Theseus

Pranatha Parikosh, Chloe Fang, Coleman Thompson, Joshua Wayne

and Rachael Morrell

Qualities Heroic Qualities Flaws

•Strong•Brave•Selfless

•Over Confident in his abilities•Forgetful•Vain

•Adventurous•Founder of Democracy•Clever

•Impulsive

Background

• Son of Athenian King, Aegeus• Grew up with his Mother in a city in southern

Greece.• Before he was born, his father placed a sword

and shoes under a large rock in a hollow.• In hopes that when his son grew strong

enough, he would lift up the stone, then his mother would send him to Athens to claim his rightful place as heir of the throne.

Journey to Athens

• When Theseus grew strong, he lifted up the stone and took the sword and sandals.

• His mother arranged a ship for him to sail to Athens, which he refused.

• He thought traveling by ship was too safe.• He wanted to become a hero as quickly as

possible. • He was going to go by land, the dangerous way

Athens.

Journey to Athens (cont.)

• As he started his journey he ran into the infamous bandits and killed them the way they killed their victims.

Arrival in Athens

• When he arrived the King was not aware that he was his son, and with the help of the heroine, Medea, tried poison him in fear that he would take over as king.

• Upon arriving to the feast he immediately showed he was his son by the sword he found under the stone.

• The King rejoiced and crowned Theseus as heir!

Background of Minotaur

• Minos, the ruler of Crete, lost his son while he was visiting the Athenian King, Aegeus.

• The son died on a dangerous expedition that the king had sent him on.

• Minos invaded the country, captured Athens and declared that he would destroy the city every nine years if they didn’t send seven maidens and seven youths as tribute

Background of Minotaur(cont.)

• The tributes were sent to inescapable maze, called the Labyrinth, where the Minotaur (half-man, half bull) waited to eat them.

• He was the offspring of Pasiphae, the wife of Minos, and a bull.

The Death of the Minotaur

• Theseus came forward and offered to be a tribute, in hopes to kill the Minotaur.

• He had help from Ariadne, Minos’s daughter, who fell in love with him at first sight.

• She had Theseus use a string to help escape, once he got into the Labyrinth he tied the string to the entrance to help retrace his steps.

The Death of the Minotaur(cont.)

• He came upon the Minotaur while it was sleeping and pummeled him to the death with his fists.

• The string aided in his escape.

The Return to Athens

• Theseus planned to marry Ariadne, but she “died/disappeared.”

• They stopped at an island because she became seasick, while she was ashore and he was on the boat doing work, a strong wind blew the boat away.

Theseus’s Rule

• He promised his father that he would raise a white flag to signify he was alive.

• However he forgot to do so and his father thought Theseus had died so he jumped off a cliff.

• Theseus became the king of Athens after his father died.

• Theseus was a good king of Athens, however he resigned to form a democracy.

Commander in Chief

• He made Athens a democracy so everything would be fair.

• The only position he had was the commander in chief.

• Theseus was a fair man, he fought for what was right.

• Theseus fought Thebes when they refused to bury enemy dead.

Marriage

• Theseus married Ariadne’s sister Phaedra.• The marriage went south when Phaedra fell in

love with Theseus’s son Hippolytus.• Phaedra was so madly in love with Hippolytus

that when she discovered he had no interest she killed herself and blamed him.

• This caused Theseus to curse Hippolytus which lead to his death.

Love Conquers All

• When Theseus was sent to defeat the minotaur he met Ariadne.

• Even though Theseus is technically an enemy she still helps him out of love.

Christ Figure

• Theseus acted as a Christ Figure when he volunteered to go and kill the minotaur.

• Theseus acted out of selflessness to better everyone else's lives.

The Black Sail

• The Black Sail was what he hoisted up when he set sail for his journey.

• Theseus forgot to hoist the white flag signifying that he was alright.

• When he came back he forgot to hoist up the white sail so that is what caused the death of his father, the king.

The Fall

• Theseus falls when he doesn’t trust his son.• As a result his son dies and causes Theseus to

get banished from Athens.• Theseus was then killed by the king, his

friends, and his host.

What Theseus Learned

• Theseus learned that he should have trusted his son.

• He learned not to scorn gods and goddess or they might get back a you.

Lessons or Cultural Values in Story

• A lesson is to not strike back on someone for doing wrong.

• You have to trust people sometimes.