#i'm not sure of Neoptolemus' age either but he's such a menace I'm willing to believe it 😅

[superkooku]

Ok, I've been occupying myself with an unnecessarily complicated thought process concerning Theseus' age when he fought the Minotaur. Let me explain.

I read somewhere that Theseus was 15 when he went to Crete. It based itself from some approximate calendar and made me think.

Theseus being a teenager would kinda make sense, especially since he's stoobid naive and clueless. Plus the sources talk about Athenian boys or young men. However, I personally dislike the idea.

1. Theseus is just as clueless as an adult. Even as a father (ahem, Hippolytus). So immaturity isn't a factor.

2. It made me wonder how old Ariadne was. Whatever the answer, younger or older than Theseus, it'd be very... awkward. Especially since she's either said to have kids with Theseus or marry Dionysus. Standards were different then but it'd still be weird to think about.

At least, since Cadmus and Harmonia were siblings, I'd figure Dionysus and Ariadne are in a similar age. Plus when he met her, he still wasn't a full-fleged god considering he was still conquering cities. Then again, he traveled a lot even before meeting her and was lost in insanity for a while before Rhea healed him. So idk how old he'd be. Likely more than 15-16.

3. Before fighting the Minotaur, Theseus did six tasks, some of them requiring to be physically strong like capturing a murderer or facing an adult bandit demi-god or throwing some guy off a cliff. Theseus has a rich history and imagining a 13-14yo boy with no power do all of that is a bit ridiculous imo. Except Neoptolemus but it's just because he's that much of a psycho 😂

4. How old were men supposed to be in order to rule back then? And how long coming back

Anyways, I largely prefer Theseus and Ariadne being both young adults when they met, not teenagers. Maybe like 19-20. So they're still young but, yk, adult.

But @margaretkart @katerinaaqu, you could surely provide me some insight on this considering you grew up in Greek culture and learned more about ancient Greece than I did.

There probably isn't one definitive answer since sources vary, but I'd love you found some elements I missed.