THESEUS was the son of Aethra, daughter of King Pittheus of Troezen, and King Aegeus of Athens. On his way from Troezen to Athens, Theseus encountered various strong men and tyrants, enemies of travelers, and conquered them by a combination of cunning and strength (Met VII.430-452). Soon after his arrival in Athens, he joined the young Athenians who were selected as tribute to Minos of Crete. In Crete the king's daughter Ariadne gave Theseus a ball of thread, which he let out as he went through the Labyrinth toward the Minotaur. After he had killed the monster, he followed the thread back to the light. He promised to marry Ariadne, and she sailed away with him. But he abandoned her on the island of Naxos (Met VIII.169-182; OM VIII.1083-1394). With his close friend Pirithous, king of the Lapiths, he attempted to carry off Proserpina, queen of the Underworld, but failed, and Pluto kept him there forever (Aeneid VI.392-397, 617-618). The story of the Minotaur appears in Machaut, Le Jugement dou roy de Navarre 2707-2804.

Two characterizations of Theseus appear in Chaucer's works. Theseus is a philosopher in the Boethian tradition in The Knight's Tale, based on Boccaccio's Teseo in Il Teseida delle nozze d'Emilia (1339-1341). His speech, KnT 2987-3074, is a summary of ideas from Bo II, Metr; Bo III, Prosa 10; Bo IV. Prosa 6, Metr 6. In The Legend of Ariadne, LGW 1886-2227, Theseus is twenty-three years old, unscrupulous, and cruel. No one is falser in love than Demophon, except his father Theseus, LGW 2399-2400. Chaucer's source for this characterization is Heroides X. [Adriane: Egeus: Mars: Minos: Mynotaur: Phedra]

Theseus never occurs initially. It appears fifty-one times in medial positions, KnT 878, 907, 963, 998, 1022, 1206, 1210, 1434, 1439, 1448, 1484, 1498, 1562, 1662, 1684, 1690, 1874, 1883, 1900, 1913, 2093, 2190, 2199, 2523, 2528, 2577, 2621, 2654, 2695, 2700, 2731, 2818, 2853, 2870, 2889, 2975, 2980, 2982; Anel 22; LGW 1890, 1960, 1968, 2007, 2028, 2074, 2137, 2144, 2190, 2443, 2459, 2464; seventeen times in final rhyming position, KnT 860, 1001, 1192, 1213, 1228, 1585, 1673, 2089, 2837, 2906; Anel 45; HF I.405; LGW 1945, 1952, 2026, 2400, 2464.