Theseus

=**Theseus ** Emily Vizzini=




 * Legendary King of Athens**


 * __Key Points__**
 * Theseus  [ ** thee **-see- uh s, -syoos  ]
 * He grew up with his mother Aethra and traveld to Athens to find his father Aegeus, King of Athens
 * On his journey to Athens he became a local hero to the people
 * He reached his fathers palace and was seen as the next heir to the throne.
 * He was taken as a sacrifice to the Minotaur, but killed the beast and returned home to become the Legendary king of Athens
 * Theseus and his good friend Pirithous went down to the underworld to find Persephone, but were captured by Hates and sentenced there forever
 * Hercules came and saved Theseus, but was unable to free Pirithous
 * Theseus second wife Phaedra had two children, Demophon and Acamas. She committed suicide when she fell in love with Theseus's first son. When Theseus found out the truth, he had his son killed.



**Theseus grew up in Troezen with his mother Aethra. When he finally reached manhood, his mother led him to a stone his father had left him. Under the stone was a sword and sandals that revealed his fathers identify. Theseus then prepared to travel to Athens to meet his father, Aegeus.** all the villains, thugs and thieves on the way. Theseus insisted on taking this route and was soon after known for doing unto the bad guys what they did onto others.** 
 * The Stone:**
 * His journey would take place on land, although his mother suggested traveling by sea because of

**Theseus’s heroic Adventures:** **There once was a monster named Sinis. Sinis used to asked people passing to if they could help him bend two pine trees to the ground. Once they had bent it to the ground, Sinis would tie their wrist the tree and let go. When the victim let go, the tree flung various anatomy parts into the air. When Theseus reached Sinis he turned the tables on him, by tying his wriest to the tree.**

**Another challenge that Theseus faced was from an evildoer, Procrustes. He kept a house near the road and offered hospitality to anyone passing by. He would invite them inside for a hot meal and a nights rest in a very special bed. When the guest asked why the bed was so special, Procrustes would answer, "Why, it has the amazing property that its length exactly matches whomsoever lies upon it." But Procrastes didn’t imply was what he really meant was “one–size-fits-all.” As soon as the guest would lie down, Procrustes would make them fit the bed by either stretching them if they were too short or cutting off limbs if they were too tall. Theseus lived up to his reputation by fitting Procrustes to his bed.**
 * One-Size-fits-all:**

At last Theseus reached Athens, to meet his father. He did not reveal his identity at first, but was invited to the palace for a banquet because of his heroic behavior During dinner, Medea, the king’s new wife, saw theseus as a threat to her own son’s chance at the thrown. She convinced the king to poison Theseus through the wine. Before taking a sip of the wine, Theseus first carved his dinner with the sword his father had left him under the stone. This revealed his identity, and the king stopped him from drinking the wine.**
 * Athens:


 * Theseus was now seen as the next heir to the thrown. But soon after King Minos came to collect some young men and women to be sacrificed to the Minotaur. Minotaur was beast born to the wife of Minos as a punishment. He was a monster, half man, and half bull. Theseus was then chosen to become one of the men to be sacrificed, even though as prince he was exempt from such things. They crossed the seas to a maze in which the creature was inside, called The Labyrinth. The victims were to be closed inside the maze and they would eventually run into the Minotaur and be eaten. Theseus was smart and brought along some yarn that could lead him back to the entrance. Some stories say that he snuck a sword or club in the maze in with him to kill the beast, yet it is still unclear. But he killed the beast and followed the yarn back to the start of the maze. When Theseus returned, he had forgotten the signal for his father to let him no that he was alive. If the sails were black this meant that Theseus had failed, but if they were a different color that meant that he had succeeded. When Aegeus saw the black sails, he jumped off the cliff to his death. Theseus became the new king of Athens. **

**Theseus and his good friend Pirithous were both great lovers of women. They both vowed to marry daughters of Zeus, so they kidnapped two women. Theseus kidnapped Helen and intended to marry her. Pirithous kidnapped Persephone, the wife of Hades. When Persephone was rescued and taken back to the underworld, they went after her. Hades pretended to be reasonable and offered them Persephone back. He laid out a feast for the two of them, but when they sat down they could not get up. They were stuck to the chairs, and Hades had tricked them. When Hercules came to Hades for his twelfth task, he freed Theseues, but when he tried to free Pirithous the Earth shook. Pirithous remained in the underworld forever.**

**Theseus’s second wife, Phaedra, had two children, Demophon and Acamas. While the two children were still young, Phaedra fell in love with Hippolytus, Theseus’s son from another marriage. Some story’s say that she was forced to fall in love with him as punishment from Aphrodite. When Theseus found out, Phaedra wrote him a letter claiming she had been raped, and then committed suicide. Theseus believed her, and used one of his wishes that Poseidon had given him, to have Hippolytus killed.
 * Family:**

His Death: Theseus was thrown off a cliff by Skyros on the island of Lycomedes after losing his popularity in Athens.**

[|Theseus works Cited.rtf]