Characteristics Of Theseus A Greek Hero

Throughout Greek history, there have been numerous Greek heroes. Some are famous for their strength. Others may be remembered for their wisdom. The Greek hero Theseus, on the other hand, was famous for both. However, Theseus, like many before him, also faced many challenges. Some of his challenges involved, but were not limited to, his journey to Athens, Medea’s killing attempts, and slaying the Minotaur. Theseus, like many other Greek heroes in mythology, had a peculiar parentage. His mother was Aethra, who was the daughter of the king of Troezen, but Theseus was known to have two fathers. One of his fathers was believed to be Poseidon, whose involvement with the impregnation is unclear. In some cases, it is said that he possessed Aethra
Sinis was also known as “Pityokamptes” or “he who bends trees” because he liked to torment travelers by fastening them to two bent pine trees and dismembering them when he let the trees go. Theseus, however, was far too clever for him and used his own method against him in order to kill him. Later that night, Theseus stopped at a house to rest from the day’s quarrels. The man who answered the door was named Procrustes and he claimed that he had a magical bed that fit anyone no matter how tall or short they were. The catch was that if the person was too short, he used chains to stretch their arms and legs. If they were too tall, he would merely cut off enough of their legs so that they could ‘fit’ the bed. Theseus had already heard the tales of the man and as soon as he had the chance, he chopped off Procrustes’ legs and beheaded him with his own axe. In all, while facing the chthonics, Theseus used his wisdom to come up with plans and to use their own methods of killing against them. However, he was still trying to be killed when he reached
King Minos of Crete had a son who had been killed in Athens and he demanded that every year seven men and seven women were to be given to him to be sacrificed to his Minotaur. The Minotaur was created by Daedalus to protect a labyrinth, and he was half-bull and half-man. When Theseus learned of this, he demanded to be one of the tributes of the sacrifice and he promised his father that if he survived, he would return on a ship with a white sail, instead of a black one. Theseus went to Crete, and with the help of Princess Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos, he was able to slay the Minotaur and escape the labyrinth. When he was returning to Athens, however, he unfortunately forgot to change the sail from black to white. When his father saw the ship coming with a black sail, he was so overwhelmed with despair that he jumped off a cliff and committed suicide. In memory of his father, the stretch of water that his father had died in was then named the Aegean