Theseus — Hero of Athens

I. Who Was Theseus?

Theseus was the great hero-king of Athens — the city's mythological founder and the mortal who freed Athens from its terrible tribute to King Minos of Crete. While Heracles was the hero of all Greece and Achilles the hero of the Trojan War, Theseus belonged specifically to Athens. The Athenians revered him as the man who unified the scattered settlements of Attica into a single city-state and laid the foundations for what would become the world's first democracy.

His parentage was dual: his mother Aethra lay with both the mortal King Aegeus of Athens and the god Poseidon on the same night, giving Theseus both a royal and a divine claim to power. He grew up in Troezen, unaware of his true father's identity, until he was old enough to lift a heavy rock under which Aegeus had hidden a sword and a pair of sandals — the tokens by which Theseus would prove his heritage.

II. The Journey to Athens

Rather than sail safely to Athens by sea, the young Theseus chose the dangerous overland route, deliberately seeking out and defeating a series of bandits and monsters along the way — much as Heracles had done with his Labours. He killed Periphetes the club-wielder, Sinis the pine-bender, the Crommyonian Sow, Sciron who kicked travelers off a cliff, Cercyon the wrestler, and Procrustes who stretched or amputated travelers to fit his iron bed. By the time he reached Athens, he was already famous.

III. The Minotaur

Athens owed a terrible debt to Crete: every nine years, fourteen young Athenians (seven men and seven women) were sent as tribute to be devoured by the Minotaur in the Labyrinth. Theseus volunteered to be one of the fourteen, vowing to end the tribute forever. On Crete, King Minos's daughter Ariadne fell in love with him and gave him a ball of thread to unwind as he entered the maze so he could find his way back out.

Theseus ventured into the dark heart of the Labyrinth, found the Minotaur, and slew it — either with his fists, a club, or a hidden sword. Following Ariadne's thread, he led the other Athenians safely out. He sailed home with Ariadne (whom he later abandoned on the island of Naxos, where Dionysus found and married her), but forgot his father's instruction to change his ship's black sails to white. Seeing the black sails, Aegeus believed his son was dead and threw himself into the sea — thereafter called the Aegean.

IV. King of Athens

As king, Theseus was credited with the synoikismos — the unification of the independent villages of Attica into a single political entity centered on Athens. He was said to have established democratic institutions, willingly surrendering much of his royal authority to the people. Later adventures included his expedition with Heracles against the Amazons (capturing their queen Hippolyta, who became his wife) and his ill-fated descent into the underworld with his friend Pirithous to abduct Persephone — where they were trapped by Hades until Heracles eventually freed Theseus.