The Story of Theseus and Ariadne
One of the most famous heroes of the ancient Greeks was Theseus, the son of Aegeus, King of Athens
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
“The Story of Theseus and Ariadne” from Wonder Tales from the Greek & Roman Myths by Gladys Davidson, 1920.
One of the most famous heroes of the ancient Greeks was Theseus, the son of Aegeus, King of Athens. His mother was the Princess Aethra of Troezen, with whom he was left to spend his childhood in the city of his birth, away from his father, Aegeus. At Troezen Aegeus had left a famous sword which he placed for safety beneath an enormously-heavy stone, telling Aethra that as soon as their son was strong enough to remove the stone and take the sword, he was to set forth for Athens to join his father and share in his royal birthright.
Aegeus had a reason for thus concealing the birth of his son; for in Athens there were at that time a number of his nephews who expected to succeed him on the throne, and he feared they might kill his son did they learn that he had one, since they believed him to be childless.
Theseus very early showed signs of the manly qualities that go to the making of a hero, and eagerly profited by the excellent training afforded him of becoming proficient in all warlike pursuits, and hardy games and accomplishments; and when he had grown up to be a splendid youth, handsome, strong, and fearless, he boldly announced his intention to possess himself of his father's famous sword.
The young prince, therefore, was led to the spot where the sword had been hidden by his royal father; and, though still but a mere youth, to the amazement of all, he thrust aside the great stone, and took up the splendid sword which lay beneath it, still bright and keen as of yore. And then he bade farewell to his weeping mother, who was filled with grief at having thus to part with her fine young son, and departed from the land of his childhood, and, with his father's flashing sword girt around his waist, set forth for the famous city of Athens.
Theseus met with many adventures upon his way, and quickly proved himself to be a hero indeed; for he had to fight with several desperate robbers and savage monsters, all of whom, by means of his fearless courage and skill in arms, he was able to overcome.
When, however, he at length arrived in Athens, he very nearly lost his life before he could prove his identity; but upon being brought into the presence of King Aegeus, the latter recognized him at once as his son, by means of the sword he wore. So Theseus was now welcomed as the King's son and next successor; and since he had already proved himself to be a warlike youth, his cousins, who had hoped to secure the throne for themselves, left him in peace for the time being.
For a few years Theseus lived a quiet life; and then his love of adventure led him to take part in a desperate enterprise. Some years previous to his arrival in his father's land, the Athenians had been at war with the Cretans, who had defeated them; and Minos, the King of Crete, had only withdrawn his warriors and permitted the Athenians to keep their city on condition that they sent him, as a yearly tribute, seven youths and seven maidens to be devoured by a terrible creature known as the Minotaur, which he had to keep and feed. This fearful monster had the head of a bull and the body of a man; and it was kept in a labyrinth or maze, where it roamed loose at will, and in order to keep it satisfied with its home, so that it should not come out into the city, it had to be fed on human flesh.
Ever since the war with Crete, the Athenians had been compelled, greatly to their sorrow, to send each year seven of their noblest youths and seven of their fairest maidens to be devoured by the Minotaur, as a tax to King Minos; and, in order to act fairly by his people, Aegeus caused the victims to be chosen by means of casting lots.
Then, to his horror, on the fourth year after the arrival of his son in the land, the lot fell to Theseus himself to be one of the seven youths to be sent to the Minotaur; and old Aegeus tearfully entreated his counsellors and people to send another in the place of the young prince, whose life was of such value to the country.
But Theseus himself sternly silenced his anxious father, declaring that since the lot had fallen upon him, he should certainly accompany the other youths and maidens to Crete; and he boldly added that he should give fight to the Minotaur, and hoped, by slaying it, thus to rid the people of Athens of their fatal yearly tribute.
When Aegeus heard this noble resolve, he was filled with grief, since it seemed almost certain that he would never see his beloved son again, no one having yet been known to escape from the jaws of this terrible monster; but seeing that neither tears nor entreaties would alter the firm resolve of Theseus, he bade him a sorrowful farewell, commending him to the care of the gods, and desiring him, if he should, by some miraculous means, manage to escape from death and return to Athens, to fly white sails in his usually black-rigged vessel, that the royal watcher might know, directly the ship hove in sight, that the enterprise of his heroic son had been blessed with success.
Theseus agreed to his father's request, and then boarded his black-sailed ship, together with the six other youths and the seven fair maidens who were to be given over to the devouring jaws of the Minotaur; and the sad party sailed away from Athens, followed by the sound of lamentation from the weeping people on the shores.
When the victims landed in Crete, they were not given over to the monster at once, but were kept in a safe place until the time of their sacrifice should arrive; and the bold young Prince Theseus was allowed to live for a while in the palace of the King of Crete, who, at his request, promised that he should be the first of the Athenian victims to be offered to the Minotaur.
Now, King Minos of Crete had two beautiful daughters, whose names were Phaedra and Ariadne; and both these princesses were pleased to have the companionship of the handsome young Theseus more particularly Ariadne, who fell so deeply in love with the Athenian prince that she sought desperately for some means of saving his life.
Before being cast to the Minotaur, the victims were always deprived of any weapon with which they might have defended themselves; but when the day at length arrived upon which Theseus was to be offered to the monster, Ariadne managed to convey secretly to the royal victim a sword with which to attack his foe, and also a long silken thread to use as a clue, by means of which he might find his way out of the labyrinth should he be so fortunate as to succeed in slaying the fearful beast.
In return for the valuable assistance she had thus rendered him, when Ariadne came to bid him farewell, Theseus, although he really cared more for the Princess Phaedra than for the more practical sister, promised that if he escaped from the terrible danger to which he was about to be exposed, he would marry her and take her away with him.
Theseus, with the unsuspected sword carefully hidden within his clothing, was then conducted to the entrance to the labyrinth of Crete, thrust inside and left to his fate; but ere he had gone many steps, he was careful to fasten one end of the thread given him by Ariadne to a notch in the wall, so that by unwinding the bobbin as he went up and down the endless maze of passages, he knew that he would be able to find his way back to the entrance when he wished to do so. He was very glad that the loving princess had been so wise as to give him this clue of thread, since he soon realized that he would never have been able to find his way out of the network of paths without some such help; and, greatly cheered by this good piece of fortune, the young prince went boldly on his way until at length he came to the middle of the labyrinth, which led out into an open court, at one side of which he saw the Minotaur awake and ready to devour him.
The terrible monster made a fierce rush at its intended victim; but Theseus instantly drew forth his concealed sword and fought desperately for his life. A fearful battle ensued; but so strong and brave was young Theseus, and so well skilled in the use of the sword, that, after a mighty struggle, he stretched the Minotaur dead at his feet.
After performing this heroic deed, by means of which he had not only saved his own life, but had freed his country from the cruel yearly tribute of fourteen human victims, he turned to retrace his steps; and by means of the silken clue so thoughtfully provided by the fair princess who loved him, he succeeded in finding his way back through the myriad of winding passages to the entrance to the labyrinth.
He quickly made known his conquest and slaying of the Minotaur; and the King of Crete, thankful to be rid of the terrible monster, gladly gave permission for the other intended victims to return to their own land.
So Theseus boarded his vessel once more, with the now-rejoicing Athenian youths and maidens whose lives he had saved; and when the gentle Ariadne came also to remind him of the promise he had made to her, he could not refuse to take her with him, although, in spite of her kindness to him, he still cared more for her sister Phaedra, whom he really desired to marry.
And now I am sorry to have to relate a very mean act of Theseus, and one which is all the more to be regretted when we consider how glorious were his hero deeds, and how well he conducted himself when he became a king.
On the return journey to Athens the prince's vessel was caught in a storm and driven out of its course, so that the party had to take refuge on the lonely island of Naxos until the wind had abated somewhat; and here, when the others all returned to the ship, the Princess Ariadne was deserted and left alone by Theseus, who hurried on board whilst she was resting and sailed away without her, thus returning her love and kindness with ingratitude though, doubtless, he excused his base conduct by thinking that, though he was now acting cruelly to Ariadne, he was about to bring joy to her sister Phaedra, who also loved him, and whom he intended to marry later on.
I must tell you that the deserted Ariadne, though she grieved at her sad fate for a long time, was at length comforted by Bacchus, the merry, laughing god of wine, who, finding the unhappy princess alone on the island, took pity upon her and persuaded her to marry him and to think no more about the Athenian prince who had broken his word to her.
So, in due time, Ariadne forgot her grief, and was married to the merry god; and on her wedding day Bacchus presented her with a crown of seven stars, which she afterwards always wore until her death, when it was carried up to the heavens and set there as a constellation or group of bright stars to shine down upon the world for ever. Thus was the fair, loving Ariadne, though deserted by a mortal lover, blessed and honoured by the gods; and a severe punishment for his faithlessness almost immediately fell upon Theseus after his base act that ugly blot upon the fair page of his hero life.
As the vessel drew near to the city of Athens, Theseus, in the joy of his victory, forgot the instructions given to him by his father to fly white sails as the token of his success; and when old King Aegeus from his lofty watch tower whither he bent his steps every day to look for the first signs of the returning ship beheld the eagerly-expected vessel at length drawing near, black-rigged as when it had set forth with its unhappy victims, he believed that his beloved son had failed in the enterprise and was dead. On realizing this sad surmise, the old King was so filled with despair that he cast himself headlong from the watch tower into the waves below and was drowned; and the waters in that district were ever afterwards known as the "Ægean Sea", in memory of the unhappy king who perished in their depths.
So Theseus returned to a city of mourning; but, after a while, when he had recovered somewhat from his grief, he himself became King of Athens and gained great glory for his people. He ruled the Athenians wisely and well, making many new and excellent laws for them and improving their lives in every way; and he became a greatly-beloved and much-admired king.
In spite of his care for the welfare of his people, Theseus still found time to satisfy his love of adventure; and he performed many other wonderful hero deeds at various times.
In most of his later enterprises Theseus was accompanied by his great friend, Pirithoüs, King of the Lapithæ, who, in the first instance, had made war upon him solely for the opportunity of making his acquaintance, having a great admiration for one who had been so bold and fearless as to slay the Minotaur single-handed. When the opposing armies met, however, and the two kings came face to face, a mutual love grew up in their hearts at that first moment of meeting, so that, instead of fighting, they fell into each other's arms and embraced; and ever afterwards they were the greatest of friends.
When Pirithoüs was married to a beautiful lady named Hippodamia, Theseus went to join in the wedding festivities; and he was able to help his new friend out of a great trouble at the same time. Pirithoüs had invited to his wedding some strange beings to whom he was related, and who were known as the Centaurs a race of creatures having the heads and arms of men and the bodies and legs of horses who lived in a neighbouring country; and when these strange guests arrived, they so greatly admired the beauty of the bride, that they tried to run away with her, as well as with the fairest of her waiting-maidens. The ladies were all rescued, however, by the other wedding guests; but the result was that the Lapithæ made war upon the Centaurs. Theseus declared that he would join his friend in this enterprise; and in the battle that ensued he led the Lapithae with such skill that the Centaurs were utterly defeated and driven from their own land to dwell in caves and other lonely places.
After this Theseus made war upon the Thebans, and vanquished them; and later on he joined the great hero, Hercules, in his war against the Amazons a race of tall, warrior women who fought their enemies and defended themselves without the aid of men, whom they despised and would not permit to live in their land. Having overcome the Amazons, their splendid queen, Hippolyta, was given to him as a prize, and he married her.
After the death of Hippolyta, Theseus was married to Phaedra, Ariadne's sister, who, however, brought much trouble into his life; and he endeavoured also to secure as his wife, Helen, the daughter of Jupiter and the most beautiful woman in the world, whom he had carried away by force, but whom he was obliged to return at the request of her twin brothers, Castor and Pollux.
Theseus also joined his friend, Pirithoüs, when the latter desired to take away for himself Proserpina, the wife of Pluto, King of the Underworld. For this purpose, they both had to journey to the Land of Shades; and here Piritholis was slain by Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guarded the gates, whilst Theseus was seized and chained to a stone, where he remained a captive for several years until Hercules, hearing of his sad plight, came and released him.
On his return to Athens, Theseus found that his people had chosen another king, thinking him dead; and he was therefore driven forth into exile into the land of Scyros, where he met his death by treachery being thrust down a precipice by King Lycomedes.
Davidson, Gladys. Wonder Tales from the Greek & Roman Myths. Blackie and Son Limited, 1920.
About TOTA
TOTA.world provides cultural information and sharing across the world to help you explore your Family’s Cultural History and create deep connections with the lives and cultures of your ancestors.
