# Theseus — Bulfinch’s Mythology character guide

> Theseus in Bulfinch’s Mythology by Thomas Bulfinch.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the Minotaur, Minos, King Minos, the ungrateful Theseus

**First appearance:** 0058-xx-theseus-daedalus-castor-and-pollux

## Snapshot

Athenian prince who volunteers as tribute to face the Minotaur, then inherits a throne and a reputation for forgetting the debts that made him king.

## Who they are

Theseus enters the Cretan labyrinth as one of fourteen Athenian youths sent to feed Minos's monster, and walks out with a crown waiting in Athens. His heroism is real but tangled with obligation: he owes his survival to Ariadne, and the myths that follow him keep asking whether he repaid what he owed. In Bulfinch's telling, Theseus anchors the Athenian cycle the way Hercules anchors the Theban — a hero whose adventures double as civic founding stories, which is why his ingratitude becomes as memorable as his sword.

## In the story

### [Nisus and Scylla](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/nisus-and-scylla)

King of Crete, besieges Megara, rejects Scylla's betrayal and gift.

### [The Golden Fleece—Medea](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/xvii-the-golden-fleece-medea)

Another renowned hero who sailed with the Argonauts.

### [The Golden Fleece](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/the-golden-fleece)

Mentioned as one of the renowned heroes who joined Jason's expedition.

### [Medea and Aeson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/medea-and-aeson)

Mentioned as the son of King Aegeus, whom Medea later marries in Athens.

### [XIX: Hercules—Hebe and Ganymede](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/xix-hercules-hebe-and-ganymede)

Freed by Hercules from Hades after attempting to carry off Proserpine.

### [Hercules](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/hercules)

Admirer and imitator of Hercules; freed by Hercules from Hades after attempting to carry off Proserpine.

### [Theseus—Daedalus—Castor and Pollux](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/xx-theseus-daedalus-castor-and-pollux)

Son of Aegeus, hero who slays the Minotaur, abandons Ariadne, fights Amazons, and later dies in Scyros.

### [Theseus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/theseus)

Protagonist; son of Aegeus and Aethra; performs heroic deeds, slays the Minotaur, becomes king of Athens.

### [Daedalus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/daedalus)

Mentioned as the one who escaped the labyrinth built by Daedalus using Ariadne's clue.

### [Castor and Pollux](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/castor-and-pollux)

Absent from Attica when Castor and Pollux rescued their sister Helen from him and Pirithous.

### [Ariadne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/ariadne)

Ariadne helps Theseus escape the labyrinth, but he ungratefully abandons her on Naxos.

### [XXIII: Achelous and Hercules—Admetus and Alcestis—Antigone—Penelope](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/xxiii-achelous-and-hercules-admetus-and-alcestis-antigone-penelope)

Guest of Achelous, hears the story of Erisichthon and the river-god's defeat by Hercules.

### [Achelous and Hercules](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/achelous-and-hercules)

Guest of Achelous, to whom the river-god tells his story.

### [Antigone](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/antigone)

King of Argos who gives his daughter in marriage to Polynices and aids him with an army to reclaim the Theban throne.

### [L](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/l)

Killed the Minotaur in the Labyrinth with Ariadne's aid.

### [T](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/t)

Described as son of Aegeus and Aethra, King of Athens, a great hero of many adventures.

### [Z](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/z)

Companion of Zetes, a winged warrior.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/characters/theseus
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/characters