THESEUS Parents Birth Childhood Aegeus of Athens Aethra

THESEUS

Parents, Birth, Childhood • Aegeus of Athens • Aethra of Troezen • Young princess who sleeps with Aegeus, who’s visiting her dad • Dream from Athena leads Aethra into the sea • Poseidon; Double Paternity? • Sword & Sandals

The Adventure Begins

Periphetes

Sinis/Pityocamptes

Crommyonian Sow

Sciron

Procrustes

In Athens • Daddy Aegeus & Queen Medea • Marathonian Bull • Medea tries poison • Flees after failing • Next Task: Minotaur

Minotaur Background • King Minos & Queen Pasiphae of Crete • Minos & Poseidon • Cretan Bull • Minos tries to trick Poseidon • Pasiphae & the bull • Daedalus’s help

Minotaur Background • The Labyrinth • Minos’s son in Athens • 7 Athenian youths & 7 maidens • Theseus volunteers

Theseus’s Quest • Setting sail • Minos’s daughter Ariadne helps • Slays Minotaur • Escapes with Ariadne & sister Phaedra

Sad Times • Ariadne; Dionysus • Oops, the sails… • Aegean Sea

Theseus & Pirithous • Pirithous, Prince of the Lapiths • Lapiths vs Centaurs • Pirithous’s great idea • Chair of Forgetfulness

Theseus & Phaedra • Ariadne’s sister who wasn’t abandoned • Theseus marries Phaedra • Phaedra & Hippolytus, one of Theseus’s sons • Aphrodite made advances on Hippolytus • Hippolytus rejected her because he was a virgin follower of Artemis • Aphrodite punished Hippolytus by having Phaedra fall in love with him • Hippolytus rejects Phaedra as well • Phaedra accuses him of rape, Theseus kills his own son, Phaedra commits suicide

Theseus and Athens • Theseus brings together Attica, region around Athens, under one rule • Transfers much of his power to the assembly • Helps poor & oppressed • Bad decisions in middle age; loses popularity • Pushed off island of Scyros – various/unclear reasons • Body not returned to Athens for burial • Bones “found” during Persian Wars, returned, buried

23 Hero Traits • Mother is a royal virgin • Is victor over king, giant, dragon or wild • Father is a king • Father often a near relative to • mother Unusual conception Hero reputed to be son of a god Attempt to kill hero as an infant, often by father or maternal grandfather Hero spirited away as a child Reared by foster parents in a far country No details of childhood Returns or goes to future kingdom • • • • • beast Has a helper, sidekick, or group of them Marries a princess (often daughter of predecessor) Becomes king For a time he reigns uneventfully He prescribes laws Later loses favor with gods or his subjects Driven from throne and city Meets with mysterious death Often at the top of a hill His children, if any, do not succeed him His body is not buried Has one or more holy sepulchers or tombs