Geographical Association: Athenian hero, ascends cultural status with the rise of Athens, the territory of Attica near the Sardonic gulf.
Genaelogy: Augeus + Aethra.
Claim to Fame: Pint-size Heracles, completes half the labours.
Literature: ?
Myth
I. Birth: The childless King of Athens, Augeus, consults the Delphic Oracle on how to attain a heir. Her cryptic message "not to open the wineskin" is lost on him, so he visits his friend King Pittheus in Troezen for advice. The wily King instead betroths his daughter Aethra to Augeus, after getting him drunk (told you not to open the wineskin...). Augeus accidentally impregnates her, but orders her to tell no one and raise it in secret. He mandates that only the son of Augeus could lift the boulder that he places his sandals and sword under.After Augeus departs for Athens, Aethra has a dream that Poseidon is demanding sacrifice on a nearby island. She wakes and visits it the same night, and has a secret tryst with the god = dual paternity of Theseus.
II. Manhood: When Theseus is grown, he easily moves the boulder and obtains his mortal fathers sandals and sword. Instead of sailing his way to Athens, he vows to take the more heroic overland route, in which he completes 6 Labours:
1. Periphetes/Corynetes ("Club Man") @ Epidaurus: Known for bashing his victims, Theseus bashes this robber with his own club.
2. Sinis/Pityocamptes ("Pine Bender") @ Isthmus of Corinth: Known for bending two pines, tying his victim to them, then having them snap apart, Sinus suffers the same fate at the hands of Theseus.
3. Monsterous Sow @ Northern point of Isthmus, village Cromyon: He slays the carnivorous of a mean old woman
4. Sciron @ Megara: Known for leading his victims to a cliff and getting them to wash his feet, only to boot them off towards his man-eating turtle, once again he suffers the same fate at the hands of Theseus.
5. Cercyon @ Elusius: Known for his wrestling ability, Theseus out wrestles the wrestler and escapes his own death. He kills the local hero instead, eclipsing his status.
6. Procrustes ("stretcher") b/t Eluseus and Athens: Known for measuring out his victims and proportioning to proper size (either with a hammer and stretcher, or a large axe), Theseus defeats him, although it is unknown if Procrustes was too short or too tall.
III. Arrival at Athens: Having completed his 6 labours, Theseus is received in Athens as is any other stranger/hero. His step-mother, the sorceress Medea who has married Augeus, views Theseus as a threat to her son Medus and attempts to poison him with drink. Augeus, discovering the strangers identity at the last second, prevents him from consuming the poison. To escape punishment, Medea flees eastward on a dragon-drawn chariot.
In the meantime, Theseus meets the Bull of Marathon, the Cretan Bull that Heracles rescued from Minos and delivered to the mainland. He manages to subdue it and sacrifice it to Apollo Delphinius.
IV. The Minotaur: Minos (son of Zeus and Europa) , King of Crete, was unable to sacrifice a sacred bull from Poseidon. Angry, the vengeful God strikes his wife Pasiphae with irrevocable desire for the creature. In order to avoid embarassment, Pasiphae asks Daedalus, an Athenian engineer to build a hollow wooden cow for her to occupy. She is impregnated by the bull, and delivers forth the Minotaur.
The man-eating monstrosity is hidden in a labyrinth (also built by Daedalus) and fed on human flesh.
In the meantime, Prince Androgeus is killed by some Athenians after his successful participation in some athenian athletic events. In response, Crete attacks Athens, but they come to a settlement whereby each year 7 young princes and 7 young princesses are shipped off to Crete and fed to the Minotaur.
In reponse to this injustice, Theseus offers to go, vowing to slay the monster and relenquish the obligation to Crete. He tells his father on the return journey he will raise white sails if he succeeds (versus the black sails of mourning).
Ariadnes, daughter of Minos, falls in love at first sight with Theseus. She betrays her family by giving him a clue ("ball of wool") for the labyrinth, which Theseus uses to navigate his escape after he slaughters the Minotaur. Along with saving the 14 youth, he rescues Ariadne from her father as they sail home (Unfortunately she's abandoned on the island of Naxos/Dia where she is rescued and married to Dionysus)
Theseus forgets to hoist the white sails, so Augeus is stricken with grief at the loss of his son, and throws himself into the sea. Theseus arrives to Athens as the new king, and immediately conducts a series of reforms which unify Athenian villages into one metropolis, and reinstitute the Isthmian Athletic gmes.
V. Other Myths:
-Theseus joined Heracles on his 9th labour to the Amazon. Whereas Heracles kills his lover Hippolytus, Theseus abducts Antiope after an epic battle with the enraged women.
-Pirithous, King of Lapiths, is married one day and Theseus is the best man. Unfortunately, as the vino is uncorked a tribe of centaurs attack. Although the two kings triumph, their guests have been slain (including the bride). Pirithous asserts the only bride equivalent to the one he lost is Persephone, and convinces Theseus to descend to Hades with him. They get stuck, of course, but Heracles comes to the rescue, only to save Theseus.
