Essay/Term paper: Theseus athens great hero

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Essays

Theseus Athens Great Hero


At birth Theseus an unknown father. His mother , Aethra , was friendly
with both Poseidon and Aegeus (Hunt 3-6). Before Theseus was born Aegeus said to
Aethra ." If we are to have a son , when he is grown have him take my sword and
sandals from under this boulder to me ," then he was off to Athens. Theseus was
born in a small town called Troezen and grew up there, in a normal way.
When Theseus was old enough Aethra took Theseus to the boulder where
the sandals and sword were and told him what Aegeus had said. Theseus lifted the
giant boulder with ease and immediately wanted to go to Athens. He insisted on
going by land even though it is much more dangerous for there are thieves and
he did not want to heed his mother's warnings. So he was off to Athens on foot
to meet his father.
On the journey Theseus met many thieves and out whited every one of them
from asking to see there nice weapons and using them agents the thieves to
seeing what they were trying to do to him and using that to hurt or usually kill
them. Either way Theseus showed courage and wisdom in his quick thinking that
would make him a great hero that would be remembered for many years to come.
The first day in Athens Theseus started looking for Aegeus' castle but
what he did not know was that Aegeus was ,at the time, under the power of a
sorcerer by the name of Medea. She could see the power in him from afar and saw
that he would take her power so she told Aegeus to kill him. At this time either
Aegeus nor Theseus knew that they were related. Media told Aegeus to invite
Theseus to a party or ball coming in the near feature and to poison his drink.
Aegeus poisoned his drink and gave it to Theseus. Just before Theseus drank the
wine Aegeus dashed the glass to the ground for he had just recognized his sword.
Aegeus and Theseus became good friends and lived together for a time.
One day Theseus saw ships with black sails coming and heard that there were
taking 20 people to the labyrinth where they would be killed by a monster called
the Minitor. Theseus had to stop this annual occurrence and went on the boat and
promised if he lived to change the sails from black to white to tell Aegeus that
Theseus was alive.
Theseus went on the ship to the labyrinth in Crete and met Ariadne ,
who he fell in love with immediately, who gave him a ball of silk for which to
get out of the maze. Theseus got all of the others to follow him and finally
found and killed the Minitor by himself. He then followed the silk back out. He
loved Ariadne and took her home with him. On the way Dionysis said that he was
already to be wed with Ariadne and took her with him. Theseus was so sad that he
forgot to change the sails. Aegeus saw the black sails from atop a high cliff
while watching for his son and jumped into the sea below him killing himself in
what is now called the Aegean sea.