Theseus and Pirithous

By Jerrol Langford

"Theseus and Pirithous glorious children of the gods" - Homer, the Odyssey.As the young King of Athens, Theseus seeks a release for his adventurous spirit. Pirithous, the King of the Lapiths, is someone equally bold and daring. The Lapith King steals cattle from the Athenian herd, just so he can meet the legendary King of Athens and the two become fast friends. Pirithous even sends a centaur to Athens to invite Theseus to his wedding, where he will marry Hippodamia, the most beautiful woman in Thessaly. During the ceremony, the Lapiths are attacked by drunken centaurs and an all out war follows, in which Theseus helps his friend rid the land of the warlike horse-men. Theseus and Antiope, the Princess of the Amazons, have a son they name Hippolytus. When the Queen of the Amazons arrives in Athens, she demands the release of her little sister. Antiope rejects the Amazons and chooses to stay with her husband, causing a war in the streets of the city. Theseus refuses to let his wife enter the battle, forcing Antiope to sneak out so she can fight alongside her husband. When Antiope is slain with a javelin, the surviving Amazons flee from Athens.Pirithous visits Theseus and reveals that Hippodamia has died in childbirth and the two men mourn the losses of their wives. The King of the Lapiths suggests to the Athenian King that they are the two most eligible bachelors in the world and that they should seek out the two best wives in Hellas. Then they can have such a fabulous double wedding that it will attract the Gods. First, they find Helen, the Princess of Sparta, for Theseus, but when they go to Tartaros to recruit the Goddess Persephone for Pirithous, they become trapped in the Underworld. For his Twelfth Labor, Herakles is tasked with fetching Kerberos, the three headed Hound of Hades, which lives in Tartaros. During his visit to the Underworld, Herakles frees Theseus and brings his friend back with him. While suffering from amnesia after his captivity in Tartaros, Theseus has an adventure with his boyhood hero before he recovers his memories and remembers that Helen is waiting for him.When the Athenian King returns home, he learns that Kastor and Pollux have recovered their sister Helen, that the Spartans have chosen a new king for Athens, and that Hippolytos is missing. Theseus decides that finding his young son is the most important thing, but the only way he can learn the fate of Hippolytus is by taking back his kingdom. "Theseus, who surpassed all the sons of Erechtheus, an unseen bond kept beneath the land of Taenarus, for he had followed that path with Pirithous" - Apollonius, The Argonautica

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1973412322
• ISBN13: 9781973412328
• Release Date: January 2018
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 562 Pages
• Weight: 1.41 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 1.4" x 5.0"