|
PAGE TWO
When the Minotaur
was born, Minos did not kill it. Instead, he had Daedalus, a
great architect and inventor, build a place to confine the
Minotaur so the Minotaur could not escape. Daedalus built the
Labyrinth, a structure that was famous throughout the world.
This was the place where the 14 Athenians were taken to when
they were sent to Crete. Co-incidentally, these 14 people were
sent just after Theseus arrived in Athens.
After hearing the story of Minos and the tributes to him every
nine years, Theseus offered to be one of the victims that was to
be sent. Everyone praised him for his nobility, but they had no
idea that Theseus would try to kill the Minotaur once inside the
maze. He told his father that if he was successful, he would
change the sail of the ship that carried the victims from black
to white to tell the king of his success well in advance of his
arrival in Greece. This was to show that Theseus had survived.
When the victims arrived on the island of Crete, they were
paraded around before the inhabitants on their way to the maze.
Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, was one of the spectators and
she fell in love with Theseus as soon as she saw him. She
quickly summoned for Daedalus to ask if there was a way out of
the Labyrinth. Ariadne promised Theseus the answer to getting
out of the Labyrinth if he would take her back to Athens and
marry her. He agreed to this compromise and she gave him a ball
of thread which he could attach to the entrance of the
Labyrinth. This would allow him to re-trace his steps whenever
his wished.
So Theseus made his way into the Labyrinth to find the Minotaur.
He allowed the ball of thread to unwind so that he could
re-trace his journey later. It wasn't long before he came across
the Minotaur; the Minotaur was sleeping. Theseus jumped on the
creature and pinned him to the ground. Then, Theseus proceeded
to batter the beast to death. Once the Minotaur was dead, he got
up and found his ball of thread. Theseus instructed the other
people out of the maze while following the ball of thread that
guided the way. They boarded the ship that they arrived on and
headed towards Athens.
The ship travelled to the island of Naxos where they briefly
stopped over . There are conflicting stories as to what happened
on the island. The first story said that while on the island,
Theseus deserted Ariadne while she slept on the island. The
other story, which favours Theseus more, said that Ariadne
suddenly became seasick. As a result of this, she was left on
the island while Theseus stayed on the ship to do some necessary
work. A terrible storm carried him out to sea and when he
returned, he found that Ariadne had died.
Both stories agree that when they sailed near Athens, Theseus
forgot to put out the white sail to show his success in Crete.
It was either that he forgot to hoist the sail or that he was
filled with grief over the death of Ariadne that he failed to
put it out. As a result of his failure to hoist the white sail,
when King Aegeus saw the black sail at the Acropolis he assumed
that his son had died. He was so filled with grief that he
jumped off from a rocky cliff into the sea and was killed. The
sea into which he jumped was then, and still is known as the
Aegean Sea.
Theseus was made the King of Greece but he didn't want to be the
king because he felt that a people's government where everyone
would be equal would be better suited for Greece. He resigned
his power and organized a commonwealth, building a council hall
where the citizens would gather and vote. Theseus did keep the
title of Commander in Chief of Greece.
As a result of the change in government, Athens became the
happiest and most prosperous of all the cities on Earth. In
fact, it was the only place in the world where everyone governed
themselves. It was for this that in the War of Seven against
Thebes when the victorious Thebans refused to bury those of the
enemy who had died, the defeated turned to Theseus for help.
Theseus led an army against Thebes and conquered her and forced
her to allow the dead to be buried. However, Theseus did not
avenge the evil that had taken place during the war. Instead, he
refused to allow his army to loot the city. He was the perfect
knight.
Theseus still had a love for danger. He went to the country of
the Amazons, the women warriors, and brought away one of them,
whose name is given sometimes as Antiope as well as Hippolyta in
other cases. It is certain that it was she who bore Theseus'
child who was named Hippolytus. After the birth of Hippolytus,
the Amazons came to Greece to rescue her. They invaded Attica
and some say they made it as far as Athens itself but were
defeated by Theseus' army. After this, no other enemy invaded
Greece as long as Theseus lived.
He also took part in many other adventures. He was one of the
men that travelled on the Argo that searched for the Golden
Fleece. He also took part in the Calydonian Hunt where he was
one who tried to kill the boar that lay waste on Calydon. He
saved a man's life on this hunt, the life of Pirithoüs.
Pirithoüs was a man who was as adventurous as Theseus but was
not nearly as successful; he was always in trouble. Their
friendship developed after Pirithoüs wanted to test what a great
hero Theseus was. To test this, Pirithoüs decided to steal some
cattle from Theseus in Attica. When he found out that Theseus
was pursuing him, Pirithoüs met Theseus, wanting to see who the
better man was. As impulsive as Pirithoüs was, he submitted to
Theseus and said that he would accept any penalty that Theseus
offered. After hearing this good gesture, Theseus asked that he
only need be a friend of his.
Another example of Theseus' helpfulness occurred during the
wedding of Pirithoüs and his wife. Many Centaurs were invited to
the reception. Centaurs are animals that are half human and half
horse. They were related to the bride and they caused much
trouble at the wedding. They became drunk and seized the women.
Theseus came to the defense of the bride who was being carried
off. A battle resulted from this incident between the Centaurs
and the Lapithae, the people of which Pirithoüs was the king.
Theseus helped to finally drive off the entire race of Centaurs
from where the Lapithae lived.
After the death of his first wife, King Pirithoüs attempted to
get the most carefully guarded lady in the universe, that lady
being Persephone. Theseus agreed to help his friend because he
liked this dangerous and near impossible undertaking. Theseus
suggested that Pirithoüs should attempt to win over Helen, the
heroine of Troy, who was only a child at the time. Pirithoüs
agreed and Theseus captured the young girl with Pirithoüs hoping
that he could marry her when she had grown. Helen had two
brothers, Castor and Pollux, and these two were more than a
match for any mortal hero.
When the two brothers arrived where Helen had been taken to,
Pirithoüs and Theseus could not be found because they had
slipped into the underworld. The details of this journey are not
known, but the Hades welcomed the two, in hopes to amuse
himself. When they arrived, Hades instructed them to sit in two
chairs, which were known as the Chairs of Forgetfulness. Anyone
who sat in these chairs forgot everything and did not move from
the chair. Pirithoüs remained in the chair forever, but Theseus
was lifted from the chair by Hercules when he travelled to the
underworld and brought him back to Earth. Pirithoüs remained
because the King of the Underworld knew that it was Pirithoüs
who wanted to carry off Persephone.
Later on in his life he married Phaedra, the sister of Hippolyta,
the Amazon woman who had borne his son, Hippolytus. Great
misfortunes fell upon them as a result of this. Hippolytus grew
up away from Theseus near the town where Theseus himself had
grown up. Hippolytus grew up to be a great hunter and a strong
man who despised people who lived in luxury and people who were
silly enough to fall in love. He disliked Aphrodite very much as
a result. He only praised Artemis, the huntress. When Theseus
and Phaedra travelled back to his home town, he met Hippolytus
and a strong bond between father and son grew. Hippolytus took
no notice of his stepmother, but Phaedra fell deeply in love
with her stepson. This was a punishment by Aphrodite to hurt
Hippolytus for his hate for Aphrodite.
When one of Phaedra's nurses realized that Phaedra wanted to
kill herself, she quickly went to Hippolytus and told him of the
situation. The nurse told him that Phaedra was in love with him.
However, Hippolytus was disgusted by the thought of love, but
this guilty love sickened and horrified him. He went to the
courtyard of the house with the nurse following. Little did he
know that Phaedra was sitting there. Hippolytus did not see her
and continued on with the conversation saying that he would
never love any woman and that he would not enter the house again
unless his father was present there. As he turned around to
leave, he spotted Phaedra.
Phaedra, soon after this incident, killed herself. Theseus found
out about this after he made his way to the courtyard where the
nurse was. The nurse informed him of Phaedra's death. Phaedra
had left a letter that was addressed to Theseus. Theseus read
the letter and was angered by it. Theseus told his slaves that
Hippolytus had killed his wife. Just as this was occurring,
Hippolytus entered the courtyard, wondering what the problem
was. He was unaware that the letter said that Hippolytus killed
Phaedra. He questioned his father on his stepmother's death.
Theseus was angered by what Hippolytus had said and based on
what the letter had said, Theseus punished him by sending him
away in exile. But Hippolytus told his story and swore on Zeus
that he had not killed Theseus' wife. Theseus did not believe
him and maintained the banishment of Hippolytus from Greece.
Hippolytus left from Greece, but not in exile. Death was close
at hand for Hippolytus though. As he travelled in his chariot, a
large sea monster emerged from the water and caused the horses
on the chariot to run away. This knocked the chariot over and
seriously hurt Hippolytus.
Theseus was later told the truth by Artemis. She told him that
the letter was untruthfully written and that Phaedra was madly
in love with Hippolytus. Moreover, Hippolytus was innocent. As
this happened, Hippolytus, who was barely living, was carried
in. Hippolytus proclaimed his innocence, and only now did
Theseus believe him, after hearing the truth from Artemis.
Artemis had said that it was Aphrodite who had killed Hippolytus.
As Artemis left from the presence of Theseus, Hippolytus died.
The death of Theseus was wretched as well. He was at the court
of a friend, King Lycomedes. Many people said that he had gone
there because he felt that Athens had banished him. For some
unknown reason, the king, who was his friend, killed him. Even
if the people of Athens had banished Theseus, the people
honoured him like no other mortal. They built a great tomb for
him and said that it would be a sanctuary for slaves and all
people who are helpless, in memory of one who through his life
had been the protector of the defenseless.
Hippolytus left from
Greece, but not in exile. Death was close at hand for Hippolytus
though. As he travelled in his chariot, a large sea monster
emerged from the water and caused the horses on the chariot to
run away. This knocked the chariot over and seriously hurt
Hippolytus.
Theseus was later
told the truth by Artemis. She told him that the letter was
untruthfully written and that Phaedra was madly in love with
Hippolytus. Moreover, Hippolytus was innocent. As this happened,
Hippolytus, who was barely living, was carried in. Hippolytus
proclaimed his innocence, and only now did Theseus believe him,
after hearing the truth from Artemis. Artemis had said that it
was Aphrodite who had killed Hippolytus. As Artemis left from
the presence of Theseus, Hippolytus died.
The death of Theseus
was wretched as well. He was at the court of a friend, King
Lycomedes. Many people said that he had gone there because he
felt that Athens had banished him. For some unknown reason, the
king, who was his friend, killed him. Even if the people of
Athens had banished Theseus, the people honoured him like no
other mortal. They built a great tomb for him and said that it
would be a sanctuary for slaves and all people who are helpless,
in memory of one who through his life had been the protector of
the defenseless.
THOMAS
BULLFINCH'S THESEUS ON PAGE THREE
THOMAS
BULLFINCH'S THESEUS ON PAGE THREE
BACK HOME
|
