Theseus

Description

Theseus grows up in the small city of Troizen, not knowing who his father is and dreaming of a life of adventure, like his hero Herakles who romances women on all of his journeys. When he is sixteen his mother reveals that his father lives in the distant city of Athens and Aigeas wants Theseus to journey to meet him. His grandfather offers him a short trip by boat, but Theseus decides to brave the long and dangerous road to Athens, to fulfill his dream of being an adventuring hero. On the road to Athens, he is attacked by road bandits, goaded into facing a monster boar, and forced to defeat a champion wrestler in a match to the death. When he arrives in Athens, Theseus finds that his father has taken a new wife, the witch Medea, and he must hide his identity from his father, the King of Athens. Medea concocts a potion to kill Theseus, but Aigeas recognizes his son, and knocks the poisonous drink out of his hand. The city of Athens owes a tribute to the Kingdom of Crete, consisting of fourteen highborn youths as slaves. To prevent another teenager from becoming a slave, Theseus volunteers to be part of the tribute and goes to Crete with a plan to free the slaves and return them to Athens. Before he can enact his plan, however, he must first enter the Labyrinth and slay the Minotaur. While accompanying Herakles on his Ninth Labor, the teenage King of Athens learns that women don’t really throw themselves at the feet of heroes and Theseus has to change his tactics in order to convince Antiope, Princess of the Amazons, to be his wife.