Theseus was the great legendary hero of Attica, son of Aegeus, king of Athens, and Aethra, daughter of of Pittheus, king of Troezen, at whose court he was brought up. On reaching adulthood he went to Athens, and was recognized by Aegeus as his son and successor. He captured the Marathonian bull, and then delivered Athens from its tributes of young men and women to the Cretan Minotaur, aided by the Cretan princess, Ariadne. When king he consolidated the twelve commonwealths of Attica into one state, reorganized the Pan-Athenaic festival, and founded the Isthmian games. He fought the Amazons, and carried off their queen Antiope or Hippolyta, and after her death married Phaedra. Further legends have him taking part in the Argonautic expedition, join in the Calydonian hunt, help Peirithous and the Lapithae against the Centaurs, and join in the attempt to rescue Proserpine from the lower world – an act of audacity for which he was kept their in close imprisonment till rescued by Hercules. Returning to Athens, he failed to re-establish his authority, and withdrew to Scyros, where he fell victim to King Lycomedes; but his shade appeared to aid the Athenians in the fight at Marathon.