Greek Myth: Theseus

Greek Myth: Theseus

The revered Theseus has an intricate, yet simple story. His father was King Aegeus of Athens and son of a proud mother by the name of Aethra. Theseus’s father had told Aethra to pass along a message to their unborn child (Theseus): "If we shall have a son, when he is old enough tell him to lift this rock and take my sword and sandals from under it." When it was time, Theseus had managed to lift the boulder with ease, retrieved the items, and then set off to Athens. He was told to go by sea, for the roads were littered with bandits and outlaws. Theseus refused and continued on foot.

His first encounter was with a large man holding a shiny club. After being threatened by the man, Theseus tricked the bandit into letting him see the club and then hit him across the head with it. As he continued his journey, he came upon a large man who said, “These are my cliffs. To pass, you must wash my feet as a toll.” Theseus sat down and started to wash the man’s feet. Theseus looked over the side of the cliff; there was a monstrous turtle at the bottom. Then Theseus knew that this was the man that kicked people off the cliff where a man-eating turtle waited. When the man’s foot came towards him, Theseus jerked aside and hurled him off the cliff. Later, Theseus also dispatched of two more highwaymen in the same way they had done to travelers in the past.

Finally arriving at Athens, after unknowingly freeing his father of a curse, Theseus learned of a debt that his family was in. After the Prince of Crete had accidentally been killed under the hospitality of Athens, King Minos had demanded 14 “tributes” (7 boys, 7 girls) to be sacrificed each nine years. The sacrifices were taken to Crete and put into a maze that was home to a Minotaur. Theseus nominated