Why is theseus loved by the greeks

Theseus embarked on a number of expeditions with his close friend Peirithoos, the king of the Lapith tribe from Thessaly in northern Greece. He also undertook an expedition against the Amazons, in some versions with Herakles , and kidnapped their queen Antiope, whom he subsequently married Enraged by this, the Amazons laid siege to Athens, an event that became popular in later artistic representations. There are certain aspects of the myth of Theseus that were clearly modeled on the more prominent hero Herakles during the early sixth century B.

There also seems to be some conflation of the two since they both partook in an Amazonomachy and a Centauromachy. Both heroes additionally have links to Athena and similarly complex parentage with mortal mothers and divine fathers.

Theseus became king and therefore part of the historical lineage of Athens, whereas Herakles remained free from any geographical ties, probably the reason that he was able to become the Panhellenic hero. Ultimately, as indicated by the development of heroic iconography in Athens, Herakles was superseded by Theseus because he provided a much more complex and local hero for Athens.

This famous black-figure krater shows Theseus during the Cretan episode, and is one of a small number of representations of Theseus dated before B.

Between and B. Around B. The episode is treated in a work by the lyric poet Bacchylides. In the mid-fifth century B. Additionally, the shield of Athena Parthenos, the monumental chryselephantine cult statue in the interior of the Parthenon, featured an Amazonomachy that included Theseus. The rise in prominence of Theseus in Athenian consciousness shows an obvious correlation with historical events and particular political agendas.

In the early to mid-sixth century B. It is worth noting that Athenian democracy was not equivalent to the modern notion; rather, it widened political involvement to a larger swath of the male Athenian population. Nonetheless, the beginnings of this sort of government could easily draw on the Synoikismos as a precedent, giving Solon cause to elevate the importance of Theseus.

Additionally, there were a large number of correspondences between myth and historical events of this period. As king, Theseus captured the city of Eleusis from Megara and placed the boundary stone at the Isthmus of Corinth, a midpoint between Athens and its enemy. Domestically, Theseus opened Athens to foreigners and established the Panathenaia, the most important religious festival of the city. Historically, Solon also opened the city to outsiders and heightened the importance of the Panathenaia around B.

When the tyrant Peisistratos seized power in B. Peisistratos took Theseus to be not only the national hero, but his own personal hero, and used the Cretan adventures to justify his links to the island sanctuary of Delos and his own reorganization of the festival of Apollo there.

Under Kleisthenes, the polis was reorganized into an even more inclusive democracy, by dividing the city into tribes, trittyes, and demes, a structure that may have been meant to reflect the organization of the Synoikismos. Kleisthenes also took a further step to outwardly claim Theseus as the Athenian hero by placing him in the metopes of the Athenian treasury at Delphi, where he could be seen by Greeks from every polis in the Aegean.

The oligarch Kimon ca. Typically the most common Greek heroes are Heracles and Perseus. They were both sons of Zeus and immortalized their names through their strength.

Heracles was the strongest of the Greek heroes and had the longest suffering, his name finally reaching Olympus after the Twelve Labors. Like Heracles, Perseus was a strong fighter and even beheaded Medusa to claim his fame. A hero is someone who is revered for his or her exceptional achievements and bravery. Anyone who puts themselves before others not for recognition or an award, but because it is the right thing to do, is a true hero.

In "The Odyssey," written by Homer is an epic poem about a man named Odysseus and his crewmates competing against the power of the gods to return to their homeland, Ithaca. Throughout his journey, he loses almost all of his men, but Odysseus finally arrives home, concluding his prolonged twenty-year voyage.

Odysseus must battle the suitors that have taken his wife Penelope, and may soon kill his son Telemachus. By turns charismatic, ruthless, brilliant, power hungry, diplomatic and bloodthirsty, Alexander inspired such loyalty in his men they followed him anywhere and, if necessary, died in the process.

Though Alexander the Great died before realizing his dream of uniting a new realm, his influence on Greek and Asian culture was so profound it inspired a new historical era—the Hellenistic Period. Alexander the Great was born in Pella, Macedonia, in B. A hero can be someone who courage and strength, accomplished bold acts, divine ancestry, and favored by the god. Heracles fit in this category.

Heracles is favored by the gods because he is half-god, half-human, he has the courage and strength of his ability, he had divined ancestry because his dad is Zeus, and he accomplishes bold acts such as the twelve labors of Heracles, which no one else could possible do but Heracles himself.

Heracles dad, Zeus was married to Hera. In the myth, he, a mighty adventurer, becomes a legend after he defeats a Cyclops named Polyphemus and successfully escapes from the cave. His actions impress every person in ancient Greece; therefore, he is admired by the society. How he is an epic hero?

First off all he is one of Zeus sons very strong and powerful. He was a semi god,. He was liked universally. Songs of praise were sung about him. He won every duel. Elliot Kim Mrs. He sets out on a dangerous journey to the island of Crete to try to free Athens from the dreadful tribute that it pays every year to the Minotaur. The Minotaur is a monster that lives in Crete.

Its body is that of a man; its head is that of a bull. It is a monster that devours human beings. Athens has the obligation of sending seven youths and seven maidens every year to Crete to be eaten by the Minotaur.

Athens participates in this exchange because of a war fought between Crete and Athens and the treaty that ended that war. Minos, king of Crete, had a son Androgeos who had been visiting Aegeus in Attica. Androgeos had died while he was in Attica. Learn more about poets such as Homer. Either he was killed by a great bull that Aegeus sent him out to fight, or Androgeos was killed by young Athenian men who were jealous of his athletic prowess.

Either version, the result is the same. The war ceased only when Athens agreed to let King Minos name whatever recompense he wanted. What he wanted was fodder for his monster, the Minotaur. Minos imposed this tribute on Athens of seven youths and seven maidens every year, who will be fed to the Minotaur in Crete. When Theseus learns of this dreadful tribute from his father Aegeus, he volunteers to be a member of the delegation that year, one of the seven youths that will go to face the Minotaur in Crete.

Of course, Theseus is intending to kill the monster if he possibly can, and therefore lift this tribute from Athens. His encounter with the Minotaur and the help that he gets from the Cretan princess Ariadne, daughter of Minos, are the most famous elements of any story about Theseus. Ariadne, the princess, helps Theseus. This is a common element: The young man attempting to perform an all-but-impossible feat is helped by a young woman who has fallen in love with him, usually a princess. Ariadne has fallen in love with Theseus at first sight, and so she decides to help him to overcome the Minotaur.

She gives Theseus a ball of thread so that he can find his way back out of the labyrinth where the Minotaur is imprisoned. The labyrinth is a maze so intricate that once you enter it you can never find your way back out again. The seven youths and seven maidens will be driven into the labyrinth, and the Minotaur would hunt them down and eat them. Ariadne gives Theseus a ball of thread so he can tie one end to the doorpost and use it to retrace his steps.

This is often called the clue of Ariadne. Our use of the word clue to mean the one element that leads you out of your perplexity to an understanding comes from the story of Ariadne.

It is originally a metaphorical use of the term. In return—Ariadne has to get something out of this as well—Theseus agrees to take Ariadne with him when he leaves Crete, as well he might.

He and Ariadne do then indeed leave Crete. They stop to spend the night on the nearby island of Naxos and supposedly spend the night together. The next morning, when Theseus wakes up, he sets sail and leaves Ariadne behind, alone on the island of Naxos.

Various versions explain why he did this, but the most common one most authors seem to espouse is that he simply flat-out forgot her.

He got up in the morning, forgot about Ariadne entirely and set sail without her. When Ariadne awakens, she finds herself abandoned, all alone on an island. Unusually for myth, she has a happy ending to her story. The god Dionysos supposedly comes, finds Ariadne, rescues her, marries her, and turns her into a goddess.

If the story originally was that a Cretan goddess helped Theseus, then it would make more sense that after she helped him, Dionysos married her. It would be a god marrying a goddess rather than a god turning a human woman into a goddess. But as the story developed, Ariadne was downgraded to a human being, and the story evolved to Theseus leaving her behind on Naxos and Dionysos rescuing her.

Before he left Athens, he had promised his father Aegeus that if he succeeded in killing the Minotaur, he would change the sails on his ship from black to white. When the ship set sail every year for Crete with the 14 doomed boys and girls aboard, it had black sails. When it came back, having left its human cargo in Crete, it still had black sails.

He forgot to do so, and Aegeus, who had been standing either on the Acropolis of Athens or on Cape Sounion—the southernmost tip of Attica—keeping watch every day for the returning ship, saw that the sails were still black, and leaped to his death because he thought Theseus was dead.