Greek Mythology

Thesus

Theseus was one of the greatest greek heroes, also known as the king of Athens and a slayer of Minotaur. He was also a great friend of Heracles who was his idol, because of his extreme strength. Heracles influenced Theseus to go on his own dangerous quests. However, unlike Heracles, Theseus had other individual attributes like divine wisdom and intelligence. He was able to read others and outsmart them if necessary. His leadership was appreciated and respected by people, because he always starred for the common good. His early adventures benefited the city and its region. He is credited as the founder of Athens's democracy, voluntarily turning many of his powers as king over to an elected assembly. He gained a reputation for helping the poor and oppressed. Theseus had adventurous life, traveling a lot and overcoming many obstacles. He also had a family, once he settled in Athens and finished one of his last quests which was to join his idol Heracles in a quest to bring back Hippolyta's girdle. However, the gods influenced some of the events inside his family which resulted in his son's death. Because of the grief and sorrow, he fell into, his life ended tragically.
Appearance in the works of art
Theseus is usually depicted, as a healthy grown man, holding his sword and fighting the minotaur. On several occasions, he is also depicted in the company of his mother Aethra and in the company of Ariadne.

Birth of Theseus and his enthusiasm

Theseus was the son of Aethra, the daughter of king Pittheus of Troezen, who was a great friend of Aegeus, ancient king of Athens, who had no heir despite being married twice. After seeing the oracle of Delphi and not being given a clear answer, the kings came to an agreement. Pittheus secretly gave away his daughter to Aegeus, while he was visiting Troezen. After Aethra and Aegeus had slept together on the wedding night, she couldn't fall sleep and took a walk in a moonlight, way through the coast of Poros. There she was seduced by Poseidon and had been impregnated with both god and the king in a single night. The next day, king Aegeus decided that he didn't need a wife, only an heir. He was planning for his departure, but before he buried his sword and sandals under the rock in front of Aethra. He told her to send Theseus to Athens, once he would grow enough to be able to move the rock and retrieve the lineage of his father. Once Theseus reached early manhood, he set for Athens. He was advised to take a safer sea route instead of dangerous roads, but the young enthusiast had already made his decision to confront everyone and everything that would come in his path. Theseus was fired up to emulate great greek hero Heracles who happened to be the idol of the young man.

On way to Athens

Before he departed, his mother Aethra showed him where his father had hidden the sword and sandals. After recovering the lineage of his father, he was on his way and it was not long before Theseus encountered his first adventure. From the distance, he recognised bandit Periphetes from his grandfather's stories. The bandit was said to be the son of Hephaestus, the Olympian god of craftsmanship.sword and sandals for theseus He was known for his cruelty, dashing the heads of bypassing travellers with his iron club. Theseus bravely confronted him and after a fierce encounter the hero, in retribution to serve the justice, smashed the head of the bandit with the bandit's own iron club. He also kept the club as his trophy and soon reached Ishmir of Corinth. The locals warned him of facing Siris, another bandit, who was guarding a passage from Corinth to Athens. Siris was said to tie his victims between two trees and use the trees as catapult with the victims as ammunition and hurl them way in the air, so they could crash upon landing. However, this story didn't fear nor prevent Theseus to kill the bandit with bandit's own method. Upon killing him, he also raped his daughter Perigune who happened to be in wrong place at the wrong time. He overcame another deed north of the Isthmus. At a place called Crommyon, he killed the Crommyonian Sow, a pig of enormous size that was bred by an old woman named Phaea. Next bandit, that Theseus had met, was in the narrow cliff trail near the borders of Megara. Evil Scyron urged bypassing travellers to wash his feet with their back to the sea, so that he could kick them into the deep waters below, where the sea monster was preying on victims. However, when Theseus came along it was the bandit who was eaten by the sea monster. Theseus then came across Eleusis, where king Cercyon challenged him to a wrestling like he had been doing in the past, challenging travellers, beating them and then killed them in disguise of sacrificial ceremony. But hero instead won, killed the king and brought down this archaic religious ritual by refusing to be sacrificed. The last encounter before Athens was in the plains of Eleusis, where he had encountered giant Procrustes who had an imaginative way of showing his hospitality to travelers. He had two beds, one large and one small and would offer small one to tall people and the other way around. To the tall people he would cut off limbs to make the perfect fit for the small bed and he would stretch short people to make them fit for the large bed. Theseus treated the giant the same way, removing his legs and decapitating his head off.