When Aegeus (king of Athens) came to Troezen, King Pittheus got him all drunk so that he'd sleep with his daughter (Pittheus' daughter). In the same night Poseidon (the god of the sea) also slept with her. When Aegeus left for Athens, he told Aethra (Pittheus' daughter) that if she gave birth to a male child, she shouldn't tell him who his father in until he is grown up. He also placed a sword and sandals under a rock saying that when his son could move the rock away, he should take the sword and sandals and join his father in Athens. Indeed Aethra had a son and named him Theseus. Theseus was eventually able to move the rock and when he did, he started out for Athens.

On his way, he killed Periphetes, an evil man who killed travellers with a club. He then took his club. :)

Then he met up with Sinis, who used to force the travelers to keep bending pine trees until their strength wore out and being too light, they were tossed upwards by the trees and killed. He tried to pull the same trick on Theseus, getting him to hold down a pine tree, and then Sinis let go, expecting Theseus to FLY, however, Theseus held on while Sinis became confused and looked closer at the tree thinking it was broken. Then Theseus let go of the tree, striking Sinis and knocking him out. Then Theseus tied one arm and one leg to one tree and the other two to another tree (of Sinis's). Then he let go, tearing Sinis apart. After killing Sinis, he ravished his daughter, Perigune.

Next, Theseus met Sciron (another bandit (man there was a lot back then, hey? :)) who made travelers wash his feet and while doing so, he kicked them into the sea to become victim to a huge turtle (what a terrible way to die!). Theseus ended up throwing him into the sea. :)

Theseus then met another "bad guy"... Cercyon, who wrestled with people and then killed them. Theseus killed him though while wrestling and then ravished HIS daughter too. Theseus then met a rather weird guy named Procrustes who offered beds to travelers (oh, nice guy, right? hahaha.. no), but then laid short men on big beds and stretched them until they fit the bed, and laid the big men on short beds and sawed off their legs until they fit. Theseus thought this was bad too, and killed this man as well.

Now, after all the killing and ravishing, he finally got the Athens to meet his father Aegeus, who had just wed Medea, who had some time ago sailed from Colchis with the Argonauts. Medea, who already had a child with Aegeus, did not like Theseus (even back then, there were evil step mothers :). Medea found out who Theseus was before Aegeus did, and convinced Aegeus he was a traitor and must be killed (Aegeus didn't know who Theseus was), so Aegeus sent the Marathonian Bull against him. However, Theseus killed the bull!! (imagine that... surprise surprise. :) After this, Medea decided she'd poison Theseus instead. However, just as he was about the drink the poison, Aegeus recognized the sword Theseus had (imagine if he didn't!!), and at the last minute, he struck the cup from Theseus's hands! So now the King was pretty pissed at Medea, right? So he sent her into exile for the rest of her life.. haha... I guess she was an Argonaut, right? And I don't know much about them, but I think she escaped the exile that Argonauts were faced to endure... Before she met her husband.

Anyways, at this time Athenians were required by law to send 7 men and 7 women every year to Crete for the King (Minos) there to feed to the Minotaur in his labyrinth. Theseus was among those to be sent to Crete as the third tribute to the Minotaur. When he arrived, Minos asked them all who they were. Theseus replied that he was "The prince of Athens, the son of Poseidon!", but Minos did not believe he was the son of Poseidon because his father was the king of Athens. Minos threw his ring into the sea and told Theseus to go get the ring (if he was indeed the son of the sea god). Theseus prayed to Poseidon and dove into the sea where he was met by the nymph Thetis who gave him both the ring and an old crown. He they returned to the surface where Minos laughed at the crown. (sigh).

Now, Ariadne (the daughter of Minos) falls in love with Theseus and along with Theseus, she discovers the secret to the Labyrinth from it's creator Daedalus (he wasn't nearly as evil as depicted in the hercules cartoon... actually, I wonder if Daedalus even met Hercules... anyways..). As it went, Theseus tied a spool of string to the door of the labyrinth and let the spool roll down the slopes of the floor of the labyrinth into the center area where the minotaur slept! There Theseus jumped atop the mighty minotaur and wrestled him to the ground. Then he tore off one of the horns and started poking the minotaur with it. The minotaur was enraged with .. rage .. and charged at Theseus. Theseus had other plans however... He threw the horn like it was a javelin right into the monster's throat and it dropped dead before it got to him. He fought and slayed the Minotaur in his own domain! He then followed the string back to the door where they were set free.

Theseus had promised Ariadne that he would bring her back to Athens with him after killing the minotaur. However, when he was about to take her, Dionysus (the god of fertility and wine) came to Theseus and told him that he was in love with Ariadne and wished to take her as his wife. Theseus did as the god asked, but was heartbroken. In his sadness, he returned to Athens. However, they had sailed to Crete with Black sails and Aegeus had told Theseus that when he returns to Athens, he was to sail with the white sails so that Aegeus knew that he had survived. In Theseus's sadness, he forgot to change the sails and Aegeus threw himself off a cliff into what is now respectively named the Aegean sea.

Theseus returned alone and became the King of Athens. However, the sons of Pallas would not accept this and waged war against Theseus. Theseus won! :)

Minos had another daughter, Phaedra, who he gave to Theseus as his wife. However, after giving two children to Theseus, she fell in love with one of Theseus's sons named Hippolytus that he'd had somewhere before in his travels to an Amazon. When Hippolytus refused her, she was so embarrased by the publicity of her passion that she hung herself.

As for Theseus's son Hippolytus, when his stepmother fell in love with him he fled because of his hatred for all women. Phaedra, fearing that he would go to his father with the fact that she was in love with him, she told Theseus that Hippolytus had assaulted her. Theseus prayed to Poseidon to kill Hippolytus. One day while riding too close to the sea, Poseidon sent a Bull up out of the sea after Hippolytus, scaring the horses, and smashing the chariot to pieces. Hippolytus was entangled in the reins and dragged to his death. He was later raised from the dead by Asclepius and became King of Italy under the name of Virbius.

Theseus went on to help his good friend Pirithous fight the centaurs. The Lapiths are a people from thessaly that became famous because of this war against the centaurs which Theseus helped them with.

Theseus and Pirithous both went on to marry daughters of Zeus. Theseus carried off Helen from Sparta when she was only 12 years old. For this, Helen's brothers (the Dioscuri) ravaged Attica and Theseus's mother was taken as a prisoner and ended up in Troy as Helen's maid. Pirithous wanted Persephone for his wife, so him and Theseus decended into Hades in order to fetch her. They got caught in the process and weer forced to sit in the Chair of Oblivion until Hercules came to Hades and Rescued them. Some say though that Pirithous still sits there now, and only Theseus was rescued.

There is some ambiguity on the Helen and Theseus issue. Some say Theseus was as old as 50 when he took Helen to be his wife, so in his defense, there are many other accounts of this scene. Some say that Helen was carried off not by Theseus, but actually by the Messenian brothers Idas and Lynceus, enemies of the Dioscuri and that Theseus was just watching over her for them and refused to relent to the Dioscuri. Others believe that Theseus was entrusted by Helen's father, Tyndareus, because he feared of Enarophorus, son of Hippocoon, who planned to take Helen by force while she was still a child. Still others believe that Theseus and his accomplice, Pirithous, stole Helen from a temple in Artemis only to "roll dice" for her to see who won her. Theseus won, but she was too young for him, so he left her with Aphidnae in complete secrecy.

When the Dioscuri came for Helen, as they came through Athens, they gave it's sovereignty to Menestheus, who became Theseus's successor. Then Theseus, as an exile, left to Scyros under the rule of King Lycomedes, where he later died. Some say Lycomedes threw him off a cliff and some say he slipped and fell himself as walking in high places after dinner was his custom.