Theseus
Publié le 22/02/2012
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Greek Chief hero of Athens, the major
city of Attica. Son of Aegeus, king of Athens, and
Aethra, daughter of King Pittheus of Troezen. Theseus
was brought up under the protection of Pittheus
and Aethra until he was 16. Then he set off to Athens
to claim his birthright. On his way and afterward, he
had countless adventures, of which the most famous
was the slaying of the Minotaur. Upon the death of
Aegeus, Theseus became king of Athens and was the
hero of many battles. At the end, he retired to Skyros,
an island in the Aegean, where he was murdered by
Lycomedes.
Scholars believe that the character of Theseus
may have been based on a real person, a hero of
ancient times, similar in many ways to the demigod
Heracles. Mythologists may have adapted the character
of Theseus to make him a suitable hero for their
city of Athens.
Some Adventures of Theseus Theseus, the
great hero of ancient Athens, had countless adventures.
Among them were some showing that he let
the punishment fit the crime.
Periphetes was crippled and used a huge bronze
club to kill wayfarers. Theseus, on his way to Athens,
killed Periphetes with the club, which he carried ever
afterward as one of his weapons.
Sinis, "The Pinebender," was so strong and monstrously
cruel that he bent young pine trees down to
the ground, then lashed his victim, a hapless traveler,
to the trees so that the victim would be killed by having
his limbs torn apart after Sinis let the trees loose.
Theseus inflicted the same punishment on Sinis.
Procrustes, also called Polypemon, was the father of
Sinis. He was another scourge of travelers. He would
invite them into his house, where he had an iron bed. If
the victim did not fit the bed, Procrustes would either
chop off the victim's overhanging parts or stretch his
limbs to fit the bed. Theseus forced Procrustes to lie in
his own bed, where Theseus slew the villain. The word
procrustean has come to denote any cruel attempt to
reduce people or ideas to fit one arbitrary standard.
In Eleusis, a city northwest of Athens, Theseus
defeated the king in a wrestling match. Theseus is
said to have perfected the art of wrestling. Eleusis
had no king from that day on and came under the
leadership of Athens.
Theseus and Aegeus Theseus, the great hero of
Athens, was the son of King Aegeus, king of Athens.
His mother was Princess Aethra, the daughter of
King Pittheus of Troezen. Before he left Troezen,
Aegeus lifted a heavy rock and hid his sword and
sandals beneath it. He instructed Aethra to bring his
son to this rock when he became a young man and to
remove the sword and sandals. If Theseus succeeded
in doing this, he was to bring the items to Athens to
claim his birthright from his father, the king.
Aethra took Theseus, when he was 16, to the rock,
which the lad lifted easily, and sent him on his way
to Athens.
Theseus had many adventures on his journey and
entered Athens as a hero. Warmly welcomed by his
father, Theseus then went on to his greatest adventure,
the slaying of the Minotaur, the dreaded bullmonster
of King Minos of Crete. Every year, Minos
demanded seven men and seven maids from Athens
to be sacrificed to the Minotaur, thus bringing great
sorrow to the people of that city. Theseus determined to put an end to this tragedy. In spite of his father's
protests, he went aboard the fateful ship that took the
victims to Crete. Theseus promised Aegeus that if he
succeeded in killing the monster, he would bring the
ship back flying white sails in place of the black sails
it left with. Theseus did indeed defeat the beast, but
he forgot to hoist the white sails. Aegeus, watching
anxiously from the top of a cliff, saw the black sails
and cast himself into the sea in despair. That sea—the
Aegean—today bears his name.
Theseus, Ariadne, and the Minotaur The
slaying of the Minotaur was Theseus's greatest and
most famous deed, in which he was helped by
Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of Crete. Minos
demanded a yearly tribute from Athens because of
the murder of his son, Androgeus, by the Athenians.
Each year, seven Athenian men and seven maidens
were sent to Crete to feed the Minotaur.
Theseus determined to end the yearly tragedy
suffered by the Athenians. He boarded the ship
that bore the victims to Crete. When she saw him,
Ariadne fell in love with the hero. She gave him a ball
of string that would help him find his way out of the
labyrinth where the bull lived. Theseus unwound
the string as he followed the tortuous mazes that led
him to the Minotaur. He slew the bull after a ferocious
battle and then made his way triumphantly back
to the entrance of the labyrinthine palace. When he
went back to Athens, Theseus took the lovely Ariadne
with him, but he abandoned her on the island of
Naxos and went on his way.
Theseus and Medea When Theseus was a
young man, he set forth to claim his birthright from
Aegeus. Aegeus had married the sorceress Medea,
who knew at once that Theseus was the king's son.
She tried to poison the lad; just in time, Theseus
revealed the sacred sword that his father had left
behind in Troezen. Aegeus dashed the poisoned cup
from the boy's hand and embraced his son. Medea
fled from Athens with her son, Medus.
Theseus and Pirithous Theseus was also famous
for having a deep and enduring friendship with
Pirithoüs, king of the Lapiths, a mythical people of
Thessaly. The friendship originated when Pirithoüs
mischievously stole some of Theseus's cattle. Theseus
went in pursuit, but the two young men were so filled
with admiration for each other that they forgot their
quarrel and swore eternal brotherhood. The young
heroes had many adventures together.
In a fight that started at the wedding feast of Pirithoüs
and Hippodameia, Theseus helped his friend
to drive the Centaurs, wild creatures that were half
human, half horse, out of Thessaly.
Pirithoüs later helped Theseus carry off Helen.
In return, Theseus descended to the Underworld
(1) to help his friend in his attempt to abduct Persephone,
reluctant bride of Hades. Hades caught the
two friends and they had to remain in the underworld
until the hero Heracles came to attempt their rescue.
Theseus was freed, but Pirithoüs had to remain a
captive for eternity.
Theseus and the Amazons Theseus, great hero
of Athens, accompanied the demigod Heracles on his
ninth labor, which was to capture the girdle of Hippolyta,
queen of the Amazons. Heracles captured the
girdle, whereupon Hippolyta made war on Athens.
Theseus vanquished Hippolyta and made her his
wife. She bore him a son, Hippolytus.
After the death of Hippolyta, Theseus married
Phaedra, with disastrous consequences. Phaedra fell
in love with her young stepson, Hippolytus, and killed
herself in despair, whereupon Theseus invoked the help
of the sea god, Poseidon, in causing his son's death.
The Death of Theseus Theseus led a life full of
triumphant adventures. His most famous exploit was
the killing of the dreaded Minotaur. But his end was
a sad one. He lost both his wife, Phaedra, and his son,
Hippolytus, and finally was driven out of Athens by
Menesthius, of the ancient line of Erechtheus.
Theseus set sail for Crete, now ruled by Phaedra's
brother, Deucalion, who had promised him refuge.
Theseus's ship was blown off course and he took
shelter on the island of Skyros, where he had a small
estate. King Lycomedes of Skyros seemed to welcome
the sad and aging king, but he treacherously pushed
Theseus off a cliff. Thus the great Theseus died. Later
his bones were taken to Athens and enshrined there.
Liens utiles
- Phaedra Greek Daughter of Minos of Crete and of Pasiphaë; sister of Ariadne and Androgeus; wife of Theseus, king of Athens.
- Pirithoüs Greek Son of Zeus and Dia, the wife of Ixion; king of the Lapiths, a mythical people inhabiting the mountains of Thessaly; friend of the hero Theseus.
- Theseus - Mythology.
- From Bulfinch's Mythology: Theseus - anthology.