THESEUS
Real Name:
Occupation:
King of Athens (c. 1258 - 1205 BC)
Legal Status:
Identity: Well known in the 13th Century, but the general populace of Earth is unaware of the existence of Theseus except as a semi-legendary character.
Other Aliases:
None
Place of Birth:
Place of Death: The Island of Scyros
Marital Status: (Phaedra) Widowed, (Antiope) Separated
Known Relatives:
Poseidon (father), Aethra (mother), Aegeus (foster father, deceased), Lycomedes
(paternal grandfather), Pittheus (maternal grandfather), Phaedra (first wife, deceased), Antiope (second wife, alias Hippolyta II),
Acamas, Demophon, Hippolytus, Melanippus (sons), Triton (half-brother),
Benthescyme, Rhode (half-sisters), Hercules (cousin),
Group Affiliations: The Argonauts
Base of Operations:
First Appearance: Wonder Woman II #33
History: Theseus is the son of Poseidon, the Olympian god of the sea, and Aethra, a princess of Troezen. Aethra was actually married to King Aegeus, but stayed home in Troezen while Aegeus dealt with political instability in Athens. Before leaving Troezen, Aegeus left behind a sword and sandals for any son who could move the rock concealing them. However, Aethra had also been seduced by Poseidon, and when she spoke of her son's father being a great king, Theseus obviously expected that she spoke of her husband, King Aegeus, rather than the sea-god. When he came of age, Theseus was able to obtain the sword and sandals Aegeus had left behind, and then left for Athens to fulfill his destiny.
Feeling he had the means to bring peace to Athens, Theseus traveled to Athens and developed a reputation for being a hero by using a combination of his wits and strength to defeat several of the thieves, murderers and monsters that terrorized the road. His grandfather, King Pittheus of Troezen had wanted to him to head to Athens by ship, but Theseus had long been an admirer of Hercules, a relative through his mother's relatives as well as through his biological father. Traveling overland, Theseus was able to clear the road to Athens of thieves and murderers and make it once more safe for travelers. Among these brigands was Corynetes the cudgeller, Phaea, the she-serpent spawn of Typhon and Echidna, the wrestler named Sceiron, Sinis Pityocamptes the pine-bender, Cercyon, the cruel king of Eleusis and Procrustes, the owner of an inn where guests never departed. The Phytalians purified Theseus of the murders at the Temple of Zeus. Theseus reportedly reported to Jason's call for a team of brave heroes to accompany him to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. This band of heroes became known as the Argonauts, but Theseus didn't stand out far in this adventure.
In Athens, Theseus was welcomed by Aegeus and treated to a
banquet, but Theseus did not attempt to make his identity known just yet. His
identity was sensed by Medea, a priestess of Hecate, whom Jason had brought to
Thessaly from Colchis. A guest of King Aegeus since divorced from Jason, Medea expected
Theseus to be an
obstacle to placing her son Medus by Aegeus on the throne of Athens. She had Aegeus send
Theseus to slay the Cretan bull which Hercules had brought from Crete, fully
expecting the bull to slay him. Theseus,
however, successfully slew the bull, and Medea then plotted to have him poisoned.
She gave Aegeus a flagon of wine laced with aconite to give to the young hero and poison him, but
as Theseus reached to accept the drink, Aegeus recognized the sword Theseus had
used to kill the bull as the one he had left behind a rock for his son years
earlier. Stopping Theseus from accepting the drink, Aegeus warmly accepted Theseus
as his son, and a very disgruntled Medea departed from Athens with her
son.
Theseus now promised to put an end to Cretan dominance
over Athens by traveling to Crete among the twelve men and maidens which King
Minos demanded as sacrifice to the Minotaur. If he was successful, Theseus
promised to replace the grim funeral shroud that served as the sail of the boat
for one of white to symbolize his victory and hope for Athens. In Crete, Theseus
met with King Minos and obtained help from Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, on
how to defeat the Minotaur. She gave him an enchanted ball of gold thread to
help him maneuver through the Labyrinth beneath Cnossus where the Minotaur was
imprisoned. Confronting and slaying the Minotaur, Theseus rescued his kinsmen to
return to Athens, taking along Ariadne to be his bride. Ariadne, however, was
already beloved by Dionysus, the wine god, and Theseus was forced to abandon her
on the isle of Naxos. Despondent over having to leave her behind, he neglected
to replace the black funerary sail, and upon seeing it, Aegeus committed suicide off the
acropolis believing he had sent his son to his death.
In Athens, Theseus inherited and took the throne with
Ariadne's sister, Phaedra, as his wife. He brought the city to greater political
stability than before and converted it to a commonwealth. He received elderly
King Oedipus from Thebes, but he could not resist going on adventures. He became
friends with Peirithous of the Lapith tribes, and still managed to accompany Hercules on his seventh labor to
Themiscyra, the land of the Amazons. In the ordeal, Antiope, sister of Queen Hippolyta
of the Amazons, masqueraded as Hippolyta in order to lure the male invaders from
Themiscyra. Theseus took her to Athens to be his wife, but Phaedra refused to be
put aside for a second wife. Antiope gave birth to a son, Hippolytus, by
Theseus, but when the boy grew to adulthood, Phaedra accused the young man of
sexually assaulting her. Theseus slew the young man for the disgrace, but
Phaedra, in shock over her role in the murder, hung herself. Eventually, the
Amazons reached Athens while searching for Antiope and departed with her.
Antiope would leave Athens to lead another branch of Amazons, but in her oral
versions of these incidents, she altered some of the motivations and facts
involved.
While attending the marriage of Peirithous to Hippodameia,
Theseus joined the war between the Lapiths and the Centaurs who had tried
carrying off Hippodameia. Losing his wife in the melee, Peirithous and Theseus
then both made vows to marry a daughter of Zeus. Traveling to Sparta, Theseus
abducted young Helen, daughter of Zeus and Leda, then only eleven years old, and
revealed to her that she was the daughter of Zeus. Peirithous, however, had more
grander desires and lusted for Persephone, daughter of Zeus and Demeter. As they
traveled to the Underworld to claim her, Helen's brothers, Castor and Pollux,
lead the Spartan armies against Troezen where Helen was in Aethra's custody and
took her back to Sparta after sacking the city.
In the Underworld, Hades, the god of the dead, met Theseus and
Peirithous knowing full well their motivations for traveling to the his realm.
He offered them a place to sit from their long journey, but the seat he offered
was the chair of forgetfulness which bound them to their seats. Both Theseus and
Peirithous were held captive as they wrestled fruitlessly to break free, but Hercules soon came to the underworld to take Cerberus back to Mycenae on his twelfth labor.
Ripping the restraints free on his fellow Argonauts, Hercules freed Theseus, but as he tried to sever
the bonds holding Peirithous, there was a crack of thunder. Hades appeared and
said that Peirithous would have to stay for his complacency in the would-be
kidnapping.
Returning to Athens alone, Theseus learned that Castor and Pollux had placed Menestheus, a descendant of Athenian King Erechtheus on the throne. Because Aegeus had been adopted into the lineage, Theseus had no strong claim to the throne, and was espoused from Athens. He found asylum on the island of Scyros under aged King Lycomedes, the foster father of Aegeus, who welcomed him as his grandson. Theseus lived out his years in peaceful seclusion and shared his experiences with young Achilles, hidden away in the court by his mother, Thetis, the sea-goddess. However, as Theseus walked along the shore one day, he lost his footing and tumbled to his death. His death is sometimes described as masterminded by supporters of Menestheus. Theseus's prestige in Athens, however, was not entirely forgotten. His son, Demophon, by Phaedra, took the throne of Athens away from Menestheus shortly thereafter and supported Mycenae in the Trojan War.
During the Persian War, Theseus's ghost lead armies from
Marathon to victory against the Persians. In death, Theseus was finally recalled
as a king who wanted the best for Athens and his bones were retrieved from
Scyros to be reinterred in Athens in a place of noble
intent.
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 240 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde (White in his old age)
Strength Level: Theseus possessed the normal human strength of a man of
his size, height and build who engaged in extensive physical activities.
Known Superhuman Powers: None
Abilities: Theseus was possibly one of the greatest fighters in armed
combat in his day, surpassed only by Hercules, Castor and Pollux. He was able to
use leverage, strong determination and his wits to outfight virtually any
opponent. He was also considered one of the greatest kings of Athens.
Weapons: Theseus brandished a brass club called a cudgel taken from
Corynetes as his chief weapon
Note: The continuity between the histories of Theseus,
Aegeus, Hercules, The Twelve Labors, Jason and the Argonauts generally run
smoothly until Medea of Colchis comes into the picture. Several accounts place Medea
already in Greece and the labors finalized by time Theseus reaches Athens and
even before Hercules starts his labors (Theseus's connections to Hercules and
the Argosy are so tenuous that it is conceivable his life might have occurred
years after both, but generally, they are considered contemporaries.). In order
to concede Medea's existence in Greece after the Argosy and to hopefully
maintain an already complicated timeline, Medea's exploits in Athens before the
death of Aegeus have to be considered as happened after the Argosy which brought her to
Greece, but before Theseus slays the Cretan Minotaur.
Clarifications: Theseus is not to be
confused with: