The Story of Theseus (Contemporary of Heracles)

(i) Use a Map to show the relative locations of Troezen, Athens and Crete

(ii)Legends related to Theseus

(a) The Six Labours of Theseus on his way to Athens

1. At Epidauros, Theseus met a cripple with a huge club. Theseus killed him and took the club
2. Killed the "pinebender"
3. Killed the wild sow
4. A man sitting on a rock forced passers-by to wash his feet. He pushed them over a cliff into the sea. He was killed by Theseus
5. Killed a famous wrestler
6. Killed the man who kept the lodging house. There were two beds in the lodging hous
   • a long bed - stretched people to fit
   • a short bed - cut off their legs to fit.

(b) The Killing of the Minotaur

• King Minos of Crete ordered that every nine years 7 boys and 7 girls be sent from Athens to Crete to be devoured by the Minotaur in revenge for the killing (in Athens) of his own son
• Moral of the story was that in exacting revenge for the death of his son (Androgeos), King Minos lost his step-son (the Minotaur)
• Ariadne, daughter of Minos, fell in love with Theseus
• Ariadne helped him get into the labyrinth with magic ball of thread given to her by Dedalus (who designed and built it)
• Theseus went in and killed the Minotaur
• He took Ariadne with him to be his wife
• On the way home they stopped on the island of Naxos. One legend says that Dionysus married Ariadne
• He had promised his father that before leaving Athens he would hoist a white sail on his return journey if he had successfully killed the Minotaur. He forgot and left the black sail flying.
• Aegeus saw the black sail and threw himself off the Acropolis (site of temple of Wingless Victory)
• Aegean Sea is called after him
• Theseus later married Phaedra (sister of Ariadne) to make amends for abandoning Ariadne.

(iii) Main Points

• Name - he who deposits - sword and sandals deposited by his father under rock in Troezen
• Father - King Aegeus of Athens
• Born - Troezen in Peloponnese - grew up there
• Later went back to Athens - 6 labours on way back
• Medea who married Aegeus tried to kill him - she fled
• Sacrificed to Athene the White Cretan Bull of Heracles
• Killed the Minotaur
• After father's death took over control of Attica
• Minted money
• Four years in Underworld - rescued by Heracles
• Death - pushed off mountain
• His ghost appeared at the Battle of Marathon 490 BC (Athenians v Persians - Athenians won)
• Bones buried in the "Theseum" in Athens. (Also called the Temple of Hephaestus)

(iv) Primary Sources

• Literature
  Plutarch: "Life o f Theseus"
  Ovid: "The Heroides" and "Metamorphoses"
  Catullus - Poem 64
• Sculpture
  Sleeping Ariadne (Vatican). (See Richter's "Handbook of Greek Art")
• Architecture
  Scenes of Theseus' life can be seen in Theseum in Athens
  Fresco - Herculaneum
  Vase from Vulci - British Museum

(v) Influence on Later European Culture

(vi) Recommended Activities for Students

• Draw or colour a picture of the Minotaur
• Draw a maze. Construct a game in which the student must find his/her way out of the maze having killed the Minotaur.
• Tell the story of how the Aegean Sea got its name

(vii) Related Topics

1. The Palace at Knossos in Crete was excavated by Sir Arthur Evans in 1900. It is believed to be the Palace of King Minos and the home of the Minotaur.
   It is suggested that in a description of the main features of the Palace the following should be included
   • The Throne Room with stone throne and frescoed2.
   • The Queen's Room - frescoes of Dolphins and dancing girls
   • The Hall of the double axes - outline of axes incised into the walls
   • Large jars - Pithoi
   • Linear A + B tablets
   (Linear B tablets were found on the site. They were deciphered by Michael Ventris and found to be written in Ancient Greek. Linear B tablets were also found on the mainland, at Mycenae).
   
   Sir. A. Evans called the Civilisation at Crete the Minoan Civilisation, after King Minos. It represents the Cretan Bronze Age. This culture greatly influenced the Mycenaeans who succeeded the Minoans in control of the Aegean. Sir Arthur Evans was keeper of the Ashmole an Museum in Oxford and the "Arthur Evans Room" there has on display many interesting items from Crete, including a replica of the stone throne from the Throne Room at Knossos. (Ref: "Arthur Evans and the Palace of Minos", Ann Brown (Ashmolean Museum)).
   
2. Monsters from the Ancient World (see R. Graves: "The Greek Myths"
   • The Chimaera and Story of Bellerophon(Iliad)
   • Briareus (Aegaeon) - Illiad
   • Argus
   • Cerberus
   • Pegasus
   • Medusa
   • Scylla & Charybdis (Odyssey)