Theseus
Athenian prince who entered the Cretan Labyrinth, killed the Minotaur with Ariadne's help, then abandoned her on Naxos.
The Legend of Theseus
He killed the monster — then abandoned the woman who saved him on a deserted island. Athens owed Crete a tribute of seven youths and seven maidens to feed the Minotaur. Theseus volunteered as one of the seven. Ariadne, daughter of Minos, fell in love with him and gave him a ball of thread to navigate the Labyrinth. Theseus killed the Minotaur (with his fists or a sword), followed the thread back out, and fled Crete with Ariadne. He then left her sleeping on Naxos. Dionysus found and married her. Returning to Athens, Theseus forgot to change his black sails to white — the signal of survival. His father Aegeus, watching from the cliffs, saw the black sails and threw himself into the sea. The Aegean Sea bears his name.
Children
Hippolytus
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Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
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Theseus
🗡 heroFounder-hero of Athens
Theseus was the great hero of Athens who slew the Minotaur, united Attica, and established Athenian democracy — Athens' answer to Heracles.
Bellerophon
🗡 heroThe hero who tamed Pegasus
The Corinthian hero who tamed the winged horse Pegasus and slew the Chimera, but fell from heaven when he tried to reach Olympus.
Arsinoe
🗡 heroNursing, protection
Nurse or foster-mother of Orestes who saved the prince from Clytemnestra's murderous designs
Anchises
🗡 heroLove, royalty, Troy
Trojan prince beloved by Aphrodite and father of Aeneas, the legendary founder of Rome
Aegeus
🗡 herotragedy
King of Athens and father of Theseus who threw himself into the sea when he saw black sails, believing his son was dead.
Ariadne
🗡 heroPrincess who saved Theseus from the Labyrinth
Daughter of King Minos who fell in love with Theseus and gave him the thread that allowed him to escape the Labyrinth after slaying the Minotaur.
Jason
🗡 heroLeader of the Argonauts
The hero who assembled the Argonauts and sailed to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece, aided by Medea's sorcery.
Hypsipyle
🗡 heroNone recorded
Queen of Lemnos who saved her father when the women of the island murdered every other man, later becoming the lover of Jason during the Argonauts' voyage
Andromeda
🗡 herorescue
Ethiopian princess chained to a rock as sacrifice to a sea monster, rescued by Perseus, and placed among the stars.
Peleus
🗡 heroheroism
King of Phthia, Argonaut, and father of Achilles who wrestled the shape-shifting sea goddess Thetis to win her as his bride.
Odysseus
🗡 heroKing of Ithaca, hero of the Trojan War
The cleverest of the Greek heroes, whose ten-year journey home from Troy is one of the greatest stories ever told. Odysseus's cunning was his greatest weapon.
Althaemenes
🗡 heroFate, exile
Cretan prince who fled to Rhodes to avoid a prophecy that he would kill his father, only to fulfil it