Overview of myths of Theseus and quiz on aural comprehension

1. The great Athenian hero
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2. Early life
Aegeus, King of Athens,
went to Troezen to visit
Pittheus. He had received an
oracle that he should loose
his wineskin at home to have
children.
Aegeus slept with Pittheus’
daughter Aethra…
Alternate: Poseidon is
Theseus’ real dad
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3. Early life
Before Aegeus
returns to Athens, he
leaves his sandals
and sword under a
massive rock as a test
for any child born of
Aethra.
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4. Early life
Theseus lifted the rock with ease.
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5. Early life
Theseus takes the
dangerous route overland
rather than a safe sea
voyage to Athens. He
wants to emulate his
cousin Heracles.
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6. Journey to Athens
Across the dangerous
isthmus, he meets and
defeats several bandits
with poetic justice.
Periphetes, the club-
man, who bashed others,
is bashed by Theseus.
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7. Journey to Athens
Sinis, the so-called
pine bender, who
catapulted people off
the cliff with a pine, is
treated the same.
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8. Journey to Athens
Skiron, who kicked,
people into the sea as
they washed his feet,
received the same.
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9. Journey to Athens
Procrustes who stretched short people and chopped off tall
people who did not fit his bed got his own medicine….
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10. Journey to Athens
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11. In Athens
Medea, the witch and
Aegeus’ wife, recognizes
Theseus and tries to have
Aegeus kill him, but dad
recognizes the sword.
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12. The Minotaur
Due to Theseus evil cousins killing a
son of Minos. The king of Crete
demands 7 boys and 7 girls as sacrifice
every 7 years.
He feeds them to the minotaur, his
wife’s son who is half-bull. The
Minotaur is kept in the Labyrinth.
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13. Off to Slay the
Minotaur
Theseus volunteered to go and
assured his dad by saying he
would change black sails to
white on his successful return.
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14. The Minotaur
Minos and Theseus and the
ring in the sea…
Ariadne falls in love and
decides to help.
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15. The Minotaur
Theseus killed the Minotaur
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16. Abandonment of Ariadne
Theseus stopped at the island of Naxos, where he
unjustly abandoned Ariadne asleep on the beach.
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17. Death of Aegeus
Ariadne awakes and curses
Theseus, who then forgets to
change the sails to white…
Dad, Aegeus, sees the black
and jumps to his death from
the cliffs…giving the name
Aegean to the sea.
Theseus becomes king but
grieves at his loss.
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18. Buddy Pirithoüs
Theseus’ best friend Pirithous went on many adventures
with him. They both fought against wicked Centaurs.
They also pledged to help each other steal the best brides
in Greece. They stole Helen for Theseus (though her
brothers Castor and Pollux later got her back), and then
they went to Tartarus to steal Persephone from Hades.
Hades tricked them into sitting in the chairs of
forgetfulness, where they stayed for years, before
Heracles rescued Theseus (who left part of his buttocks
behind).
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19. Heracles saves Theseus
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20. Amazons
Theseus was one of the heroes who fought the
Amazons, and he also married one named Antiope.
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21. Phaedra
Theseus finally
married Ariadne's
sister, Phaedra, the
daugher of King
Minos of Crete.
But she tragically
fell in love with
his son Hippolytus
(son of Antiope).
In the end, both
Phaedra and
Hippolytus died.
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22. Aural Comprehension Quiz
(put completed quiz in the basket)
1. Who is Aegeus?
2. How did Theseus prove his parentage?
3. How did Theseus deal with the bandits on the
isthmus?
4. How did Theseus retrieve the ring thrown by
Minos?
5. What happened to Theseus due to Ariadne’s
curse?
6. Why did Theseus go to the underworld, and how
did he escape?
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