Chapter 9 The Story of Theseus-9

Theseus formed a deep friendship with the young Pirithous.In spite of his age, he aroused a bold, deep, even reckless desire for adventure.Pirithous' wife, Hippodamia, died shortly after their marriage, and Theseus now lived alone, and the two agreed to go out together to grab a wife for themselves. At that time, there was a young and beautiful girl, who was later known as Helen.She was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, and grew up in the palace of her stepfather Tyndareus, king of Sparta.Theseus and Pirithous expedition to Sparta, they saw her dancing in the temple of Artemis.Neither could resist the lust of love, so they boldly broke into the temple, snatched her away, and brought her to Tegea in Arcadia.Here they draw lots to decide to whom Helen will belong.The two made an appointment, and the one who got the lottery must help the one who didn't get the lottery to grab another beautiful woman.As a result, Theseus won the lottery, and he took Helen to Avdina in the Attica region, where her mother Etra took care of Helen and asked a friend to protect her.Then he planned a great and amazing adventure with his friends.After losing Helen, Pirithous decided to abduct Pluto's wife Persephone from the underworld and possess her for comfort.But their plan failed completely.The two were detained in the underworld forever by Pulutong.Hercules tried to save them both, but ended up only saving Theseus.

When Theseus was imprisoned in Hades' palace, Helen's two older brothers, Castor and Polydeukes, came to Athens.They politely asked for Helen to be returned.But the Athenians said that the young princess was not in Athens, and did not know where Theseus hid her.The brothers flew into a rage and threatened to use force.The Athenians were terrified, and one of them, Acathemas, who knew Theseus' secret, told them that Helen was hiding in Avdina.Castor and Polydeuces immediately besieged the city, and soon captured it. Meanwhile, something unfavorable to Theseus happened in Athens.Menastheus, the grandson of Erechtheus, made himself the leader of the people.He wanted to usurp the throne, so he deceived the nobles in the city, saying that the king let them move from the countryside to the city, but in fact he was controlling and enslaving them.He told those free people that they had given up the temples and gods in the country, no longer depended on the local nobles and nobles, but obeyed a foreign tyrant, so as to incite the people's dissatisfaction with the king.Now, Avdina was captured by the people of Tyndareus, and the Athenians were terrified. Menastheus took advantage of the panic of the people and persuaded the residents to open the city gate to the two sons of Tyndareus. to welcome them into the city, for Castor and Polydeuces were only against Theseus taking their sister.Facts also proved what Menastheus said.Although the foreign soldiers rushed in through the open gates and took control of all the districts of the city, they did not harm a single person.They rescued Helen, left Athens and returned to their hometown under the escort of the citizens.