In the session we continued our topic of heroes from Greek mythology.
We completed the story Theseus.
We did a recap of his origins and how he became the accepted heir to the throne of Athens.
His story was as deliberate amalgamation of three characters and how his story was deliberately used to promote an image of a hero. Theseus was not content to be a prince he wanted adventures and emulated the feats of Heracles.
He defeated the fire breathing white bull which had killed hundreds of men and took it up to the Acropolis and sacrificed it. Crete and Athens had been at war for some time and Minos the ruler of Crete had the upper hand with a strong navy. King Minos’s son had been killed and he was due recompense for this, so every year seven youths and seven maidens were sent over to Crete and put in the Labyrinth where they were either killed by the Minotaur or died of thirst/starvation. The story goes that the tribute fell due and Theseus took the place of one of the youths promising if he survived he would fly white sails on his return to indicate he was alive. He went to Delphi to consult the Oracle who told him to put his trust in Aphrodite.
The back story to the Minotaur was that he was the half-brother to Ariadne King Minos’s daughter, his father was the white bull who had mated with Ariadne’s mother. King Minos had a labyrinth constructed to contain him.
Ariadne was smitten as soon as she saw Theseus and offered to help him if he would take her to Athens. Theseus agreed. She told him to take a ball of thread with him and use it to find his way back out. Theseus navigated the Labyrinth and slayed the Minotaur in his sleep and followed the thread back out.
Ariadne guided Theseus and his companions to the harbour where they escaped under the cover of darkness. They sailed to Naxos where Theseus built a shelter for Ariadne and then left her there, breaking his promise to take her to Athens. When she found herself alone she called upon the entire universe for vengeance and Zeus nodded his assent.
Theseus sailed for Athens where he encountered adverse winds which delayed his progress, it took him some time to get there and he forgot about his promise to put up white sails and left the black sails up.
His father Aegeus watched for his son every day and upon seeing the ship with the black sails swooned and fell into the Aegean Sea and was killed. Some say Theseus did this deliberately. The original warning by the Oracle had finally come true as Aegeus died of grief.
Theseus became ruler of Athens killing his opponents and setting up a federation of states, a law court and coins with the image of a bull on them. The mythology also credits Theseus with more adventuring, leaving counsellors and advisors in place whilst he was away.
His adventures also include encounters with the Amazons and the taking of Queen Antiope with whom he had Hippolytus. He had an alliance with Deucalion the ruler of Crete, whose daughter Phaedra he married, casting Queen Antiope aside. Antiope attacked them at their wedding and she was hunted down and killed.
Theseus’ grandfather Pittheus adopted Hippolytus as his heir.
There followed Greek tragedy where gods were offended, Theusus’ wife Phaedra was enchanted to fall in love with her stepson Hippolytus, was rejected, and ended with both of them dying.
Another convoluted story involving abducting Helen of Sparta (later of Troy) when she was very young and the consequences of his actions. He ended up with Hades inviting him to sit in the Chair of Forgetfulness in the underworld from where eventually Heracles rescued him. During this time the Spartans marched into Athens and set up a Regent.
When Theseus eventually returned he was seriously weakened and unable to do anything so set sail to Crete, he was blown off course and took shelter on Skyros where its ruler Lycomedes initially welcomed him before throwing Theseus to his death from a cliff.
During his life Theseus showed some very bad judgement, not thinking before he acted with some severe consequences for those around him, offended the gods and treated women badly (for example Ariadne and Antiope). This may explain why he did not get a hero’s end.
The next session we shall start on Heracles
Last Updated on February 10, 2023