, so he left for Athens to become its king.
Theseus did not take the quick sea route but went by land across the Isthmus of Corinth in order to emulate his hero, Hercules. He found the adventure he craved on this trip, meeting and defeating several robbers and murderers. These included Periphetes, a son of Hephaestus, who liked to crack the skulls of passersbys to whom he took a dislike. Theseus took away Periphetes' club of bronze, smashed him with it, and kept the club as a trophy (in typical hero fashion, Theseus tended to kill his enemies in the very ways they had killed their foes). He killed Sinis or Pityocamptes ("Pine-bender") by tying him to two pine trees and letting him be pulled apart. He killed Sceiron, a thief who kicked his victims off a cliff, by throwing him off the same cliff while pretending to wash his feet. Polypemon or Procrustes ("Stretcher") used to lengthen or shorten his victims to fit exactly in a special bed; Theseus made him lie in his own bed. These challenges imbued Theseus with the ideal of a dispenser of divine justice against the wicked.
When Theseus arrived in Athens he was given a hero's welcome. No one knew who he was -- beyond being a strong and clever stranger who had killed the nastiest evildoers in Corinth -- and the hospitality of the area did not allow the stranger to talk about himself until he had been entertained. But one person in Athens did know Theseus' identity: the witch Medea, who had escaped some years earlier from Jason and taken refuge in Athens. She had agreed to help Aegeus with his childless situation and had borne him a son named Medus, now ready to take the throne when Aegeus died. Aware that Aegeus feared usurpation by his own brother Pallas and Pallas' 50 sons, Medea easily convinced him that the stranger had been sent to assassinate him. King Aegeus, not knowing his own son, gave him a banquet at which he presented Theseus with a chalice of wine poisoned by Medea. Before Theseus could drink, however, Aegeus recognized the sword at his side as the very one he had left with Aethra long ago. He knocked the glass away as Theseus put it to his lips, embraced him, and recognized him publicly as his son and heir.
Theseus' dazzling career was just starting: he saved Athenian youth by killing the Minotaur of Crete; inherited his father's throne and then dissolved the kingship and established Athens as a commonwealth; gave friendship and shelter to his own boyhood hero, Hercules, when he was devastated by suicidal remorse; joined the Argonauts to seek the Golden Fleece with Jason; was even trapped for years in the Underworld but returned alive.
ACTIVITIES:
Theseus activity
KEY TEST WORDS: (Know the material behind these items.)
None
AUTHOR:
James Isaacs
SOURCES:
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
"Manual of Mythology" by Alexander S. Murray