Theseus
Also known as: Life of Theseus, Theseus (Parallel Lives)
Plutarch’s Life of Theseus assembles variant traditions about the Athenian hero—his birth, labors, Cretan expedition, civic reforms, and death—pairing him with Romulus to compare founders.
Description
Plutarch recounts Theseus from disputed parentage and secret tokens at Troezen to his overland journey purging brigands, his recognition at Athens, and the expedition to Crete where he slays the Minotaur with Ariadne’s aid. The narrative then turns to his return and Aegeus’s death, Theseus’s political unification of Attica, and episodes such as the Amazonian war, the Phaedra–Hippolytus tragedy, and ventures with Pirithous. Plutarch weighs conflicting sources, distinguishes legend from plausible history, and preserves antiquarian notes like the Ship of Theseus. The biography closes with exile and death on Skyros and later Athenian retrieval of his bones, framing Theseus as a culture hero and civic founder whose myth straddles history and moral exemplum.
Historiography
The Life survives in medieval Greek manuscript families of the Parallel Lives and in later printed editions with Loeb translations. It is paired with the Life of Romulus, forming a synkrisis of civic founders. Plutarch cites and critiques sources (e.g., Philochorus, Pherecydes, Hellanicus, Euripides), often recording divergent local traditions. The Ship of Theseus passage later became a locus classicus for identity-through-change debates and is widely referenced in philosophy and reception history.
Date Notes
Early 2nd-century CE biography within Parallel Lives; collates earlier poets, historians, and local traditions.
Themes
Archetypes
Major Characters
- Theseus
- Ariadne
- Minos
- Aegeus
- Minotaur
- Phaedra
- Hippolytus
Myths
- Theseus’s Birth and Recognition by the Sword and Sandals
- The Six Labors on the Road to Athens
- The Marathonian Bull
- The Slaying of the Minotaur
- The Abandonment of Ariadne
- The Death of Aegeus
- Phaedra and Hippolytus
- Theseus and Pirithous in Hades
Facts
- The Life is paired with Romulus in Plutarch’s Parallel Lives to compare city-founders.
- Plutarch preserves the tradition of Theseus’s dual paternity by Aegeus and Poseidon.
- He enumerates the overland labors that clear the road from Troezen to Athens.
- The Ship of Theseus passage records ongoing Athenian maintenance of the vessel.
- Plutarch credits Theseus with synoecizing Attica under Athenian leadership.
- He reports divergent accounts of the Amazonian invasion and Theseus’s marriage.
- The biography includes the Cretan cycle: tribute, Ariadne’s thread, and the Minotaur.
- Plutarch recounts the abduction of Helen and the failed descent with Pirithous.
- Theseus dies on Skyros, allegedly pushed by Lycomedes; his bones later return to Athens.
- Plutarch frequently names and evaluates prior authorities, signaling source criticism.