Theseus Weaknesses

Everyone has certain strengths and weaknesses that define them, however certain people know how to use their weaknesses as their strengths. In the book Heroes, Gods, and Monsters of Greek Mythology by Bernard Evslin; Theseus, the demi-god, despite his weaknesses still ends up victorious. Although this book is fictional, the readers can still learn life-lessons from reading it and as a reader you learn many lessons from Theseus. Theseus has as many strengths as he does weaknesses, yet only he knows how to use a different mindset to reach his goals while using these weaknesses.

Theseus is strong, brave, agile, and young, which are all great strengths, however his greatest strengths are his size, cleverness, and mindset. In the beginning of his

story, the reader is told that Theseus is not very happy with his size. This caused Theseus to train very hard to reach his “ideal self”, however in the end he is still unsatisfied and thinks to himself, “...how could he become a great fighter and help his father against terrible enemies if he couldn’t even hold his own against the village boys” (Evslin 146). Later on a gull speaks to him and he realizes that size ultimately does not matter, what matters is what you do about it.
With the right mindset, Theseus had the ability to overpower some of the strongest enemies. For example, when Theseus was wandering the woods on his way to Athens, he was able to defeat all the bandits and monsters that stood in his path. He used all of his enemies strengths as their weaknesses and used his size against them.
His cleverness was an advantage to him by helping him get what he needed. For example, his cleverness showed when he demanded to see King Minos alone and would not budge until he could make an appearance.

Theseus’s greatest weaknesses are his size, thoughts of himself, and his forgetfulness. Theseus’s size is a great disadvantage when he is fighting enemies because most of them are hovering over him. Most of his enemies are stronger, taller, and more experienced, and are at an advantage when fighting Theseus. His thoughts of himself degraded him from reaching his full potential because he did not know if he could be better. In his battle with Minotaur, “Theseus became unsure of himself” (Evslin 167) for the first time in a long time. He experiences great fear and doubts himself on his capability to defeat the mighty Minotaur.
Theseus’s last weakness is his forgetfulness. Before leaving Athene he promised his father, the king, that he would raise a white sail when returning to signal that he defeated the Minotaur. However, Theseus forgot and did not raise the white sail, so when he returned, the king only saw the black sail and assumed he was slaughtered. Filled with regret and responsibility, King Aegeus jumped into the sea, ending his life.
In conclusion, although Theseus had some pretty extreme strengths and weaknesses, he was able to conquer so many obstacles that blocked his way and ended up on the top. His life was rough and tough, but his determination and perseverance comes through. In some ways he is a great fictional role model for never giving up and believing in himself. However, he is also just a kid who forgets things and gets jealous of others.