The Legend Of TheseusMAINCHARACTERSWhoisTheseusSaid to be the greatest Athenian hero, Theseus developed quite a reputation through his many adventures, that a saying famous saying came out of it, “nothing without Theseus.” He was the son of the Athenian King, Aegeus. Theseus spent his youth in southern Greece with his mother. Once he grew up to be big and strong, he lifted the rock his father had placed over a special sword and shoes, and then left to find the King, and gain status of a hero as quickly as possible, and therefore chose to take the more difficult and monster ridden path through the mountain. He is well known for killing the legendary Minotaur, who you will hear about later.WhoisMedeaThe heroine of the Golden Fleece Quest, and Aegeuss personal sorcerer, it was her idea to poison the cup Theseus would drink out of at the banquet, which failed when the King recognized the sword who could have been no one else but his son, and rightful heir to the throne.WhoisKing Aegeus of ArgosFather of the revered hero Theseus, he left his child and wife early on, but not before leaving some shoes and a special sword covered by a massive stone. If he were to have a boy, who grew up to be big and strong, and could manage to remove the rock he would then travel to the Kings court and he would recognize the sword, which would tell him that it is indeed his true son and future heir to the throne.Powerful ruler of Crete, whose son, Androgeus, was visiting the Athenian King. Aegeus had sent Androgeus on a mission of extreme danger to kill a horrible bull. Quite the opposite happened and Minos son was sent to a most certain death, and bit the dust. Minos, enraged, invaded the country, and demanded that every nine years seven maidens and seven servants be offered as a sacrifice to the minotaur, or he would raze the city.WHERES MINO?!Minotaur is a cruel monster that is half human, half bull, the offspring of Minos wife Pusiphae, and a wonderfully beautiful bull. This was punishment from the sea-god Poseidon who gave Mino a bull to offer as sacrifice, which instead he kept as a pet. Instead of killing the brutal creature, Mino asked Daedalus, a great architect and inventor, to build a place where the monster could live yet never escape, and be able to feast on helpless prey.MINOTAURWhoisAriadneMinos daughter, Ariadne instantly fell in love with Theseus when she saw him being taken to the labyrinth. She then summoned the help of Daedalus, the original architect, to develop a way for Theseus to escape the maze. Ariadne explained her plan to Theseus and “bring about his escape” only if he agreed to take her back to Athens where they would marry.WhoisAntiopeTheseus wife, an Amazon woman, bore his son Hippotyls, and played a part in the horrific accident at Pirithiouss wedding, which is mentioned later in the actual tale.WhoisPirithousDuring the Calydanian Hunt (where King of Calydon called upon Greeces best warriors to kill a psychotic rampaging boar) Theseus saved his life, and they became best friends. Later in their relationship Pirithous stole some of Theseuss cattle to create a fight and see who was the better man. When the actual confrontation took place, he suddenly forgot everything due to his admiration of Theseus, and said he would take any penalty put upon him by Theseus, who in turn only asked for his friendship. Pirithous was the King of Lapithae and during his wedding (where Theseus was his best man) drunken Centaurs (half-man half-horse creatures) came and started harassing the women and tried carrying away the bride. They were eventually driven out of the country, but his wife had died in the struggle.WhoisPhaedraTheseuss second wife, and Ariadnes sister, Phaedra was put under a spell by Aphrodite that made her fall madly in love with Hippolytus, and led to her suicide, Hippolytus being banished, and a horrible wretched sadness that consumed Theseus himself.WhoisAphroditeThe goddess of love, beauty, and romance, who was angry at Hippotlys for his disgust of women kind, and belief that romance was silly and immature. To get back at him and ruin his whole family, she cast a spell on Phaedra to fall in love with Hippotlys.WhoisHippotylusThe son of Theseus and Antiope, he despised Aphrodite and believed romance as a waste of time for those with no purpose in life. He had a very “intimate” relationship with his father, which was later destroyed by the evil-doings of Aphrodite.TheStoryofTheseusTheseus,WhichwasoneofthegreatestwarheroesinAthens,wassonoftheAthenianKing,Aegeus.EventhoughhisfatherwastheKing,hegrewuphegrewupwithhismotherinthesouthofGreece.BeforeTheseuswasbornAegeussaid,thatifhischildwastobeaboy,tosendhimtotherockwerehisfathersetunderapairofbootsandaswordandifhewastosucceedthentosendhimtomyKingdom.Theseuswasbornandhehadreachedmanhood.Thetimecameforhimtoacquirethepossessionsthathisfatherhadleftwhichhedidwithgreatease.TheseuslefttoseedhisfatherontheverydangerousroadthatledtoAthenswerehecameuponBandits,Sciron,Sinis,andProcrustes.ThesecharacterstooktheirPleasureintorturingandhurtingothers.Whatthesemendidtoothers,Theseusreturnedthefavorwithgreatpleasure.TheseushadfinallyreachedAthensbutwhenhegottherehedidntpredictthewelcomingthathereceived.Medea,beinganevilsorceress,knewwhoTheseuswasanddidntwanttheinfluencethatshehadoverAegeus.SoshetoldAegeus,notknowingthatTheseuswashisson,topoisonhim.RightbeforeAegeuswasgoingtogiveTheseusthepoison,herecognizedtheswordthatTheseuswascarryingandinstantlyknewthatthatwashisson.MedeaescapedtoAsianevertobeseenagainWhilebeingpartofhisfathersKingdom,Theseushearstheobligation,thathisfatherandAthenshavetoKingMinosofCrete.SoTheseusdecidestorescuehispeople.ItissaidthatMinossonhaddiedbeingaguestinAegeusshousehold.WhenKingMinofoundoutthetwoKingdomswenttowarandAegeuslost.SoeverynineyearsAegeushadtosendsevenofhisAthenianboysandsevenofhisAtheniangirlstogetsacrificedtotheevilhalf-manhalf-bullMinotaur.SoTheseusdecidedtochallengethisandofferhimselfasasacrificetotheMinotaur,onlyknowingthathewouldsucceed.WhenTheseusarrivedinCretetobattlehemettheenemiesdaughter,Ariadne,andtheybothfellinstantlyin-lovewitheachotherDespisingandloathingherownfather,Ariadne,withthehelpofherfriendDaedalus,gaveTheseusaspoolofgoldenthreadthathecouldusetofindhiswayinandoutofthetheLabyrithMazewereMinotaurcrept.WhenTheseusfinallyfoundMinotaurhewasinadeepslumber,soTheseusjumpedonandbeatMinotaurtoapulpwithhisfists.ThebattlewasoverandTheseususedthegoldenthreadtofindhiswayback,rescuehisbelovedAriadne,andsailawayinhisship.OntheirwaybacktoAthensAriadnewantedtostopontheislandofNaxos,whileshewasthere,aviolentwindstartedtoblowwhichcarriedTheseusouttosee.Whenhereturnedtocomebackforhisbelovedhehadfoundhealreadydead.Beingafflictedsobadlybylosinghisloveheforgottolowertheblackflagandraisetheleft,sowhenhisfathersawtheshipcominguponAthensandthathissonhad“died”theKingcommitsuicidenotknowingthathissonwasntreallydead.Theseus became the new king of Athens. He was a very different ruler than his father were he wanted a peoples government and to were all people were created equal. Theseus had many small adventures, He helped Oedipus while on his death bed and took care of his daughters, and he also saved Hercules from killing himself and killing his family. He journeyed to the Amazon jungle were he took away with him the Queen of the Amazons and the borer of his child Hippolyta(Antiope). When their son was born the Amazons came back for their Queen in which there was a battle, and Theseus won. They never returned again.Theseus sailed to Argo to find the Golden Fleece. He took part in the Calydonian Hunt, were he was to kill the great boar and also saved his best friend Pirithous. When Pirithous, who was King of Lapithae, decided to get married, Theseus was his best man and the wedding feast was not as they expected and went horribly wrong. The Centaurs,vicious half-man half-horse beasts, invade the wedding seizing the women and killing the bride of Pirithous. The battle was fierce and gruesome but the Lapithae eventually drove the beasts out of the country with the help of Theseus at the end. The last and only conquest the two would under take would be their last and only. After Pirithouss unsuccessful marriage took a devastating turn he decided to pursue the wife of the Lord of the Under world, Persephone.As Theseus and Pirithous begin their journey to the underworld,Hades, already knew about their plan and to his amusement decided to play with them and not kill them because they were already in the realm of the undead. Hades invited them as a friendly gesture to come and sit in his presence,but, what the two heroes didnt know was that Hades was tricking them to sit in the seat of Forgetfulness, to were they would forget every thing, mind becoming blank and paralyzed for all of eternity. Luckily, the big, strong, Hercules came to Theseuss rescue and saved him but for Pirithous they could not, for that was the price he had to pay, to try and take away Persephone. In the last years of Theseuss life he met and fell in love with Ariadnes sister, Phaedra. This union would forever demolish Thesues, Phaedra, and his son Hippolytus. When Theseus and Phaedra returned to his old home to reunite with his son, Phaedra became totally in love and infatuated with Hippolytus, but on the other hand Hippolytus was completely disgusted with the thought of this affection with any women and loathed Phaedra. But this was not all Phaedras fault, Aphrodite was behind it all, she was angry at Hippolytus for scorning her and despising her that she decided to punish him with great pleasure. With knowing that Hippolytus will ever love her or any women, Phaedra kills herself and leaves a note to Theseus saying that Hippolytus had raped and destroyed her with dark intentions.Not knowing that it is all a lie and not believing his son, Theseus curses and exiles Hippolytus to were he meets his death and is devoured by a hideous sea monster. Artemis arrives in the presence of Theseus and tells him that everything was a lie, only being too late, because Hippolytus is already dead.Being in complete despair and loss by his own blind actions of his sons death, Theseus leave Athens to visit his friend, King Lycomedes, for comfort to were he is, Mysteriously, killed by Lycomedes.