Theseus Journey

At this point, Athenians recognized Theseus as one of their own. However, he still felt the need to prove his worth to the people of his new home, and when the opportunity arose, he risked his life for them. The King of Crete, Minos, came to Athens to extract a total of fourteen people to be sacrificed to a vicious beast. This beast was known as the Minotaur, half man, half bull, and roamed within a Labyrinth, or inescapable maze. When King Minos came to demand his victims, Theseus boldly volunteered himself as tribute and sailed to the dreaded Crete. Before being put into the Labyrinth, Ariadne, daughter of King Minos, fell in love with Theseus. Hoping he would survive, she gave him a gift. She gave him a ball of string that he could use to find his way out of the maze by retracing his steps after he defeated the Minotaur. The battle between the Minotaur was not something to be overlooked, especially since all combatants were stripped of their weapons. In order to be successful Theseus used a combination of both mental and physical brilliance. He snuck up on the Minotaur as it was fast asleep and using only his bare fists beat the wicked beast to death. He then proceeded to escape the confusing Labyrinth and abandoned his lover Ariadne on the island of Naxos while fleeing Crete for Athens. His ability to trick Ariadne into helping him escape the Labyrinth, along with his brute strength shown in defeating the Minotaur without a weapon are beyond impressive. This was by far Theseus’s greatest triumph because he combined brains and muscle to overcome the odds.

When Theseus reached home from his adventure he was informed that his father had committed suicide believing that his son had perished in his attempt to slay the ...

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Theseus, the greatest hero of Athens, was a unique, mythological hero. He may not have been as strong as Heracles, but he found ways to make up for it through intelligence and creativity. Examples of this can be seen in his ability of tricking Adriane into helping him escape the Labyrinth and the uniting of the Attica nations. Another important aspect of his heroicness was his endeavors to improve the lives of the Athenian people. This can be seen when he cleared the road of criminals from Troezen to Athens, defeated the terrorizing Minotaur, and created a government based on the idea of democracy. His triumphs left an everlasting mark on our world in a sense of mythology and even in a historical sense. Theseus was not only tremendous ruler, he was also the true definition of a hero and deserves to be glorified for his notorious deeds and noble qualities.