Theseus Qualities

Theseus is a great hero in Athens and his most valuable traits are his intelligence and his fairness. Theseus is strong and brave like all heroes must be, however he is also very smart. When he became King of Athens he created the first democracy in Greece because he knew it would lead to a prosperous and equal city. Instead of thinking of himself and what he could gain from being in power, he thought of what the city of Athens was could gain from a democracy. He knew the city could become a much wealthier and happier place if people got to have a say in government- which was later proven to be true. His installation of a democracy in Athens lead to an affluent city of happy, equal, and loyal civilians. Intelligence is very important because
Theseus gives people a chance and is capable of forgiveness, but he is also harsh when he needs to be. This quality can be seen in how he befriends Pirithoüs. When Pirithoüs stole Theseus’s cattle, he immediately apologized and submitted to whatever punishment Theseus felt was necessary. Theseus, after hearing him out, forgave Pirithoüs. After their first encounter they became great friends and went on many adventures together. Fairness is valued in Greek heroes because they do need to be stern and punish those who do wrong, however, they also need to be forgiving and compassionate. The ancient Greeks know that everyone makes mistakes and that sometimes the best option is understanding and forgiving in order to make the whole situation better. In fact, if Hera was capable of forgiving Paris for giving Aphrodite the golden apple, the Trojan War would have been over much more quickly than it was. The Greeks also know that sometimes people are deserving of punishments and that there needs to be a balance between forgiving and punishing in order for a hero to make fair and just
Theseus was very intelligent in that he thought through his actions carefully before enacting them. This can be seen when he convinced Hercules not to end his own life after Hercules was cursed and murdered his wife and children. Theseus refused to believe that just because Hercules did the killing meant that he was guilty. When this is spoken of in the book, it is said that, “Theseus, the thinker, rejected the idea that a man could be guilty of murder when he had not know what he was doing and that those who helped such a one could be reckoned defiled,” (Hamilton 231). Theseus was able to use his intellect to stop Hercules from killing himself by convincing him that he had not had control over his actions. We still value this trait of intelligence in our heroes today. The modern world wouldn’t trust someone to protect them who doesn’t think about their actions. We also need a hero who is capable of being in a tough situation and using their intelligence to get out of it. Police officers are a good example of this; they are often put in difficult situations where they need to think carefully about their actions. If they make the wrong decision, they could get in a lot of trouble or create a lot of damage. Theseus would also still be a hero today because of his fairness. Theseus uses his quality of fairness to both help and hurt people. One example of Theseus fairly punishing