Once there was a heroic young boy named Theseus
Who
was the only son of the king of Athens Aegeus
But
was raised by the king of Troezen his grandfather
And
also, by the princess Aethra his devoted mother
Just
before Theseus was born king Aegeus left Troezen
But
before he left, he placed beneath a boulder a token
Aegeus
told Aethra that she must keep his identity secret
Until
his son Theseus was old enough to understand it
His
sword and sandals he had buried he told Aethra
Which
his son must first lift off when he was older
Theseus
grew into a strong and intelligent young man
And
when he was sixteen, Aethra followed the plan
She
took Theseus to the boulder and told him to lift it
Which
if he did, she would tell him his father’s secret
Theseus
wrapped his mighty arms around the boulder
And
he lifted it and threw it away as if it were paper
Neath
the stone he found the tokens left by his father
He
was told to take the sword and sandals by Aethra
Then
Aethra could reveal the truth to young Theseus
That
he was the son of the King of Athens Aegeus
Theseus
was prompted by a sense of his heroic destiny
And
to meet his father he set out forthwith on a journey
Aethra
and her father begged Theseus to go to by sea
To
avoid bandits who frequented the road habitually
But
Theseus was young and bold so went by overland
After
a few miles he met a man with a club in his hand
He
was a giant of a man and His name was Periphetes
And
his club was bronze and would have suited Heracles
Periphetes
was going to kill him that was quite clear
But
Theseus stood before him and showed him no fear
He
managed to persuade him to let him see the weapon
Once
in his hands he hit Periphetes with the bludgeon
After
killing Periphetes he went down the road further
And
he met another giant called Sinis the pine bender
Sinis
tricked passersby to help him with tree bending
Then
he’d tie them between the trees before releasing
As
the pines snapped upright it caused decapitation
Spreading
them over the landscape in every direction
When
he tried to do the same thing to Theseus our hero
He
tied Sinis between two bent pines and then let go
Then,
not far from Athens, Theseus encountered Sciron
On
the road along tall cliffs the brigand stood upon
To
cross the cliffs, He demanded a toll from travelers
And
he would kill with his axe any attempted defaulters
The
toll he demanded seemed to be reasonably fair
And
was simply to wash his feet in the tub he had there
Then
while they were busy washing his feet thoroughly
He
would kick the unsuspecting traveler into the sea
And
down below the tall cliffs in watery isolation
A
huge man-eating sea turtle waited in anticipation
So,
Theseus sat down and started to wash Sciron's feet
He
looked over the cliff and saw the turtle not replete
When
Sciron's foot came at him, Theseus jerked aside
And
hurled Sciron into the foaming sea off the cliff side
The
next challenge for Theseus our intrepid adventurer
Came
in the form of a man called Procrustes an evildoer
Procrustes
kept a house by the roadside where he offers
Hospitality
in the form of a hot meal to passing strangers
Then
they were invited to take a night's rest it was said
What
Procrustes called a night in his very special bed
If
a guest inquired of him what was so special about it
They
were told whoever slept in it the bed adjusted to fit
Once
in bed the guest was either stretched if to small
Or
had limbs hacked off if they were too long or tall
Theseus
once again turned the tables on his adversary
Just
By adjusting Procrustes to fit his own bed fatally
When
he reached Athens, he was hailed by the Athenians
For
he’d rid the highway of its highwaymen and brigands
In
his honor he was invited to the palace for a banquet
Theseus
decided not to reveal his true identity just yet
Serving
as hostess was the Kings new wife queen Medea
Medea
was a sorceress from Colchis who was very bitter
She
had once loved Jason and helped him steal Golden Fleece
But
Jason had spurned her when they returned to Greece
Her
magic had already disclosed the identity of Theseus
But
she kept this information from her husband Aegeus
She
decided her personnel ambition Theseus was threatening
And
her own son’s chances of ruling Athens as the king
So,
Medea cleverly played on king Aegeus's insecurity
At
the same time carefully concealing his true identity
She
convinced the king Theseus hadn’t just come to dine
Medea
persuaded Aegeus to serve him poisoned wine
Theseus
paused just before drinking to carve his meat
As
soon as Aegeus saw the sword, he was on his feet
The
king knocked over the wine cup spilling the poison
Theseus
and Aegeus were filled with joy at the reunion
Medea
spat words at them as venomous as her poisons
Storming
out she escaped in a chariot pulled by dragons
Theseus
was now true heir to the kingdom of Athens
And
Theseus and Aegeus were happy like old friends
But
when the spring equinox came all Athens mourned
As
a ship approached Athens with a black sail adorned
He
begged Aegeus to tell him why Athenians were sad
Theseus
went to the harbor fearing something very bad
He
spoke to a sailor and asked him what was happening
Reluctantly
the sailor spoke about the annual sacrificing
One
day King Minos of Crete's eldest son Androgeus
Was
accidentally been killed in Athens he told Theseus
Minos
was very angry he attacked and defeated Athens
And
demanded that the Athenians pay a yearly recompense
Seven
young men and seven young women to even the score
Must
each year be fed to the terrible monster the Minotaur
The
Minotaur was a monster of half-bull and half-man
That
lived in the center of a vast maze quite Labyrinthian
The
beast had been born to king Minos's wife Pasiphae
As
a punishment from Poseidon the great god of the sea
Theseus
volunteered to go as one of the fourteen to Crete
To
enter the Labyrinth and fight the Minotaur to defeat
King
Aegeus was reluctant to let his only son Theseus go
But
Theseus insisted he must prove to Athens he was a hero
He
pledged when he’d faced Minotaur and won the fight
He
would return turning the black sails to a brilliant white
As
well as being the heir of king Aegeus and his only son
Theseus
also believed himself to be the son of Poseidon
When
the black sailed ship landed the captives at Crete
King
Minos stood on the dock there to meet and greet
Minos
demanded introductions from all the Athenians
When
it came to Theseus to give his name to the Cretan
He
announced he was prince of Athens and son of Poseidon
Minos
said “If you’re prince of Athens you’re Aegeus’s son”
“To
prove you are son of Poseidon fetch my golden ring"
Minos
threw his ring into the sea as Theseus was praying
After
his prayer to the god Poseidon he dived into the sea
Below
the surface he was found by Thetis a Watery deity
The
nymph Thetis gave him the ring and a golden crown
Theseus
surfaced holding both items aloft before the town
It
was shortly after Theseus had climbed out of the water
When
he met Princess Ariadne King Minos’s daughter
And
princess Ariadne fell in love with him at first sight
So
much that she gave him a clue for his impending fight
The
Labyrinth was a complex maze that awaited Theseus
Cleverly
and intricately contrived by its builder Daedalus
Once
thrown inside, a victim could never find the way back
Eventually
meeting death after a savage Minotaur attack
The
clew Ariadne gave Theseus was a ball of silk thread
To
tie at the entrance and unwind it as he went ahead
Then
once Theseus had fought and killed the Minotaur
He
could follow it back to where it was tied to the door
Theseus
was dropped into the maze with his companions
He
tied the string off and told them follow his directions
He
led them to the Labyrinth’s center to find the Minotaur
When
they got there a sleeping monster was what they saw
Theseus
jumped on it and ripped of one of its huge horns
Then
he poked at the Minotaur pricking it hide like thorns
Theseus
then ran back, and he threw the horn like a javelin
The
horn ripped into the great monster’s neck and stuck in
The
Minotaur charged at Theseus but halfway fell dead
Everyone
cheered and he led them back using the thread
After
sinking Minos’s ships Theseus eloped with Ariadne
With
fellow Athenians on black-sailed ship the went to sea
One
night on the black-sailed ship came the god Dionysus
He
wanted princess Ariadne for himself he told Theseus
Dionysus
ordered Theseus to abandon her on Naxos Island
Theseus
had little choice but to obey the god’s command
He
reluctantly obeyed the god Dionysus and abandoned her
Sailing
away from Naxos he was so sad to leave her there
He
forgot to change the ships sails from black to white
Which
was to be the signal to say they had won the fight
King
Aegeus sat watching and waiting on a promontory
But
when he saw the black sails, he jumped into the sea
That
fatal stretch of sea is forever named after the Athenian
And
to this very day the sea is still known as the Aegean
After
his father’s death Theseus became king of Athens
But
this did not mean that his days of adventuring ends
He
could not be contented with hunting the dear or boars
So,
he accompanied Heracles on one of his twelve labors
To
steal the girdle from the Amazon queen Hippolyte
Which
in the end they didn’t give up without a fight
A
great battle ensued between the amazons and heroes
Many
amazons lay dead amongst the spears and arrows
Heracles
made off with Hippoytes belt for Eurystheus
And
the Amazon princess Antiope was taken by Theseus
During
The ancient times of Theseus it was customary
Around
the Aegean for Greek nobles to embark in piracy
Theseus
received word that one pirate had set the eyes on
The
royal Athenian herds on the seaside plain at Marathon
When
he apprehended the pirate, he was about to strike
But
as King and pirate eyed each other they were too alike
The
two men had taken an instant liking to one another
And
although they were strangers, they felt like brothers
The
pirate was of the royal house of the Thessalian Lapiths
And
conceding defeat he said his name was Peirithous
He
named a punishment for the Thessalians’s misdeed
His
plan was to take Helen of Sparta, Peirithous agreed
The
planned abduction both men were bound to enjoy
Helen
of Sparta would one day become Helen of Troy
At
the time of the abduction Helen was only thirteen
So,
he decided until she was old enough to be his queen
She
would be left in the safekeeping of his mother Aethra
But
her hero twin brothers Castor and Pollux rescued her
In
return for his help with Helen he had to assist Peirithous
With
a very perilous adventure which worried king Theseus
Peirithous
wanted to abduct Persephone, the wife of Hades
He
was king of the underworld and capable of great fury
So,
they set off to the underworld to steal Persephone away
And
went straight to the throne of Hades without delay
Peirithous
boldly stated his intent to the king of the dead
Claiming
Persephone would be happier with him instead
Hades
immediately feigned consent and tricked the two
Into
sitting at a bench where they became stuck like glue
Hades
then loosed upon the two heroes a flock of torments
They
came in the form of furies and venomous serpents
As
well as the slavering fangs of the hellhound Cerberus
Not
to mention the infamous tantalizing water of Tartarus
When
Heracles was on his twelfth labor he found Theseus
And
he released him be he would not release Peirithous
Theseus
had all the qualities of a great Athenian hero
Strength
and courage but intelligence and wisdom also
His
early adventures benefited the Athens and region
And
he forged the feuding warlords into a federation
He
led Athens's army on victorious campaigns of war
He
gained a reputation for helping the oppressed and poor
Escaped
slaves who took refuge at his altar in that age
Could
not under any circumstance be returned to bondage
In
middle age wisdom deserted him making bad decisions
Theseus
began to go on ever more foolish expeditions
His
efforts to produce an heir led to even more problems
Athenians
grew tired and he died exiled from Athens's
His
body did not come home such was the consensus
Generations
past with little thought given to Theseus
Until
the Persian wars Athenian soldiers began to see
Theseus
and believed him the reason for their victories
Athenian
general Cimon was told by the Oracle at Delphi
To
find Theseus's bones and build a tomb and sanctuary
So
finally, they returned to Athens the great Athenian hero
In
a magnificent tomb and sanctuary for the people to go
