Theseus and the Minotaur

by Graeme Davis

  Theseus also seems to have had a considerable personal charm, which made him especially attractive to women. Had he not won Ariadne’s heart he might never have found his way out of the Labyrinth, and few other heroes could have won the affections of such different women as Phaedra and Antiope. These relationships were more than mere dalliances, resulting in children whom Theseus recognized as his own legitimate issue. His abandonment of Ariadne is troubling, but many of the retellings take considerable pains to absolve him of any guilt: he was warned off by the god Dionysus on Naxos, or Ariadne died in childbirth on Cyprus, or she remained to rule Crete when Theseus was obliged to return to Athens.

  Even so, Theseus seems to have had an inconstant heart, as other dalliances show. Arguably this made him no different from any other man of his times, but that is significant in itself; whatever his other virtues, Theseus was not unusually loyal in romantic matters.

  Theseus’ charm was not just for the ladies. He could trick Periphetes into dropping his guard, and he could even talk Minos himself into testing his divine ancestry. Although the story does not explicitly say so, Theseus must also have persuaded Minos to change the terms of his demand for Athenian hostages. Minos spared Theseus’ companions from entering the Labyrinth, and his demand for a regular tribute ceased altogether after Theseus slew the Minotaur. The monster’s death did nothing to atone for the death of Androgeus, yet it set Theseus and his fellow hostages free.

  But Theseus was also more than just a pretty face and a silver tongue. He slew many foes, including the Minotaur, in single combat, and fought Pirithous to a standstill in their first encounter. He was also an able enough strategist and commander to rout the Sons of Pallas and – if we take the account of Cleidemus at face value – to plan and carry out a successful assault on the capital of the Eastern Mediterranean’s greatest power. His skill in unarmed combat was such that he is credited with inventing the sport of wrestling, and he overcame Cercyon of Eleusis without recourse to arms, as well as – in some versions – the animal strength of the Minotaur and/or the arrogant General Taurus.

  Whatever one makes of Theseus’ relationship with Pirithous, their bond was a strong one. Theseus literally went to hell and back for his friend, and lamented his loss ever afterward. However, he was practical enough to accept Hercules’ advice that the task of recovering Pirithous from Hades was impossible.

  In an age when fantasy has surpassed mythology as a popular form of literature and Theseus has been eclipsed by the Minotaur, it is still interesting to consider the nature of this enigmatic hero. Reading between the lines of his adventures, he seems unusually modest for a Greek hero. He is dutiful and compassionate, and has a strong sense of justice. He can be charming, and knows how to use that charm when dealing with men as well as women. Although his kidnapping of a pubescent Helen seems out of keeping with his previous character, it might be seen as a desperate attempt at a last great adventure in the face of old age and the tedium of rulership. Whatever his virtues, Theseus stands among the most human of the Greek heroes.

  GLOSSARY

  This book contains a large number of names, not all of which will be familiar to most readers. This glossary offers brief explanations of the various characters and places that are connected with the story of Theseus, as well as the names of the most important ancient sources.

  Aegeus: A legendary king of Athens and the mortal father of Theseus. The Aegean Sea is said to be named after him.

  Aeschylus: An Athenian playwright of the fifth century BC, most famous for his trilogy The Oresteia, which told of a curse that led to the fall of Mycenae.

  Aethra: The mother of Theseus. A princess of the city of Troezen in the northeastern Peloponnese.

  Androgeus: A Cretan prince, the eldest son of Minos and Pasiphae, whose death led to Minos demanding a regular sacrifice of seven youths and seven maidens from Athens.

  Antiope: An Amazon warrior, possibly the mother of Theseus’ son Hippolytus.

  Ariadne: A daughter of King Minos of Crete, who fell in love with Theseus and helped him defeat the Minotaur. In some versions of the myth, Theseus married her and then left her on the island of Naxos where she became the bride of Dionysus; other sources claim that this Ariadne was someone else.

  Asterion: The true name of the Minotaur. Also the foster-father of Minos and his brothers.

  Attica: The region of Greece surrounding Athens.

  Calydonian Boar: A wild boar that terrorized the area around Calydon in western Greece. Theseus played a minor role in the hunt that killed it.

  Castor and Pollux: Twin demigods, associated with the constellation Gemini. They were regarded as patrons of sailors and associated with horsemanship. Among other adventures, they sailed with Jason and the Argonauts.

  Centaurs: A half-human horse-people from Greek myth. Interpreted by some writers as a mythologized form of a horse culture similar to those of the Eurasian steppes.

  Cerberus: A monstrous three-headed watchdog kept by Hades.

  Cercyon: A king of Eleusis whom Theseus defeated in a wrestling match on his way to Athens.

  Cimon: An Athenian general of the fifth century BC, credited with bringing Theseus’ remains back from Skyros to Athens.

  Cleidemus: A Greek author, probably of the fifth or fourth century BC, whose work is now lost. Plutarch refers to his account that Theseus led an Athenian attack on Crete.

  Crommyonian Sow: A monstrous pig killed by Theseus on his way to Athens.

  Daedalus: A legendary inventor and engineer who designed the Labyrinth. He escaped from Crete using artificial wings, but his son Icarus flew too close to the sun and was killed.

  Deucalion: A son of Minos, possibly the same person as the General Taurus mentioned by Plutarch.

  Dionysus: The Greek god of wine, identified with the Roman Bacchus.

  Elysium: Also known as the Elysian Fields. An afterworld reserved for heroes and the blessed, sometimes equated with the Christian heaven.

  Euripides: A Greek playwright of the fifth century BC, renowned for his tragedies. His work includes Hippolytus, which tells the story of Hippolytus and Phaedra.

  Furies (Greek Erinyes): Winged female deities whose duty is to punish evildoers.

  Hades: The Greek god of the Underworld, which is sometimes named after him.

  Helen: A Spartan princess and sister of the twin demigods Castor and Pollux. Theseus and Pirithous kidnapped her, provoking her brothers to attack Athens. She later became famous as Helen of Troy.

  Hephaisteion: An Athenian temple to the smith-god Hephaestus and a possible site of Theseus’ tomb. Also called the Theseion from its reliefs showing scenes from the hero’s life.

  Hippolyta: An Amazon queen, possibly the mother of Theseus’ son Hippolytus.

  Hippolytus: Theseus’ son by an Amazon, either Hippolyta or Antiope.

  Knossos: The capital of King Minos of Crete.

  Labyrinth: “House of the Double Axe.” An elaborate maze constructed to house the Minotaur. Alternatively, a fortress or prison near the palace of Knossos.

  Lapiths: A people from the hilly country of Thessaly. Theseus’ friend Pirithous was their prince, and later their king.

  Lycomedes: King of the island of Skyros, where Theseus planned to retire after withdrawing from Athens. According to some accounts he murdered Theseus by throwing him off a cliff.

  Marathonian Bull: A monstrous bull that terrorized the Plain of Marathon outside Athens until Theseus captured it.

  Melanippus: Theseus’ son by Perigune, the daughter of Sinis (q.v.).

  Minoan: The late Bronze Age culture of Crete. The name was coined by British archeologist Sir Arthur Evans in the 19th century, and is taken from the name of King Minos.

  Minos: The legendary ruler of Crete, a son of Zeus and the Phoenician princess Europa.

  Mnestheus: A political opponent of Theseus and possible conspirator in his death.

  Mycenaean: A Greek culture of the late Bronze Age, named after the site of Mycenae a
bout 30 miles south of Corinth.

  Naxos: The largest of the Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea. Theseus visited Naxos on his way back from Crete and left Ariadne there.

  Nereids: Sea nymphs from Greek mythology.

  Oenopion: A son of Theseus by Ariadne. His name means “wine drinker,” implying that his father might really be Dionysus, Ariadne’s second husband.

  Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso): A Roman poet of the first century AD, whose works include the mythological Metamorphoses, published in 15 books.

  Pallantides: Also known as “the 50 sons of Pallas.” A faction of Attic nobles, nephews of Aegeus, who coveted the throne of Athens until Theseus defeated them.

  Panathenaic Games: A successor to the Pan-Athenian Games (see below), instituted by Theseus according to some sources.

  Pan-Athenian Games: Games held every four years in Athens. The Cretan prince Androgeus was killed while visiting Athens to compete.

  Pasiphae: The wife of King Minos, cursed with an unnatural lust for a white bull.

  Pausanias: A Greek geographer of the second century AD, whose ten-book Description of Greece has been described as a crucial link between classical literature and modern archeology.

  Peloponnese: The part of Greece that lies south of the Isthmus of Corinth.

  Perigune: The daughter of Sinis (q.v.) and mother of Theseus’ son Melanippus.

  Periphetes: A bandit famed for his bronze club, defeated by Theseus on his journey to Athens.

  Persephone: The daughter of the harvest-goddess Demeter, kidnapped by Hades to be his bride.

  Phaedra: Sister of Ariadne (q.v.) and wife of Theseus, who accused her stepson Hippolytus of raping her, with tragic consequences.

  Philochorus: A Greek historian of the third century BC, whose work survives only in fragments. Plutarch cites him as claiming that the Labyrinth was a fortress rather than the lair of a monster.

  Pittheus: A legendary king of Troezen. Theseus’ grandfather.

  Pirithous (also Perithoos, Peirithoos, or Peirithous): A prince of the Lapith people of Thessaly to the north of Attica. Theseus’ companion for many of his later adventures; possibly also his lover.

  Plutarch: A first-century Greek writer (c. 46–120 AD), famous for his biographies including the Life of Theseus.

  Poseidon: The Greek sea-god, identified with the Roman Neptune.

  Procrustes: A bandit whom Theseus defeated on his way to Athens. Procrustes forced his victims to lie on an iron bed, either stretching them or lopping off their feet until they fitted it exactly.

  Pseudo-Apollodorus (“False Apollodorus”): The writer of a historical work titled Bibliotheca (“The Library”), which was wrongly attributed to the second-century BC historian Apollodorus of Athens.

  Racine, Jean: French playwright of the 17th century. His play Phèdre tells the story of Phaedra and Hippolytus.

  Sciron: A bandit defeated by Theseus on his way to Athens. Sciron would force passers-by to wash his feet, and kick them off a cliff when they bent to do so. Not to be confused with Skyros, the island where Theseus died.

  Seneca (Lucius Annaeus Seneca): Roman Stoic philosopher and writer of the first century AD. His play Phaedra tells the story of Hippolytus and Phaedra.

  Ship of Theseus: A philosophical paradox based on the fact that the Athenians preserved Theseus’ ship, replacing parts as they decayed until nothing of the original was left.

  Sinis: A bandit defeated by Theseus on his way to Athens. Sinis lashed his victims to bent pine trees whose recoil tore them apart.

  Skyros: An island between Greece and Anatolia, where Theseus died. Not to be confused with Sciron, one of Theseus’ early foes.

  Sophocles: A Greek playwright of the fifth century BC. Theseus plays a minor role in his play Oedipus at Colonus, the second play in a trilogy dealing with the life of Oedipus.

  Staphylus: A son of Theseus by Ariadne. His name means “grape cluster,” implying that his father might really be Dionysus, Ariadne’s second husband.

  Tartarus: An abyss in the realm of Hades, frequently equated with the Christian hell.

  Taurus: The name of a Cretan general and governor of the Labyrinth, who was defeated by Theseus in a wrestling-match. Possibly a title: Taurus may have been Minos’ son Deucalion.

  Thebes: A city in Greece to the northwest of Athens. Not to be confused with the famous Egyptian city of the same name.

  Troezen: A city in the northeastern Peloponnese where Theseus spent his early life.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Alighieri, Dante (trans. H. F. Carey), The Vision of Hell, Cassell & Co., London, 1892.

  Apollodorus (trans. Robin Hard), The Library of Greek Mythology, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1997.

  Apollodorus and Hyginus (trans. R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma), Apollodorus' Library and Hyginus' Fabulae: Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, Hackett Publishing Company, Indianapolis, 2007.

  Bacchylides (trans. Robert Fagles), Complete Poems, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1998.

  Borges, Jorge Luis (trans. Andrew Hurley), “The House of Asterion,” Collected Fictions, Penguin, New York, 1999.

  Campbell, Joseph, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, New World Library, Novato, 2008.

  Cleidemus, Atthis, fifth–fourth century BC, now lost.

  Collins, Suzanne, The Hunger Games, Scholastic, New York, 2009. Connor, Steve, “Has the original Labyrinth been found?” The Independent, October 16, 2009. Online version available at http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/architecture/has-the-original-labyrinth-been-found-1803638.html

  Daily Mail Reporter, “Maze of underground caves could be the original site of the ancient Greek Labyrinth,” Daily Mail, October 16, 2009. Online version available at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1220859/Maze-underground-caves-original-site-ancient-Greek-Labyrinth.html#ixzz1ArLrYdwN

  Euripides (trans. Michael R. Halleran), Hippolytus, Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Co, Newburyport, MA, 2001.

  Frazer, James G., The Golden Bough, Gramercy, New York, 1993.

  Grimal, Pierre, Larousse World Mythology, Larousse, London, 1989.

  Leeming, David, Myth: A Biography of Belief, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002.

  McInerny, Jeremy, “Bulls and Bull-Leaping in the Minoan World,” http://penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/PDFs/53-3/mcinerney.pdf

  Ovid (trans. Harold Isbell), Heroides, Penguin Classics, London, 2004.

  Ovid (trans. E. J. Kenney), Metamorphoses, Oxford Paperbacks, Oxford, 1998.

  Pausanias, Description of Greece, vol. I, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, 1918.

  Plutarch (trans. Aubrey Stewart), Plutarch’s Lives, vol. I, George Bell & Sons, London, 1894. There are many other translations, but this one is available as a free ebook on Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#LIFE_OF_THESEUS).

  Pressfield, Steven, Last of the Amazons, Bantam, New York, 2003.

  Racine, Jean (trans. Margaret Rawlings), Phèdre, Penguin Classics, London, 1992.

  Radice, Betty, Who’s Who in the Ancient World, Penguin Books, New York, 1971.

  Renault, Mary, The King Must Die, Vintage, New York, 1988.

  Renault, Mary, The Bull from the Sea, Vintage, New York, 2001.

  Riordan, Rick, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Disney-Hyperion, New York, 2006.

  Robinson, Tony and Curtis, Richard, Theseus – The King Who Killed the Minotaur, Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1988.

  Seneca (trans. Frederick Ahl), Phaedra, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1986.

  Siculus, Diodorus (trans. C. H. Oldfather), Diodorus Siculus: The Library of History, vol. III, Loeb Classical Library,New York, 1939.

  Smith, Sir William (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, Little & Brown, Boston, 1849.

  Movies and TV

  Amadio, Silvio (dir.) Warlord of Crete, 1960.

  Becker, Josh (dir.) Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur, 1994.

&nb
sp; English, Jonathan (dir.), Minotaur, 2006.

  Harrison, John Kent (dir.), Helen of Troy, 2003.

  Popplewell, Brett (prod.), “The Minotaur” (Beastmaster, season 1 episode 13), 2000.

  Singh, Tarsem, Immortals, 2011.

  Zwicky, Karl (dir.), Sinbad and the Minotaur, 2011.

  First published in Great Britain in 2014 by Osprey Publishing,

  Kemp House, Chawley Park, Cumnor Hill, Oxford, OX2 9PH, UK

  4301 21st. St., Suite 220, Long Island City, NY 11101, USA

  E-mail: info@ospreypublishing.com

  Osprey Publishing is part of the Osprey Group

  © 2014 Osprey Publishing Ltd.

  All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Inquiries should be addressed to the Publishers.

  The Publisher has made every attempt to secure appropriate permissions for material reproduced in this book. If there has been any oversight we will be happy to recify the situation and written submission should be made to the publishers.

  A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library

  Print ISBN: 978 1 4728 0405 1

  PDF e-book ISBN: 978 1 4728 0407 5

  EPUB e-book ISBN: 978 1 4728 0406 8

  Typeset in Garamond Pro and Myriad Pro

  Originated by PDQ Media, Bungay, UK