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was signed.

There are other tales involving Theseus, many of which do not put him in the best light. Theseus is said to have killed his son Hippolytus, after it was alleged that he had raped his step-mother.

On a more positive note, Theseus also fathered Acamas, who fought in the Trojan war. Theseus is shown at his best though when he assists Adrastus bury the other Seven', as in Seven against Thebes, after the final battle for the throne of Thebes.

Theseus returned to Athens to find that the city had changed in his absence. Menestheus, an Athenian noble, had stirred up the populous against the king. The Spartans, with Helen's brothers, Castor and Pollux, are invited into the city, whereupon they removed Helen. Theseus was also at a disadvantage as he was not born in Athens, and therefore a foreigner. Theseus loses any desire to rule Athens again and so in a self imposed exile Theseus sails away to Scyros, leaving Menestheus to take over as king.

In the court of King Lycomedes, Theseus found himself welcomed. The king though later throws himself off a cliff in an act of treachery. In Athens his death was hardly even noted.

Even in death, the story of Theseus is not over. At the Battle of Marathon in 490BC, Athenian soldiers claimed to have seen Theseus leading them against the Persians. As a result the Oracle of Delphi commanded the Athenians to retrieve their king's body. It took fifteen years though, as Scryos was hostile to Athens at the time. Eventually General Cimon took Scyros and discovered the coffin of Theseus. Larger in size than that of a normal man, the coffin was returned to Athens and deposited in the Theseum temple.

How much fact there is in the mythology surrounding Theseus is debatable. There are records that suggest a king united the tribes of Attica and Athens into one city state. There was a festival of Panathenaea to commemorate this, which is recorded upon the Elgin Marbles'. There is also much evidence that the battles with the Amazons occurred. Theseus is also credited in initiating many of the Athenian traditions. There is much depiction of Theseus and his adventures on the vases and jars that survive from that time period. What ever the truth Theseus is central to some of the core Greek heroic tales.

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