Theseus
Parents
 Aegeus of Athens & Aethra: King Aegeus was childless, go to oracle, "Don't
get drunk!"
 visits Pittheus of Troezen on way home, Pit. interprets oracle, hooks up Aeg.
with daughter Aethra
 Aethra sleeps with Poseidon same night
 Aeg. buries sword & sandals under rock 'if it's a boy, send him to me when
he's old/ strong enough to retrieve these items' & leaves
 Theseus born, grows up athletic/ warrior, retrieves Aegeus' stuff, sets out for
Athens
On the way to Athens
 Theseus wants to emulate Hercules' heroic deeds, so he takes land route, not
sea- road has bad guys
 Periphetes "Clubman" big bronze club, bonks ppl on head for fun; TH takes
club as trophy after defeating him
 Sinis "Treeman" -robber who used bent trees to either fling ppl or tear them
to bits; killed same way; TH seduced Treeman's daughter
 Crommyon Sow -big pig
 Sceiron -robber who made ppl wash his feet, then kicked them over the edge
of cliff to feed giant turtle; TH throws him over cliff
 King Cercyon of Eleusis -wrestles any visitors to death; TH won, eventually
gave rule of Eleusis to King C's son
 Damastes/ Procrustes "the Stretcher" -forced ppl to fit his bed via stretching
or cutting off bits; TH killed him with his own bed; "He was a BED man"
 purified of murder @ Zeus' shrine
In Athens
 TH wore a long robe, was ridiculed for looking girly, tossed oxen at insulters,
no more insults
 kept identity as Aeg.'s son quiet, invited to palace for dinner because of 'road
work'
 Medea -witch, from Colchis, formerly hero Jason's wife, now Aeg.'s consort &
mother of Aeg.'s son Medus
 Medea realizes who TH is & protects her own son by suggesting TH be sent
after the Marathonian Bull [bull from Crete, brought to Athens area by
Hercules, see below in Minotaur section--had killed previous heroes sent
after it]; TH captures it and offers it as sacrifice [appropriate use!]
 Medea tries to poison TH at dinner, tells Aeg. to be suspicious of TH because
of other rivals; Aeg. recognizes TH sword & sandals, prevents TH from
drinking poison & acknowledges TH, Medea flees with her son?
 TH sent after rivals, now rebelling; kills/ forces them to flee/ surrender
Minotaur
 King Minos of Crete, wife Pasiphaë, children include Androgeos, Ariadne, &
Phaedra; son of Zeus & Europa
 to prove 'divine right' to rule he claims that Pos. will do as he asks; prays for
a bull to sacrifice; bull comes, but Minos didn't sacrifice it
 Pos. mad; makes Pasiphae fall in 'love' with bull; she asks Daedalus the
inventor to make a 'cow suit' so she can 'love' the bull; Pasiphaë gives birth to
Minotaur [Minos' Bull]
 Minos houses Minotaur in Labyrinth -no escape, shame hidden; puts
Daedalus [designed the maze] & D's son Icarus there too
 Androgeos, Minos' very athletic son, was killed by Aegeus because he had too
much popularity
 Minos makes war on Athens, plague comes, oracle says 'give Minos tribute'
 7 young men & 7 young women every 9 years to be Minotaur food
Theseus vs. Minotaur
 Theseus is a tribute: 1) he volunteered in order to try & kill Minotaur 2)
chosen by lot 3) Minos picked him on purpose [HG?]
 deal made- sail color changed on way back if TH lived
 on the way, Minos disputes TH's claim of Pos. as dad; Minos calls lightning for
proof, tosses ring into water & challenges TH to get it; TH dives in, recovers
ring [and crown?] [PJ?]
 Ariadne, Minos' daughter, sees TH, falls in love, asks Daed. how to help TH;
provides ball of thread [sword too?]
 TH kills Minotaur
 TH & other Athenians escape Crete, take Ariadne with them; stop on island
[Dia/ Naxos], Ariadne gets left behind, Dionysus finds & marries her [kids?]
 Athenians forget to change sails, Aeg., thinking TH is dead, suicides via cliff
jump into sea; Aegean Sea named after him, TH is King
Theseus post-Minotaur
 tries to develop democratic rule in Athens
 reinstitutes Isthmian Games, dedicated to Pos.
 Argonaut [anachronism -see Jason/ Medea]
 Calydonian boar hunt
 raids Amazons [with Hercules?]; carries off Amazon queen Antiope/
Hippolyta; son Hippolytus -devotee of Artemis, sent to great-grandpa
Pittheus @ Troezen
Phaedra
 TH marries Phaedra [political- Minos' daughter/ Ariadne's sister], 2 sons
 TH kills some rivals, punished via banishment for 1 year from Athens; takes
family to Troezen
 Ph. loves Hippolytus, pines away, maid tells Hipp. about Ph
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Hipp, being chaste, scorns Ph in silence
Ph suicides, leaves note saying Hipp raped her
TH banishes Hipp, uses Pos.' curse to kill Hipp- bull spooks chariot
Artemis tells TH that Hipp was innocent, set up by Aphrodite for no worship
Perithoüs
 son of the Lapith king Ixion ['raped' cloud-Hera, flaming wheel in Tartarus]
 stole TH's cows to see who was better man...ended up BFFs on meeting
 invited Centaurs [Half man, half horse] to his wedding, let them drink;
Centaurs try to carry off bride/ other wedding guests; fight ensues, TH helps
Peri's ppl defeat centaurs
 pact to 'marry' Zeus' daughters 1) Peri helps TH kidnap Helen of Sparta
[she's about 10-12yo, ?] so he can be related to her heroic brothers, the
Dioscuri [Castor & Pollux/ Polydeuces -Argonauts, Gemini, shared
immortality]; make war on Athens
 Peri goes after Persephone!! TH helps. They talk to Hades. He suggest TH & P
sit down; imprisoned/ forget; Hercules frees TH, leaves P
Back to Athens
 Athenians no longer like him b/c of war
 put direct descendant on throne [Aegeus was adopted]
 TH sails away, curses Athens
 takes refuge with another king but "slipped & fell off cliff" while on a walkbelieved to be pushed off by host
 son Demophon became King of Athens
 TH's ship preserved, but TH forgotten
 ghost of TH believed to have saved Athens from Persians at battle of
Marathon; honored like a god