How does theseus save hercules life

Upon arriving in Athens, Theseus was recognized by his stepmother, Medea, who considered him a threat to her power. Medea attempted to dispatch Theseus by poisoning him, conspiring to ambush him with the Pallantidae Giants, and by sending him to face the Marathonian Bull Athens was forced to pay an annual tribute of seven maidens and seven youths to King Minos of Crete to feed the Minotaur, half man, half bull, that inhabited the labyrinthine palace of Minos at Knossos.

Theseus, determined to end Minoan dominance, volunteered to be one of the sacrificial youths. Theseus managed to flee Crete with Ariadne, but then abandoned her on the island of Naxos during the voyage back to Athens.

King Aegeus had told Theseus that upon returning to Athens, he was to fly a white sail if he had triumphed over the Minotaur, and to instruct the crew to raise a black sail if he had been killed. Aegeus, in his grief, threw himself from the cliff at Cape Sounion into the Aegean, making Theseus the new king of Athens and giving the sea its name.

Theseus embarked on a number of expeditions with his close friend Peirithoos, the king of the Lapith tribe from Thessaly in northern Greece. He also undertook an expedition against the Amazons, in some versions with Herakles , and kidnapped their queen Antiope, whom he subsequently married Enraged by this, the Amazons laid siege to Athens, an event that became popular in later artistic representations.

There are certain aspects of the myth of Theseus that were clearly modeled on the more prominent hero Herakles during the early sixth century B.

There also seems to be some conflation of the two since they both partook in an Amazonomachy and a Centauromachy. Both heroes additionally have links to Athena and similarly complex parentage with mortal mothers and divine fathers.

Theseus became king and therefore part of the historical lineage of Athens, whereas Herakles remained free from any geographical ties, probably the reason that he was able to become the Panhellenic hero. Ultimately, as indicated by the development of heroic iconography in Athens, Herakles was superseded by Theseus because he provided a much more complex and local hero for Athens. This famous black-figure krater shows Theseus during the Cretan episode, and is one of a small number of representations of Theseus dated before B.

Between and B. Around B. The episode is treated in a work by the lyric poet Bacchylides. In the mid-fifth century B. Additionally, the shield of Athena Parthenos, the monumental chryselephantine cult statue in the interior of the Parthenon, featured an Amazonomachy that included Theseus. The rise in prominence of Theseus in Athenian consciousness shows an obvious correlation with historical events and particular political agendas. In the early to mid-sixth century B. It is worth noting that Athenian democracy was not equivalent to the modern notion; rather, it widened political involvement to a larger swath of the male Athenian population.

Nonetheless, the beginnings of this sort of government could easily draw on the Synoikismos as a precedent, giving Solon cause to elevate the importance of Theseus. Additionally, there were a large number of correspondences between myth and historical events of this period.

As king, Theseus captured the city of Eleusis from Megara and placed the boundary stone at the Isthmus of Corinth, a midpoint between Athens and its enemy. Ask Question. Asked 3 years, 9 months ago.

Active 2 years, 11 months ago. Viewed times. Improve this question. Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson 6, 2 2 gold badges 24 24 silver badges 73 73 bronze badges. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. According to Diodorus Siculus, it was Herakles favour of Theseus that persuaded Hades to release him: Peirithoos now decided to seek the hand of Persephone in marriage, and when he asked Theseus to make the journey with him Theseus at first endeavoured to dissuade him and to turn him away from such a deed as being impious; but since Peirithoos firmly insisted upon it Theseus was bound by the oaths to join with him in the deed.

Source: Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. Oldfather Pseudo-Apollodorus tells more or less the same story, but doesn't attempt to explain why Theseus is allowed to leave: As he approached the gates of Haides' realm, he came across Theseus along with Peirithoos Pirithous , who had courted Persephone with matrimonial intentions and for this reason was held fast as was Theseus. Source: Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. Aldrich A third version, Plutarch's, diverges significantly from the earlier ones by substituting Hades with the legendary Molossian Aidoneus.

However, it agrees with Diodorus in that Herakles favour is the reason Theseus is released: [Theseus] to return the service of Peirithoos, journeyed with him to Epiros, in quest of the daughter of Aidoneus the king of the Molossians. Source: Plutarch, Life of Theseus Perrin I think it's safe to say Theseus was lucky to have friends in high places. All that said, it may be worth noting that there's a version of the story - also in Diodorus - where Herakles is allowed to save Pirithous as well: Herakles then, according to the myths which have come down to us, descended into the realm of Haides, and being welcomed like a brother by Persephone brought Theseus and Peirithoos back to the upper world after freeing them from their bonds.

Oldfather Oh, well. Improve this answer. Community Bot 1. If they were in the Chairs of Forgetfulness, how could they reach out to Heracles? AndrewJohnson Chairs of forgetfulness? Which version of the story do you have in mind?

Something like this one. AndrewJohnson That is an interesting telling of the story. So he chose the dangerous land-route around the Saronic Gulf on which he would shortly encounter a series of tremendous challenges. It wasn't long before Theseus had his first adventure. At Epidaurus , a place sacred to the god Apollo and the legendary physician Asclepius, he met the famous Periphetes, son of Hephestus, who used to dash out the brains of travelers with an iron club.

As his grandfather had already given him a description of Periphetes, Theseus immediately recognized him. In the savage encounter that followed Theseus paid back Periphetes in his own coin by dashing out the brains of the scoundrel with his own iron club. The brave youth kept the club as a trophy and soon reached the Isthmus of Corinth without further interruption. The inhabitants at the Isthmus warned Theseus about another danger to face: Siris or, Sinnis the bandit, guarding the passage from Corinth to Athens, had a more interesting method of treating travelers than the previous villain.

Siris would tie his helpless victim between two trees which he would bend to the ground and then abruptly release it. This improvised catapult would hurl the victims into the air and then onto the ground, dashing them to their deaths.

Well, it didn't take much time for our hero to finish off this task, too. Then Theseus thought this was a good time to lose his virginity, so he raped the daughter of Siris, named Perigune, who would beget him a son, Melanippus. The next adventure of Theseus occurred near the borders of Megara on a narrow trail leading to the edge of a cliff, where he found the evil bandit Scyron.

This scoundrel would compel travelers to wash his feet with their backs to the sea, so that he could conveniently kick them into the waters below, where a sea monster or a giant turtle would eat them.

This time, however, it was the villain Scyron who was eaten by the sea monster. Little farther away from Eleusina, by the banks of the river Cephissus, Theseus encountered his final adventure on the journey to Athens. The last bandit to play dice with his life against our hero was the giant Procrustes, nicknamed "the Stretcher". This amiable scoundrel had an imaginative way of showing his hospitality to travelers, for whom he always kept ready two iron beds, one too long and the other too short.

He would offer the too short bed to the tall ones and, to help them to fit comfortably into the bed, would cut off their limbs. The same happened with the unlucky short men in the long bed: he would stretch their limbs to make a perfect fit, the victims dying in terrible agony when their limbs were ripped off.

Theseus gave the Stretcher the same treatment, the giant Procrustes expiring in the short bed like his unfortunate victims. Today, Procrustes is known by the phrase "the Procrustean Bed". Theseus finally arrived at his destination, Athens, without encountering any further challenge. He decided to delay the meeting with his father Aegeus until he had a hold on the surroundings. Being a smart and a tough hero, he did some research about the city and its king and gathered some disturbing news, including the intelligence that king Aegeus was in the helpless clutches of the evil sorceress Medea.

So, when he came face to face with his father for the first time, he kept the sword and sandals, the tokens of his paternity, hidden. Medea, however, knew the true identity of the strange young newcomer through her occult powers. That didn't sit well with the sorceress who wanted her own son, Medus, to succeed to the kingdom of Athens. So, she conspired to poison the aged king's mind against the stranger, and suggested, in all innocence, to send the youth to capture the dreadful Marathonian Bull, a menace to the farmers of the countryside, so she could get rid of him easily, without resorting to the usual method on such occasions, murder.

The Marathonian Bull proposal revived the flagging spirit of our hero who was getting rather bored in the absence of any real challenges to face. On his way to Marathon, Theseus had to seek refuge during a storm in the humble abode of an aged woman called Hecale. She promised the brave youth to make a sacrifice to Zeus, chief of the gods, if he succeeded in capturing the bull.

Well, capturing the Marathon Bull was no big deal for our intrepid hero. But Hecale was dead when Theseus returned to her hut with the captured bull. Remembering her kindness to him, he would later name one of the regions of Attica "Hecale" to honor the old woman. This region exists with the same name till today, as Hecalei Ekali, in modern Greek in a luxurious area to the north side of Athems close to Kifisia.

When the victorious Theseus returned to Athens with the dead body of the Marathon Bull, Aegeus, goaded on by Medea, became still more suspicious of him. So he had to assent to the plan of the sorceress to poison Theseus during the feast to celebrate his victory. However, as our hero was about to drink the poisoned wine, the eyes of Aegeus fell upon the sword and sandals the young stranger had just worn. Recognizing his son, Aegeus knocked the cup of poisoned wine off his hand and, embracing the youth with great joy and emotion, named Theseus as his son and successor before his subjects.

Evil Medea was perpetually banished from Athens. However, the adventures of Theseus did not end at this point. Soon, the young man learned that Athens was facing a great tragedy. For the past couple of decades, Aegeus had been paying a barbarous tribute to King Minos of Crete after he had been defeated in a long-running war, launched by the Cretans to avenge the murder of Androgens, the younger son of the Cretan king, by the Athenians.

The tribute consisted of seven boys and seven maidens from the noblest families of Athens to be sent at every nine years to Crete to be devoured by Minotaur, the fearful half-man half-beast, who lived in the Labyrinth, an impressive construction with crossed paths from which no man could escape.

Despite his father's objections, Theseus was determined to embark upon the perilous mission as one of the nine boys on the occasion of the third tribute. Before he set sail, he promised his father Aegeus that, should he return victorious from this task, the ship carrying him and the others would hoist white sails instead of the normal black sails.

Theseus set sail with his fellow boys and maidens only after taking some wise precautions. He consulted an oracle which told him to make Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, his patroness. After making the necessary sacrifices to the goddess, he embarked on his fateful journey to confront the dreadful Minotaur. Theseus and his fellow sacrificial lambs were given an audience by King Minos at the palace where Ariadne, daughter of the Cretan king, fell madly in love with our hero, instigated by Aphrodite.

Ariadne somehow managed to meet the noble youth alone where they swore eternal love and fidelity to each other. She also provided him with a sharp sword to slay the Minotaur and a skein of thread to find his way back within the complex maze. Thus armed, Theseus and his company entered the inscrutable Labyrinth.

Following the advice of Ariadne, Theseus fastened the end of the thread at the entrance to the Labyrinth and continued to carefully unwind the skein as he was looking for the great beast. After a while, the brave youth finally found Minotaur in his lair. Their ensued a long and fierce battle which came to an end when Theseus killed the monster with the sword Ariadne had given him. Following the line of the thread, Theseus and his companions safely came out of the Labyrinth where an anxious Ariadne was waiting for him.