Classics 103 - Theseus

Question	Answer
How does the story of Theseus start?	King Aegeus of Athens who goes to the city of Trosed. He met the princess of Trosed and they became involved. Soon he feared she was pregnant so he left some tokens under a huge rock and told her if she was pregnant and if she had a son she should give him the tokens and send him to Athens. Aegeus then returned to Athens
Was she pregnant? What happened?	She was and had a son named Theseus. When he was a man she brought him to the rock. He had great strength and lifted the rock to get the tokens and decided to go to Athens
What were his relationships like with his family? What did he decide to do?	he had very good relationships with his mother and grandfather who didn't want him to leave. Eventually they suggested he go by sea as it was fastest and safest. Theseus didn't follow their advice because he admired Heracles and wanted to go across the land to look for monsters to fight on the way
Who is Peripheteus. What does Theseus do to him?	he is a giant known as the club man who would bully people. Theseus killed him
Who was Cinis the pine bender? What did Theseus do to him?	he would grab travelers and bend over two pine trees. he would tie the hands of the traveler to the top of one tree and the feet to the other and then let the tress go pulling the person apart. Theseus was extremely stronge so he kill the man in the same way
Who was Skyron? What did Theseus do to him?	he would force travelrs to wash his feet. When they were bent over and off guard he would kick them over the edge of a cliff where they would fall into the water where a sea turtle would eat them. Theseus killed him to
What happened when he met a fallen hero?	this hero was also an Olympic champion. He would challenge travelers and force them to wrestler him. in the end he would kill them by body slamming them. Theseus went against him and killed him in the same way.
who was Procresties? What did Theseus do to him?	he was a brigend who would eveluate travelers with a table. a hammer and a saw. If they were to tall for the table he would saw part of them off. if they were too short he would hammer them out. Theseus sawed him down to kill him
What happens when he arrives in Athens?	he meets his fathers wife Medea. This is the same Medea who was married to Jason. She saw Theseus as a threat and plans to poison him before her husband finds out who he is.
What does Medea do?	she goes to her husband and lies to him, saying Theseus is a threat to there family. At the banquet help to welcome Theseus she has his wine poisoned
How is Theseus saved?	At the banquet, Theseus uses a special knife to cut his meat, one of the tokens his father left for him. Aegus recognizes him and quickly takes the wine away. he then publicly announces Theseus as his son and successor.
What does Theseus do with his new position?	he first kills everyone who opposes him. he has no problem do what he thinks is for the common good. then he goes on another quest
What is his 7th labor? How does this connect him to Heracles	he must catch the bull of Marathon. this is the same bull brought to Aretheus by Heracles. He then brought it back to Athens and sacrificed it to Apollo.
Both Theseus and Heracles are connected to Crete. How is Crete different then Greece	Crete flourished earlier then the Greek mainland. they are connected because when these demigod heroes show up the religion changes. Crete honored the sacred feminine greater then the sacred masculine. This shifted to the Greek way of thinking. e.g. Zeus is king of the gods while Hera is just his wife
what is his 8th and final labor? How does it start?	the 8th labor is to kill the Minator. Minus the king of Crete had many children. He sent his son Androgynous to Athens to compete in an athletic competition. He was so good that he won all the events. the people got mad and killed him. Minos attacked Athens for revenge. eventually they made peace and a treaty. Athens admitted they were wrong and as penance Athens had to send young teenagers to Crete
Why were the teenagers sent there	These were noble teenagers but they didn't marry cretins. They were put in the labyrinth of the Minator who would eat them
Where did the Minator come from?	One of Minos' daughter had a desire for a bull and ended up having a child, the Minator, a half bull, half man monster.
how could the legend of the Minator come to be?	a basement type floor was found underneath most of the city. t was full of confusing passages and someone who didn't life their could have easily have gotten lost
How did Theseus end up on Crete?	when the teenagers were being selected at random he volunteers to go
Why did Theseus confront Minos? What happened?	Minos attacked and tried to rape one of the girls and she called out for help. Theseus came to protect her. Minos prayed to his father Zeus to show he was his son and Zeus sent lightning. Minos wanted Theseus to prove he was the son of Poseidon so he threw a ring into the ocean and told Theseus to get it back. Theseus jumped in and dolphins showed up to help him. while he was in the water he was given gifts by his father. This story and the defeat of the Minator was on an embroidered Textile for Achilles' parents wedding
What happened when Theseus arrived at Crete?	Ariadne, Minos' daughter, saw him and instantly fell in love with him. She prays to the gods and gives them gifts in hopes of protecting him and getting their blessing for her to help him
What does Ariadne do to help Theseus?	she offers to help and when he accepts she tells him what that labrinth is like and warns him about the Minator. she gives him a ball of yarn so he can get back out by tying it to the start of the maze.
How do things go for Theseus in the labyrinth?	he kills the monster and gets back out
What happenes after Theseus defeats the monster?	he leaves Crete with as many of the teenagers as he can, Ariadne running away with him. the first night they stop on the island of Naxos to sleep. Theseus and his crew end up leaving Ariadne there alone. In one version she commits suicide, in the other Dionysus finds her first and they fall in love and get married.
What big mistake does Theseus make?	He made a plan with his crew that if he lived he would change his ships sails to white. if he died. they were to leave them as black. He forgot to change them so when his father saw the black sails he jumped off the walls and died. That part of the sea is called the Aegean after his father
What does Theseus do after he is made king?	He helps Heracles defeat the Amazons and marries their queen. They have a son Hapolotis, and he later leaves his wife because she is too uncivilized
Who did he marry after the Queen? What happened?	he married Ariadne's sisterTheda instead. When she met her stepson she fell in love with him. She tried to be faithful but she ended up telling Hapolotis how she felt. He freaked out and rejected her
How did Theda react to this rejection?	She had many feelings so she hung herself, leaving a note saying she killed herself because Hapolotis raped her.
How does Theseus react to the note?	He gets so angry he asked his father to send a sea monster. Hapolotis' chariot gets tipped over so he falls into the ocean and the sea monster kills him
How do Artemis and Zeus get involved in Hapolotis' death?	Artemis thinks his death is unjust so she brings him back to life. When Zeus hears what she did he sends a thunderbolt to kill him again. he was protected by the gods so he still survived
What other quest did Theseus go on?	Perethus wanted to have a daughter of Zeus so Theseus tried to steal baby Helen from Sparta. He also tried to steal Persephone from the underworld
How did Theseus die? what happened to him after he died?	he died by either falling off a cliff or being pushed off. After he died he was give the status Apaetos, where people honored him as a divine being even though he wasn't a god. He was the patron hero of Athens

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