who is losing power to his hated heir Asterion. Using Ariadne as an intermediary, Minos enters into an alliance with Theseus. Aigeus: The King of Athens and Theseus's father. A valiant and virile man in his younger days, he is in his fifties, tired and cynical by the time Theseus meets him. His people are troublesome, his nobles powerful, and he is worn out from decades of endeavouring to keep the peace and retain his authority. Theseus respects Aigeus but cannot admire him, for he is over-cautious. Persephone: The 27-year-old queen of Eleusis, whom no one is permitted to name. Beautiful, sexually skilled, and devoted to the earth goddess, she follows the custom of making Theseus kill her current husband and King so that he can become the next one-year king and marry her. But he turns out to be more than she bargained for, empowering himself and the downtrodden men of Eleusis, finally using his personal and political skills to persuade the men to impose their rule on the women instead. Four times she attempts to kill him or have him killed, and attempts suicide when she fails. Her ultimate fate is not known. Amyntor: An Eleusinian bull-dancer, Theseus's right-hand among the Cranes in Crete. A big, black-haired, hawk-nosed teenager, he is too heavy for bull-leaping, so he serves to catch the leaper as he or she descends. Theseus trusts him and he loves/admires Theseus more than any other person. Pittheus: The King of Troizen and Theseus's grandfather. Theseus looks up to him. Aithra: The 33-year-old high priestess of Troizen, Theseus's mother, and Pittheus's daughter. There is tension between her natural affection for Theseus and her role as a servant of the Earth Goddess. Medea: King Aigeus's lover, she wants the Athenian throne for her two sons. Acting in collaboration with Persephone she persuades Aigeus to attempt to poison Theseus in return for the lifting of a curse. Aigeus is not at this stage aware that Theseus is his son. Xanthos: The cold-hearted, red-haired, pale-faced brother of Queen Persephone of Eleusis, and the chief general of the Eleusinians. On his sister's orders, he tries to have Theseus assassinated. Theseus then kills him in single combat. Pylas: The prince of Megara. Theseus meets him on the boar hunt in the hills between Eleusis and Megara. Only a few years older than Theseus, he nevertheless respects the other's prowess and intelligence,