Theseus was the hero of many Greek legends, most notably Theseus and the Minotaur but was he a real person?
Theseus was a mythological king and founder hero of Athens, sometimes described as the son of king Aegeus and sometimes the son of the god Poseidon. He was everything a Greek hero should be handsome, athletic and strong.
He was raised by his mother Aethra and on learning the identity of his father (Aegeus in this particular legend) he travels overland to Athens having many adventures along the way.
His most famous adventure concerns the monstrous bull-headed creature, the Minotaur, living in a maze under the palace of King Minos on the island of Crete.
He is helped in his quest to slay the monster by the king’s daughter Ariadne.
After the conclusion of this adventure, he travels to unite Attica under Athenian rule.
He becomes the King of a unified Attica and builds a palace on the fortress of the Acropolis.
His ship, used to transport him from Crete to Athens after his defeat of the Minotaur was kept as a tribute to him for centuries in the Athenian Harbour. As timbers rotted, they were replaced, and the ship was used annually to pay tribute to the god, Apollo, by sailing it to the island of Delos each year for hundreds of years.
Unfortunately, as in many Greek legends, the life of Theseus didn’t end well.
Abdicating his throne, he travelled to the island of Syros. King Lycomedes welcomed him with open arms but was secretly afraid that Theseus had come to steal his thrown.
He took Theseus on a stroll to show him the beautiful island, while standing on some high cliffs to enjoy the view, and while his back has turned Lycomedes lunged forward and pushed Theseus to his death.
Theseus in some stories was also a god, the god of horses (again reflecting his possible connections to Poseidon).
But was Theseus a real man?
Well in recent years scholars have began to think that he may well have been.
Whether he battled monsters or not is debatable, but their certainly could have been a Bronze age Greek King called Theseus, who unified warring Greek states to create Athens!
Archaeologists are still scouring the Greek world to answer this question!
We at HISTORY.PORTAL we love the story of the Theseus and the Minotaur, and we have a great musical all about it! It’s called MONSTER OF THE MAZE The Story of Theseus and the Minotaur
Has 12 amazing songs, and a great fun script created specifically for your children to perform, and yours will love it. It even has a pack on how to create the props and scenery. You can download it at https://www.history-portal.com/product/monster-of-the-maze/ where you can read two pages of script and hear two of the songs.
Isn’t History fun?
10 Questions to ask on Theseus:
- What are some key characteristics that make Theseus a quintessential Greek hero?
- Can you explain the significance of Theseus’ journey to Athens and the adventures he had along the way?
- Who aided Theseus in his quest to defeat the Minotaur, and how did they assist him?
- What role did Theseus play after his victory over the Minotaur, according to the legend?
- Could you elaborate on the tradition of using Theseus’ ship as a tribute to Apollo?
- What led to Theseus’ unfortunate demise, according to the legends?
- In addition to being a hero, what other roles or attributes are associated with Theseus in Greek mythology?
- How do scholars interpret the existence of Theseus in historical terms?
- What evidence or clues do archaeologists use to investigate the potential historicity of Theseus?
- Ultimately, what remains uncertain about the reality of Theseus, despite scholarly inquiry and archaeological efforts?
To learn more, go to:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Theseus-Greek-hero
https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Heroes/Theseus/theseus.html
https://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/myth-of-theseus-and-minotaur/
© Anthony James