Circumstances Behind Visualizing Theseus Pursuing Helen Analysis

The Circumstances Behind Visualizing Theseus Pursuing Helen.

What may come to mind when discussing Theseus are his Isthmian deeds, such as slaying the minotaur and battling the Amazons (“Theseus”). In general, Theseus was regarded as an Ionian-Athenian hero whose legendary adventures have stood the test of time in the forms of vases, metopes, and friezes (Hornblower et al., “Theseus”). However, Mixing Vessel with Theseus Pursuing Helen (ca. 460-450 BCE) (Fig. 1. The museum, located in the Chazen Museum of Art and attributed to a follower of the Niobid Painter, shows a different side of Theseus (“Mixing Vessel”). The Theseus depicted shows him in pursuit of one of his loves, Helen, versus in pursuit of the beasts he grapples with in the myths. In fact, instead of being shown accomplishing a great deed, he is portrayed pursuing

The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology by Robin Hard and H.J. Rose describes different accounts of Theseus abducting Helen (360-361). The commonality in all versions is that Theseus, along with his friend Peirithoos, want to take daughters of Zeus as wives after their previous wives died. In Hellanicus’ story, he stated that both felt entitled to wed with Zeus’ daughters because they came from Zeus’ lineage (Hard and Rose 360). They began by taking Helen from Sparta. Plutarch specifically states in his rendition that the two took Helen when she was dancing in the temple of Artemis Orthia (Hard and Rose 360). Once Helen was abducted, she was taken to Aphidnai and left with Theseus’ mother, Aithra, while Peirithoos and Theseus went to the underworld to abduct Persephone. Helen’s brothers, the Dioskouroi, came and attacked Aphidnai to recover her. Once Helen was found, she was taken back to Sparta, along with Aithra, who would be her maid (Hard and Rose, 360-61). Altogether, this summarizes Theseus’ pursuit of Helen across different textual