Theseus
Theseus was a king of Athens famous was for many exploits.There
is some confusion about Theseus' parentage, some say he is the son
of Aegeus and Aethra, and others the son of Poseidon and Aethra.
Apollodoros and Hyginus say Aethra waded out to Sphairia after sleeping
with Aegeus, and lay there with Poseidon.
The next day, Aegeus, who had been visiting Aethra at Troizen,
left for his home city of Athens. As he left, he left sandals and
a sword under a large rock; should Aethra bear a male child, she
was to send him to Athens to claim his birthright as soon as he
was old enough to lift the rock and retrieve the items.
Aethra gave birth to Theseus, who came of age and set off for Athens
with the sword and sandals, encountering and defeating six murderous
adversaries along the way. When Theseus reached Athens, Medea, the
wife of Aegeus, persuaded Aegeus to kill the as of yet unrecognized
Theseus by having him attempt to capture the savage Marathonian
Bull. Theseus did the unexpected and succeeds, so Medea tells Aegeus
to gave him poisoned wine. Aegeus recognized Theseus' sword as he
was about to drink and knocked the goblet from his lips at the last
second.
According to Plutarch and Philochoros, on the way to Marathon to
kill the bull, Theseus encountersed a fierce storm and sought shelter
in the hut of an old woman named Hecale. She promised to make a
sacrifice to Zeus if Theseus came back successful. He came back,
only to find her dead, and built a deme in her name. Some time after
Theseus return to Athens, there was trouble and blood flowed between
the houses of Aegeus in Athens and Minos, his brother in Crete.
War and drought ensued and an oracle demanded that recompense be
made to Minos. Minos demanded that seven maidens and seven youths
were to be sacrificed to the Minotaur every nine years. Theseus
was among the chosen victims and sailed off to Crete, promising
to Aegeus that his ship's black flag would be replaced with a white
flag if Theseus was victorious. In Crete, Minos molested one of
the maidens and Theseus became angry and challenged him, boasting
of his parentage by Poseidon. Minos, son of Zeus was amused and
asked Theseus to prove his heritage by retrieving a ring from the
depths of the ocean. Theseus being a son of Poseidon succeeded.
Ariadne, a young woman in Crete already betrothed to Dionysus,
fell in love with Theseus and helped him defeat the Minotaur. Ariadne
then leleft Crete with Theseus, who abandoned her on Dia (at Athena's
behest, according to Pherekydes).
On returning to Athens Theseus forgot to switch the black sail
with the white one. Aegeus, consequently, watching from afar believed
his son was dead and hurled himself into the sea, named the 'Aegean'
after him. After Aegeus' death, Theseus must contend against Pallas
for the throne. Theseus got wind of a planned assassination against
him and spoilt the ambush, killing Pallas and gaining the throne.
Theseus and a good friend of his by the name of Pirithous wanted
to marry daughters of Zeus, and begin their quest by abducting Helen.
Theseus won a bet and got Helen, but had to accompany Pirithous
to Hades to recover Persephone for him. There was much disagreement
here about what happened in Hades, but many traditions say only
Theseus made it back out.
Theseus did two noteworthy patriotic acts to Thebes, accepting
Oedipus at Kolonus, and helping Adrastus bury the Seven, fallen
in the struggle for the throne of Thebes. Late in his life Theseus
lost popularity in Athens and was exiled. He wandered to Scyrus
where he was hurled off a cliff by Lycodemes
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