Plutarch was one of the last of the classical Greek historians. His essays and dialogues on philosophical, scientific, and literary subjects gained him fame in both Greece and Rome. His most famous work is Parallel Lives, which is a series of bibliographies of famous Greeks and Romans. Plutarch’s goal with this work was “to purify the mythical element and give his account the appearance of history.”[1] He wanted to make the myths history thus making the figures seem like they were real instead of just legends.
“Life of Theseus” is one of the twenty-three lives in Parallel Lives. It outlines the events in Theseus’ live from conception to death. He was the son of Aegeus and Aethra. Aegeus was the king of Athens, making Theseus the prince of Athens. When he became of age, he retrieved the sword his father left for him and began his journey to Athens. Despite it being safer to travel by sea, Theseus insisted that he wanted to travel by land.[2] On his journey, Theseus encountered many monsters and killed them with the same means they killed their victims.[3] One such is example is how he killed Periphetes, the Club-Bearer, with his own club. The next series of events made Theseus the famed founder and ruler of Athens. He prevented the sons of Pallas from taking the throne, defeated the Minotaur, became king of Athens after his father’s death, united the city-states of Attica, and implemented a democracy. Under his rule, Athens flourished for many years. However, when Theseus was absent on his adventures, one of the nobles, Menestheus, started to instill his influence in Athens. By the time Theseus returned, his people blamed him for all the misfortune that occurred such as the war with the Amazons and the battle with the Spartans. Theseus was exiled and died in Scyros. Some years later, Cimon retrieved Theseus’ bones and buried him in the middle of Athens, returning him back to his home.[4]
Theseus was a just man. He killed villains with their own methods of torture thus exacting a fitting judgment on them. He also gave up his crown so that every citizen would have a voice in a democracy. He was also an intelligent man. Theseus developed a democratic system that kept the masses happy, he welcomed anyone into Athens, thus increasing its size greatly, and he made Athens into one of the most powerful cities in Greece. However he did have some negative traits such as huberus. This is shown when he chose to travel by land. He “felt that it would be an intolerable humiliation if he were to run away from whatever trials of courage he might have to face, while his cousin [Hercules] was setting out against evil doers everywhere.”[5] He wanted to become as glorious as Hercules. This sense of pride grew as he achieved more, causing him to make some questionable decisions, including his choice to kidnap numerous women. He may have done this because he felt entitled to whatever he wanted since he was a renowned hero. The consequences of his kidnappings resulted in war with the Amazons and Spartans for the Athenians which devastated Athens. This caused growing hatred for Theseus and with the urging of Menestheus, Theseus was exiled from his own city. His people probably exiled him so readily because Theseus has been gone for so long that they forgot about all the good he has done for Athens. It was only after his death that they forgave Theseus and returned him to Athens.
Plutarch’s style of writing presents the story of Theseus in a very factual manner. He presents all the facets of his life, even the ones that would make Theseus look bad. He presented Theseus in the roles of king, upholder of justice, as well as abductor. Plutarch believed “that human nature is imperfect and no one is without failings.”[6] However Plutarch wanted to preserve Theseus’ heroic image at the end thus he started the biography with “Theseus, the founder of the lovely and far-famed city of Athens”[7] and ended it with “Theseus all through his life was the champion and helper of the distressed and always listened kindly to the petition of the poor,”[8] emphasizing that over the course of his life, Theseus did more good than bad.
[1] Stader, “The Proems of Plutarch’s Lives,” p.284.
[2] Plutarch, “Theseus,” pp.16-17.
[3] Ibid., pp.18-20.
[4] Ibid., pp.21-41.
[5] Ibid., p.18.
[6] Stader, “The Proems of Plutarch’s Lives,” p.285.
[7] Plutarch, “Theseus,” p.13.
[8] Ibid., p.41.
“Life of Theseus” is one of the twenty-three lives in Parallel Lives. It outlines the events in Theseus’ live from conception to death. He was the son of Aegeus and Aethra. Aegeus was the king of Athens, making Theseus the prince of Athens. When he became of age, he retrieved the sword his father left for him and began his journey to Athens. Despite it being safer to travel by sea, Theseus insisted that he wanted to travel by land.[2] On his journey, Theseus encountered many monsters and killed them with the same means they killed their victims.[3] One such is example is how he killed Periphetes, the Club-Bearer, with his own club. The next series of events made Theseus the famed founder and ruler of Athens. He prevented the sons of Pallas from taking the throne, defeated the Minotaur, became king of Athens after his father’s death, united the city-states of Attica, and implemented a democracy. Under his rule, Athens flourished for many years. However, when Theseus was absent on his adventures, one of the nobles, Menestheus, started to instill his influence in Athens. By the time Theseus returned, his people blamed him for all the misfortune that occurred such as the war with the Amazons and the battle with the Spartans. Theseus was exiled and died in Scyros. Some years later, Cimon retrieved Theseus’ bones and buried him in the middle of Athens, returning him back to his home.[4]
Theseus was a just man. He killed villains with their own methods of torture thus exacting a fitting judgment on them. He also gave up his crown so that every citizen would have a voice in a democracy. He was also an intelligent man. Theseus developed a democratic system that kept the masses happy, he welcomed anyone into Athens, thus increasing its size greatly, and he made Athens into one of the most powerful cities in Greece. However he did have some negative traits such as huberus. This is shown when he chose to travel by land. He “felt that it would be an intolerable humiliation if he were to run away from whatever trials of courage he might have to face, while his cousin [Hercules] was setting out against evil doers everywhere.”[5] He wanted to become as glorious as Hercules. This sense of pride grew as he achieved more, causing him to make some questionable decisions, including his choice to kidnap numerous women. He may have done this because he felt entitled to whatever he wanted since he was a renowned hero. The consequences of his kidnappings resulted in war with the Amazons and Spartans for the Athenians which devastated Athens. This caused growing hatred for Theseus and with the urging of Menestheus, Theseus was exiled from his own city. His people probably exiled him so readily because Theseus has been gone for so long that they forgot about all the good he has done for Athens. It was only after his death that they forgave Theseus and returned him to Athens.
Plutarch’s style of writing presents the story of Theseus in a very factual manner. He presents all the facets of his life, even the ones that would make Theseus look bad. He presented Theseus in the roles of king, upholder of justice, as well as abductor. Plutarch believed “that human nature is imperfect and no one is without failings.”[6] However Plutarch wanted to preserve Theseus’ heroic image at the end thus he started the biography with “Theseus, the founder of the lovely and far-famed city of Athens”[7] and ended it with “Theseus all through his life was the champion and helper of the distressed and always listened kindly to the petition of the poor,”[8] emphasizing that over the course of his life, Theseus did more good than bad.
[1] Stader, “The Proems of Plutarch’s Lives,” p.284.
[2] Plutarch, “Theseus,” pp.16-17.
[3] Ibid., pp.18-20.
[4] Ibid., pp.21-41.
[5] Ibid., p.18.
[6] Stader, “The Proems of Plutarch’s Lives,” p.285.
[7] Plutarch, “Theseus,” p.13.
[8] Ibid., p.41.