Theseus and the Minotaur

CC 303 Intro to Classical Mythology - Fall 2009
Department of Classics, University of Texas at Austin, Prof. Lawrence Kim

Theseus, Aegeus, Athens, Procrustes, Sciron, Pasiphaë, Minos, Minotaur,
Labyrinth, Crete, Ariadne, Naxos, Aegean Sea, Pirithoüs, Daedalus, Centaurs

1. Theseus: Birth and Early Years
   1. Trouble in Athens: Aegeus vs. Pallas (not Athena)
   2. Aegeus and the oracle; drunken get-together with Aethra
      1. Theseus born at Troezen, not Athens
   3. The Sword (+ sandals) and the Stone
   4. Travels back to Athens and Defeats Six Anti-Social men/beasts
   1. Periphetes the Clubber
   2. Sinis the Pine-Bender
   3. The Crommyonian Sow
   4. Sciron, the Foot-washer with the Man-eating Turtle
   5. Cercyon the Wrestler
   6. Procrustes (and his bed)
   5. Reclaims his Heritage
   1. Medea Tries to Poison Him
   2. Recognition by Sword Hilt
2. Theseus and the Minotaur
   1. Androgeus, son of Minos, killed by Marathon Bull
      1. Minos attacks Megara (see next lecture on Nisus and Scylla) and Athens
      2. Agreement: 7 boys, 7 girls sent to Crete every 9 years
   2. Pasiphaë, the Minotaur, the Labyrinth
      
      1. Poseidon sends Minos a Bull from the Sea = King
      • Poseidon angry that bull was not sacrificed
      • Makes Pasiphaë fall in love with the bull
      2. Daedalus makes the fake bull for Pasiphaë
         
      • Son: Minotaur, Daughters: Phaedra, Ariadne
      3. Minotaur hidden away in Labyrinth
      • Eats the kids from Athens
   3. Theseus volunteers for mission: goes to Crete
      • Minotaur, Ariadne (daughter of Minos), thread
   4. Theseus abandons Ariadne on Naxos (Dionysus weds her)
   5. Death of Aegeus (Black Sails)
3. Theseus and his best friend Pirithoüs (son of Ixion)
   1. The Battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs
   2. Abduction of the young Helen from Sparta
      
   3. Journey to the Underworld to get Persephone
   4. Rescue (of Theseus) by Heracles
4. Last Days
   1. Loses Kingship to Menestheus
   2. Death on Scyros
5. Main Themes
   1. Created as a National Hero for Athens
      1. Also Champion of the Oppressed (Euripides' Heracles)
   2. Closely associated with Heracles
      1. Six Anti-Social Labors
      2. Expedition against the Amazons
      3. Marathon Bull = Cretan Bull of Heracles' Labor 7
      4. Heracles rescues from Underworld
   3. Similarities with Heroes
      1. Brought up in secret away from their home
      2. Recognized by tokens or deeds
      3. Sail away on a quest
      4. Abandons woman who loved and helped him
      5. Ignoble deaths; almost afterthoughts

1. Theseus and Sciron. Attic Red-figure kylix from Vulci attributed to Douris, 5th c. BCE.
2. Labors of Theseus. Attic Red-figure kylix by Aison, c. 420-410 BCE. (L to R: the Marathon Bull, Procrustes, and Cercyon). Museo Arquelogico, Madrid.
3. Labors of Theseus. Red-figure kylix by the Codrus Painter, 5th c. BCE. (Clockwise from the top: Theseus encounters Cercyon, Procrustes, Sciron, the Marathon bull, Sinis, and the Crommonyian Sow. In the center he is dragging the dead Minotaur out of the Labyrinth.)
4. Theseus captures the Marathon Bull.
5. Map of Theseus' Labors.
6. The Minotaur. Jan Parker.
7. The Minotaur. George Frederick Watts, 1885. Tate Gallery, London.
8. Theseus slaying the Minotaur. Stamnos by the Kleophrades Painter, c. 500-450 BCE. British Museum, London.
9. Theseus and the Minotaur. Roman Mosaic from Rhaetia, Switzerland. Cormerod.
10. Ariadne. J.W. Waterhouse, 1898. Private Collection.
11. *Ariadne. Giorgio de Chirico, 1913. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
12. Heracles rescuing Theseus in the Underworld.