SECTION TWO

• who was theseus?

  theseus was a king who united Attica (a region) under the political leadership of Athens (great reformer). before becoming king he had to undergo a series of adventures like herakles.
• theseus and the minotaur (1):

  
  

  it was the seventh of seven labours he completed. it happened as King Minos of Crete had defeated Aegeus (of Athens) and demanded that every nine years seven boys and seven girls would be sent to be eaten by the Minotaur who lived in a labyrinth.
• theseus and the minotaur (2):

  
  

  theseus volunteered to try to stop the horror and took the place of one of the youths. he set off with a black sail, promising to turn it white if he succeeded. when he arrived at Crete, Minos' daughter (Ariadne) fell in love with Theseus and gave him a ball of thread to take into the labyrinth to find his way back out. he found his way to the heart of the labyrinth and overpowered the Minotaur and stabbed him with his sword. he then escaped the labyrinth using the thread tied to the gate.
• theseus and the minotaur (3):

  
  

  theseus then escaped with all of the young athenians and princess ariadne. then, him and the crew fell asleep on the beach on the island of naxos where they stopped on their return. athena woke theseus and told him to leave ariadne for dionysus as naxos was his island. so, theseus returned to athens abandoning ariadne. he also forgot to replace the black sail from the ship with the white one so when his father aegeus saw it he believed his son to be dead and threw himself into the sea, therefore the sea being named the aegean sea.
• why was theseus important to athens?

  he was important as he slays the minotaur so prevents them having to send more athenians to be killed and he also reformed athens with his political leadership (as king).
• theseus' labours (1):

  
  

  sinis (robber who would tie victims to trees and release them so they would be torn apart. theseus tricked sinis and killed him)

  crommyonian sow (beastlike sow or woman who he sought out and overcame)

  sciron (old man who would kick people into the sea who theseus caught and threw him off the cliff)

  cercyon (he would challenge passers by to a wrestling match and thesues defeated him so became king of eleusis)
• theseus' labours (2):

  procrustes (would invite visitors to spend the night on his magical bed - if too tall would chop off head, if too small would stretch out and thesues persuaded him to try bed and chopped his head off)

  bull of marathon (theseus found witch medea in control of his father but while he thought of a plan she recognised him and arranged for him to defeat the bull of marathon which he did)

  minotaur
• herakles labours:

  1. nemean lion

  the lion was terrorising nemea and had impenetrable skin and herakles had to slay the lion and bring back its skin. after wrestling it to the ground he killed it by strangling and got the skin using the animals claws.
• herakles labours:

  
  

  2. lernaean hydra

  
  

  the hydra was a monster with many heads and venom for blood. when you cut off the head it would grow back two. to defeat it, herakles called on his nephew iolaus who came up with the idea of using a torch to burn the neck stumps after decapitation.
• herakles labours:

  
  

  3. ceryneian hind

  
  

  for the third labour, eurystheus made him capture the ceryneian hind which was bigger than a bull and golden from horns to hooves. herakles followed this for a whole year until he captured it because it was so fast.
• herakles labours:

  
  

  4. erymanthian boar

  
  

  the erymanthian boar was a giant, fear inspiring creature that lived on mount erymanthos. herakles had to bring it back alive so he tired it out by chasing it through the snow then caught it, bound it and carried it back to eurystheus.
• herakles labours:

  
  

  5. augean stables

  
  

  he had to clean the stables of augeas (king of elis) of which contained a herd of enormous cattle that produced much dung. he completed it by rerouting rivers through the stable.
• herakles labours:

  
  

  6. stymphalian birds

  
  

  the stymphalian birds were man eating birds with wings of brass and sharp metallic feathers. they took over the countryside around lake stymphalia and destroyed local crops. herakles rid the land of these birds.
• herakles labours:

  
  

  7. cretan bull of king minos

  
  

  herakles was forced to capture the bull. he sailed to crete and king minos told him to take the bull away as it had been wreaking havoc on crete. he strangled it and rode it back to greece.
• herakles labours:

  
  

  8. mares of diomedes

  
  

  the mares of diomedes were four man eating horses who belonged to the king diomedes who kept them tethered with iron chains. herakles defeated the stablemen looking after them and left his own friend in charge while he fought diomedes. after his friend was eaten, he fed diomedes to his own horses.
• herakles labours:

  
  

  9. belt of hippolyte

  
  

  hippolyte was the queen of the amazons who lived near the black sea. she was given a magic belt by her father ares and herakles was sent to retrieve this belt for the daughter of eurystheus. hippolyte offered him the belt freely but hera came down in disguise and shouted that herakles was to kidnap the queen so the amazons charged to the ship to kill him.
• herakles labours:

  
  

  10. cattle of the giant geryon

  
  

  geryon was a fearsome giant who lived on the island erytheia. he had three heads and three sets of arms and legs. he owned a herd of magnificent red cattle. herakles had to fetch the cattle of geryon. he did this by killing the watch dog with a club, then the herdsman in the same way. geryon then attempted to defend the cattle but herakles killed him too.
• herakles labours:

  
  

  11. apples from the garden of the hesperides

  
  

  the hesperides were nymphs who lived in a garden in the far west of the world. herakles had to steal the golden apples from the garden. he first got lost on his way, learning how to get the apples from prometheus. he tricked atlas into retrieving some of them by offering to hold up the heavens for a little while. he then tricked him again by agreeing to take atlas' place if they swapped briefly so he could put a pillow on his shoulders but actually walked away.
• herakles labours:

  
  

  12. cerberus (hound of hades)

  
  

  herakles had to capture cerberus from the underworld. he gained the favour of persephone by being initiated into the eleusinian mysteries. he presented himself before the throne of hades and persephone requested to take cerberus.
• herakles link to olympia is that he held the first olympic games in honour of his father zeus
• herakles and theseus are similar in their bravery and strength, as well as the fact that they both succeeded in powering through and completing all of their labours/tasks.

  however they differ as theseus was more calculative and manipulative (he tricked both sinis and procrustes into their deaths) whereas herakles was more cunning (in the smart solutions he came up with such as using the river to clear the stables)
• aeneas was the son of the goddess aphrodite and a mythical hero of troy and rome. he is best known for defending his city against the greeks in the trojan war. (second to hector in ability)
• romulus and remus brith/childhood

  despite amulius making rhea a vestal virgin (meaning she can't have children), the god mars fell in love with her and she gave birth to twins romulus and remus. she sent them down the river in a wicker basket where they were picked up by a she-wolf. a shepherd saw this and took them home to his wife where they raised them as their own.
• romulus and remus

  after numitor and the twins found each other again, he wished for them to help him rule alba longa but they wanted to found their own city. they struggled on who should be king - they each went up different hills to make the decision but remus saw six birds first then romulus saw twelve after meaning they could technically both claim the throne. romulus' claim prevailed and he began building rome. when it was halfway built, remus climbed the walls and taunted romulus ('what sort of city if i can leap the defences?') and romulus killed his brother out of anger.
• herakles compared to theseus:

  herakles was a pan-hellenic hero (important everywhere) whereas thesues was only important in athens.
• how was herakles born?

  zeus took on the form of the mortal alcmene's husband
• how was theseus born?

  his mother was impreganted by both the god poseidon and king augeas
• aeneas journey to italy

  after the trojan war ends, he sails to italy where he helps found rome.
• why did herakles have to the labours?

  he killed his wife and children so apollo told him to do tasks for eurystheus to atone for his crimes
• why did theseus do his labours?

  to clear the path from troezen to athens and to find his father
• where are the metopes that depict herakles' labours?

  temple of zeus in olympia
• the metopes depict herakles twelve labours as they are one of the foudning myths of the olympic games