Poseidon's son, Hades' prisoner, the Minotaur's destroyer – THESEUS – Greek Mythology Explained

Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today’s video we’re going to take a look at Theseus, one of the legendary heroes of Greek mythology.

Here’s what you can expect: a man who kicks people off a cliff after making them wash his feet; a woman who has a wooden cow made so that she can copulate with a bull; a half-cocked plan to abduct Hades’ wife; and a mano a mano wrestling match to the death between a person who’s half man, half god and a monster who’s half man, half bull.

Let’s get into it.

Theseus, along with others like Hercules, Perseus, Atlanta, and Jason, was one of the great heroes who lived before the Trojan war. He was the son of the Athenian king Aegeus, who consulted the oracle of Delphi to remedy his childlessness. Aegeus then went to Troezen to visit his friend king Pittheus. The oracle’s words, which were, essentially, that he should not open his wineskin until he returned home, perplexed Aegeus, but Pittheus understood their meaning immediately. Pittheus made sure that Aegeus was good and drunk, and then he sent Aethra, his daughter, to him. Later that night, Poseidon would also come to Aethra, so you could say that Theseus had three parents, a mother and two fathers, one mortal, the other divine. The next morning, Aegeus hid a sword and a pair of sandals underneath a boulder. If Aethra were to have a son, Aegeus told her to have him retrieve the sword and sandals when he eventually made his way to Athens.

Aethra did indeed have a son, and when Theseus was grown, he retrieved the items his father had left for him and traveled to Athens, electing to take the longer, more difficult land route, rather than sailing there. He encountered the first real challenge of his life on his way. A group of brigands was preying on travellers. There were four members. One bludgeoned people to death with his bronze club; the second tied people to a bent pine, catapulting them into the sky; the third offered a bed to rest but then made sure people fit perfectly to the bed by lopping of body parts; and the fourth would kick people off a cliff after making them wash his feet. Theseus destroyed this group, subjecting each member to the same death they dealt to those they robbed and killed. This poetic justice was inspired by the deeds of Hercules, of whom Theseus was a great admirer.

Watch the video for the rest!

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