Theseus

Thesus a hero who was best known for killing the Minotaur and his journey to find his father.

Parents

Theseus’s mother was Aethra, daughter of Pittheus and he had two fathers Aegeus, king of Athens and Poseidon.

Important Relationships

Theseus grew up in a different kingdom to his father Aegeus and when he was strong enough collected his father’s sword from under a massive boulder and set off on his journey to Athens to become the prince. It was a long and hard journey that he had to walk, and the route was full of dangers, such as bandits and thieves. He fought and won against many challengers who attempted to kill him and also monsters and wild animals.

After a long time, he finally arrived at Athens to meet his father, but his father’s wife, Medea, was a sorceress and predicted his arrival. She knew that her children would not become the heirs to the throne of the king realized that Theseus was his son so she lied to the king and told him that Theseus was a stranger that would destroy the kingdom. This meant that she and the king planned to kill Theseus when he arrived with a poisoned drink. Once Theseus arrived at the palace they gave him the drink, but as he lifted the glass, the king spotted the sword that he had left under a boulder years ago for his son to collect and he realized he had been tricked. He quickly knocked the drink out of Theseus’s hand and hugged his long-lost son. Aegeus kicked Medea out of the kingdom and Theseus took his rightful place as prince.

Theseus is well known for falling in love with Ariadne who helped him win in his battle against the Minotaur.

After losing a war between the two kingdoms Athens had been forced to give up 14 young people as a tribute to Crete every year. They would then be taken to the massive labyrinth under the palace of the king to be fed to a terrifying creature known as the Minotaur, who was half man and half bull. After Theseus became a prince, the messengers came from Crete to send the years tribute to Crete. When Theseus heard this, he insisted on volunteering to go with the young sacrifices and slay the monster so no more of his people would be hurt. He promised to return after killing the beast with all of the youngsters.

They set sail for Crete and when they arrived the Princess of Crete saw Theseus and immediately fell in love. That night, before they were sent into the labyrinth she found Theseus and gave him a sword and a ball of string, telling him to tie it to the entrance of the maze so that he could trail it behind him and follow it back out once he had slayed the monster.

In the labyrinth he followed her instructions and unraveled the yarn as he went, following the sound that the Minotaur made. It was dark and dirty in the maze, but Theseus was confident. The Minotaur suddenly appeared and after a long and hard fight he managed to kill the monster with the sword given to him by Ariadne and followed the string back out of the maze. He took the rest of the youngsters back to the ship and they left for Athens.