Foundation Stories : Theseus Flashcards
Who was Theseus
Mythical king and founder - hero of Athens
Known for his adventures including the Centauromachy (civilisation vs barbarism)
Who were Theseus’ parents
Mother - Aethra
Mortal father - Aegeus
Immortal father - Poseidon
What did Aegeus do before leaving for Athens
He buried his sandals and sword under a huge rock. He told Aethra that when their son grew up if he were heroic enough, he should move this rock and receive the items.
Why did Theseus travel by road to Athens instead of by ship
He believed that by ship the journey would be to easy and wanted to enter Athens as a hero.
Who were the 6 evil guardians that stood by the gates of the underworld and how did Theseus overcome them
1- Periphetes - clubbed him to death with his own bronze club
2- Sinis - stuck him on a pine tree and tore him in half
3- Crommiyan sow - (man eating pig) killed him with a club
4- Sciron - kicked him in the sea to be eaten by a giant sea turtle
5- Cercyon - wrestled him to death
6- Procrustes - made him fit into his own bed by cutting his limbs off
What was significant about the way Theseus killed the each force of evil
He killed them using their own methods of murder
What did Aegeus’ wife Medea make Theseus do and what happens after
She wanted him to prove his worth by killing the Marathonian Bull (also known as the Cretan bull). Theseus sacrificed the bull to Apollo then banished Medea as she tried to poison him.
What happened to King Minos’ (king of Crete) son and what did this cause
He was killed in Athens so as payment Athens was obligated to send fourteen young people to Crete to enter Daedalus’ labyrinth: home to the Minotaur
What was the Minotaur
Half man and half bull
What did Theseus do to stop this payment
Theseus volunteered as tribute and went to Crete planning on killing the Minotaur. There he fell in love with Ariadne (king Minos’ daughter) to which he used to his advantage.
How did Ariadne help Theseus
She tied a ball of gold thread to Theseus not only to kill the Minotaur but also find his way back out.
What did Theseus do to Ariadne
He married her but in the way back he abandoned her on an island when she was sleeping. Dionysus heard her tears and made her his immortal wife.
How did Theseus’ father (Aegeus) die
Theseus had told his father that if he had survived the sails of the boat he will come back on would be white. However, Theseus forgot and left the sails black so when Aegeus (who was on the look out) saw the boat he threw himself into the sea (now named the Aegean Sea) thinking his son was dead
What did Theseus do to when he was king
He United all the tribes of Athens and he began the Panathenaea and the Isthmain games
Who did Theseus marry and what happened
Theseus married the Amazonian Queen Hippolyte and had a son named Hippolytus. He later remarried Ariadne’s sister Phaedra who ended up falling in love with Hippolytus. Theseus cursed his son killing him and Phaedra hung herself.
