A banquet with a river god, a pitched battle at his friend’s wedding which turned into a full-scale war, a relationship involving incest, suicide and violent death, and the abduction of Helen – quite the career of a Greek hero.
Theseus
Every 9 years, 9 of the finest young men and 9 young maidens from Athens were sent to be sacrificed to the Minotaur. Then Theseus joined them to kill the monster.
From abandonment by his father, to the reunion in which Medea tried to poison him, Theseus was a true and thoroughly flawed hero.
After abandoning Ariadne on Naxos, he takes a succession of brides, battles with the Amazons, and fights for the Lapiths against the centaurs. But did he rape Helen? Paintings by Corinth, Waterhouse, Rubens, and more.
Born from the incestuous union of the King of Athens with his daughter, he survived an attempt on his life by Medea, and went on to kill the Minotaur of Crete. Paintings by Poussin, Moreau, and others.
