thesis greek origin

thesis (n.)

late 14c., "unaccented syllable or note, a lowering of the voice in music," from Latin thesis "unaccented syllable in poetry," later (and more correctly) "stressed part of a metrical foot," from Greek thesis "a proposition," also "downbeat" (in music), originally "a setting down, a placing, an arranging; position, situation" (from reduplicated form of PIE root *dhe- "to set, put").

The sense in logic of "a formulation in advance of a proposition to be proved or debated" is attested by 1570s (contrasted to hypothesis ; in rhetoric it is opposed to antithesis ); that of "dissertation presented by a candidate for a university degree" is from 1650s. The uncertainty of the prosodic sense might have kept it from being established in English. Related: Thetic ; thetical ; thetically .

Entries linking to thesis

*dhē- , Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to set, put."

It forms all or part of: abdomen ; abscond ; affair ; affect (v.1) "make a mental impression on;" affect (v.2) "make a pretense of;" affection ; amplify ; anathema ; antithesis ; apothecary ; artifact ; artifice ; beatific ; benefice ; beneficence ; beneficial ; benefit ; bibliothec ; bodega ; boutique ; certify ; chafe ; chauffeur ; comfit ; condiment ; confection ; confetti ; counterfeit ; deed ; deem ; deface ; defeasance ; defeat ; defect ; deficient ; difficulty ; dignify ; discomfit ; do (v.); doom ; -dom ; duma ; edifice ; edify ; efface ; effect ; efficacious ; efficient ; epithet ; facade ; face ; facet ; facial ; -facient ; facile ; facilitate ; facsimile ; fact ; faction (n.1) "political party;" -faction ; factitious ; factitive ; factor ; factory ; factotum ; faculty ; fashion ; feasible ; feat ; feature ; feckless ; fetish ; -fic ; fordo ; forfeit ; -fy ; gratify ; hacienda ; hypothecate ; hypothesis ; incondite ; indeed ; infect ; justify ; malefactor ; malfeasance ; manufacture ; metathesis ; misfeasance ; modify ; mollify ; multifarious ; notify ; nullify ; office ; officinal ; omnifarious ; orifice ; parenthesis ; perfect ; petrify ; pluperfect ; pontifex ; prefect ; prima facie ; proficient ; profit ; prosthesis ; prothesis ; purdah ; putrefy ; qualify ; rarefy ; recondite ; rectify ; refectory ; sacrifice ; salmagundi ; samadhi ; satisfy ; sconce ; suffice ; sufficient ; surface ; surfeit ; synthesis ; tay ; ticking (n.); theco- ; thematic ; theme ; thesis ; verify .

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit dadhati "puts, places;" Avestan dadaiti "he puts;" Old Persian ada "he made;" Hittite dai- "to place;" Greek tithenai "to put, set, place;" Latin facere "to make, do; perform; bring about;" Lithuanian dėti "to put;" Polish dziać się "to be happening;" Russian delat' "to do;" Old High German tuon , German tun , Old English don "to do."

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thesis etymology

The word "thesis" comes from the Ancient Greek word "τίθημι" (tithēmi) , meaning "to put, place, set".

A thesis is a formal written argument presented by a student or researcher to fulfill the requirements of an academic degree. It typically involves original research and analysis on a specific topic.

The concept of the thesis as a formal academic document developed over many centuries.

• Ancient Greece: Philosophers and scholars used the term "thesis" to refer to a proposition or argument that was put forward for discussion and debate.
• Middle Ages: In medieval universities, a thesis was a written summary of a student's studies that they had to defend in a public disputation.
• Renaissance: The rise of humanism and the printing press led to the development of more structured and formal theses.
• 18th Century: The modern concept of the thesis as an original research project emerged during the Enlightenment period.
• 19th Century: The university reform movement in Europe and North America established the thesis as a mandatory requirement for higher degrees.

Key Points:

• The Greek origin of the word "thesis" emphasizes its connection to proposing and arguing a point.
• A thesis is not simply a summary of existing knowledge but a unique contribution based on original research.
• The process of writing a thesis involves critical thinking, analysis, and the ability to communicate complex ideas effectively.

Ancient Greek

From τίθημι ( títhēmi , “ I put, place ” ) +‎ -σις ( -sis ) , although it could either have been formed in Greek or go back earlier. In the latter case, would be from a Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁tis , from *dʰeh₁- (root of τίθημι ( títhēmi ) ). Cognates include Sanskrit अपिहिति ( ápihiti ) , Avestan 𐬀𐬭𐬋𐬌𐬛𐬍𐬙𐬌 ( arōidīti ) , Latin conditiō , and Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌳𐌴𐌸𐍃 ( gadēþs ) . More at deed . [ 1 ]

Pronunciation

• IPA ( key ) : /tʰé.sis/ → /ˈθe.sis/ → /ˈθe.sis/
• ( 5 th BCE Attic ) IPA ( key ) : /tʰé.sis/
• ( 1 st CE Egyptian ) IPA ( key ) : /ˈtʰe.sis/
• ( 4 th CE Koine ) IPA ( key ) : /ˈθe.sis/
• ( 10 th CE Byzantine ) IPA ( key ) : /ˈθe.sis/
• ( 15 th CE Constantinopolitan ) IPA ( key ) : /ˈθe.sis/

θέσῐς • ( thésis )  f ( genitive θέσεως ) ; third declension

• a setting , placement , arrangement
• adoption (of a child)
• adoption (in the more general sense of accepting as one's own)
• ( philosophy ) position , conclusion , thesis
• ( dance ) putting down the foot
• ( metre ) the last half of the foot
• ( rhetoric ) affirmation
• ( grammar ) stop

Derived terms

• ἀνάθεσις ( anáthesis )
• ἀντένθεσις ( anténthesis )
• ἀντεπίθεσις ( antepíthesis )
• ἀντίθεσις ( antíthesis )
• ἀντιμετάθεσις ( antimetáthesis )
• ἀντιπαράθεσις ( antiparáthesis )
• ἀπόθεσις ( apóthesis )
• διάθεσις ( diáthesis )
• εἴσθεσις ( eísthesis )
• ἔκθεσις ( ékthesis )
• ἐναπόθεσις ( enapóthesis )
• ἔνθεσις ( énthesis )
• ἐπείσθεσις ( epeísthesis )
• ἐπέκθεσις ( epékthesis )
• ἐπένθεσις ( epénthesis )
• ἐπίθεσις ( epíthesis )
• ἐπιπρόσθεσις ( epiprósthesis )
• ἐπισύνθεσις ( episúnthesis )
• ἡμισύνθεσις ( hēmisúnthesis )
• κατάθεσις ( katáthesis )
• μετάθεσις ( metáthesis )
• παράθεσις ( paráthesis )
• παρέκθεσις ( parékthesis )
• παρένθεσις ( parénthesis )
• περίθεσις ( períthesis )
• προδιάθεσις ( prodiáthesis )
• προέκθεσις ( proékthesis )
• πρόθεσις ( próthesis )
• πρόσθεσις ( prósthesis )
• συγκατάθεσις ( sunkatáthesis )
• συναντίθεσις ( sunantíthesis )
• συνεπίθεσις ( sunepíthesis )
• σύνθεσις ( súnthesis )
• ὑπέκθεσις ( hupékthesis )
• ὑπέρθεσις ( hupérthesis )
• ὑπόθεσις ( hupóthesis )

Descendants

• ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. ( 2010 ) “ θέσις ”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10 ), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN , page 543

Further reading

• “ θέσις ”, in Liddell & Scott ( 1940 ) A Greek–English Lexicon , Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ θέσις ”, in Liddell & Scott ( 1889 ) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon , New York: Harper & Brothers
• θέσις in Bailly, Anatole ( 1935 ) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français , Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. ( 2001 ) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature , Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• “ θέσις ”, in Slater, William J. ( 1969 ) Lexicon to Pindar , Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• θέσις in Trapp, Erich, et al. ( 1994–2007 ) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [ the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries ], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• assumption idem, page 48.
• caution idem, page 119.
• deposit idem, page 212.
• earnest idem, page 259.
• hypothesis idem, page 412.
• place idem, page 616.
• position idem, page 628.
• site idem, page 779.
• situation idem, page 780.
• station idem, page 813.
• supposition idem, page 842.
• thesis idem, page 865.

• Ancient Greek terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
• Ancient Greek terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰeh₁-
• Ancient Greek terms suffixed with -σις
• Ancient Greek terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
• Ancient Greek 2-syllable words
• Ancient Greek terms with IPA pronunciation
• Ancient Greek lemmas
• Ancient Greek nouns
• Ancient Greek paroxytone terms
• Ancient Greek feminine nouns
• Ancient Greek third-declension nouns
• Ancient Greek feminine nouns in the third declension
• grc:Philosophy
• grc:Rhetoric
• grc:Grammar
• Sanskrit terms with non-redundant manual transliterations
• Avestan terms with redundant transliterations
• Pages with 1 entry

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thesis noun

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What does the noun thesis mean?

There are seven meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun thesis . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

thesis has developed meanings and uses in subjects including

Entry status

OED is undergoing a continuous programme of revision to modernize and improve definitions. This entry has not yet been fully revised.

How common is the noun thesis ?

How is the noun thesis pronounced?

British english, u.s. english, where does the noun thesis come from.

Earliest known use

Middle English

The earliest known use of the noun thesis is in the Middle English period (1150—1500).

OED's earliest evidence for thesis is from before 1398, in a translation by John Trevisa, translator.

thesis is a borrowing from Greek.

Etymons: Greek θέσις .

Nearby entries

• thesaurus, n. 1823–
• thesaury, n. a1639–1708
• these, n. a1600–48
• these, pron. & adj. Old English–
• Thesean, adj. 1815–
• Theseid, n. 1725–
• Theseium, n. 1819–
• these-like, adj. 1644–
• thesial, adj. 1654
• thesicle, n. 1863–
• thesis, n. a1398–
• thesis-novel, n. 1934–
• thesis-play, n. 1902–
• thesmophilist, n. 1644–
• Thesmophorian, adj. 1891–
• Thesmophoric, adj. 1788–
• thesmothete, n. 1603–
• thesocyte, n. 1887–
• thesp, n. 1962–
• Thespian, adj. & n. 1675–
• Thespianism, n. 1914–

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Meaning & use

Pronunciation, compounds & derived words, entry history for thesis, n..

thesis, n. was first published in 1912; not yet revised.

thesis, n. was last modified in December 2023.

Revision of the OED is a long-term project. Entries in oed.com which have not been revised may include:

• corrections and revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
• new senses, phrases, and quotations which have been added in subsequent print and online updates.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into thesis, n. in December 2023.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

OED First Edition (1912)

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OED Second Edition (1989)

• View thesis in OED Second Edition

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Definition of thesis

Did you know.

In high school, college, or graduate school, students often have to write a thesis on a topic in their major field of study. In many fields, a final thesis is the biggest challenge involved in getting a master's degree, and the same is true for students studying for a Ph.D. (a Ph.D. thesis is often called a dissertation ). But a thesis may also be an idea; so in the course of the paper the student may put forth several theses (notice the plural form) and attempt to prove them.

Examples of thesis in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'thesis.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

in sense 3, Middle English, lowering of the voice, from Late Latin & Greek; Late Latin, from Greek, downbeat, more important part of a foot, literally, act of laying down; in other senses, Latin, from Greek, literally, act of laying down, from tithenai to put, lay down — more at do

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3a(1)

Dictionary Entries Near thesis

the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children

thesis novel

Cite this Entry

“Thesis.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thesis. Accessed 7 Sep. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of thesis, more from merriam-webster on thesis.

Nglish: Translation of thesis for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of thesis for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about thesis

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How does PIE root dhē- 'to set, to put', evolve to mean 'thesis'?

[Etymonline for 'thesis (n.)':] late 14c., "unaccented syllable or note," from Latin thesis "unaccented syllable in poetry," later (and more correctly) "stressed part of a metrical foot," from Greek thesis "a proposition," also "downbeat" (in music), originally "a setting down, a placing, an arranging; position, situation," from root of tithenai "to place, put, set," from PIE root * dhe- "to set, to put" (see factitious ).

Please help me dig deeper than the etymology. I heed the Etymological Fallacy, but what are some right ways of interpreting the etymology, to make it feel reasonable and intuitive?

How does "to set, to put" evolve to mean the modern definition of 'thesis' ?

Update: This website answers my question, but I do not post it as an answer hereunder as others may still find something new with which to contribute.

• proto-indo-european

• I'd consider THAT WEBSITE added in the edit as completely unreliable. Claims like "[...]that a primitive language, Proto-Indo-European ("PIE"), with barely a hundred roots (or morphemes), [...]" completely disqualify it. –  Sir Cornflakes Commented Mar 10, 2016 at 8:43
• @jknappen I am delighted then that notwithstanding the downvotes, I linked to that website; otherwise, you would not be able to educate me with your helpful comment. –  user5306 Commented Mar 10, 2016 at 20:40

2 Answers 2

thesis is Ancient Greek for "setting (down), placing", and @user438 is completely correct that the connection is that someone "sets down" arguments and propositions. Other related indirect senses mentioned in the LSJ dictionary include "instituting games", "setting forth" in legal form, monetary deposits, a "general question" (as opposed to the hypothesis , lit. "under-placing", the "special case"), a "downbeat" in music, and a stop in punctuation.

The earliest attestation of the philosophical sense given in LSJ, "thesis, position, assumed and requiring proof" is in Plato's Republic, 335a:

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0168%3Abook%3D1%3Asection%3D335a

Notice how thesis "placing" is led up to in this excerpt by repeated use of the related verb tithēmi "to put; (mediopassive) to take up a position"—both in the same sense of "taking up an intellectual position":

καὶ μάλα, ἔφη, οὕτω συμβαίνει. ἀλλὰ μεταθώμεθα : κινδυνεύομεν γὰρ οὐκ ὀρθῶς τὸν φίλον καὶ ἐχθρὸν θέσθαι . “Most certainly,” he said, “it does work out so. But let us change our ground [" change position "]; for it looks as if we were wrong in the notion we took up about [" in positioning "] the friend and the enemy.”

πῶς θέμενοι , ὦ Πολέμαρχε; “What notion ["how did we position "], Polemarchus?”

τὸν δοκοῦντα χρηστόν, τοῦτον φίλον εἶναι. “That the man who seems to us good is the friend.”

νῦν δὲ πῶς, ἦν δ᾽ ἐγώ, μεταθώμεθα ; “And to what shall we change it now [" change position "]?” said I.

τὸν δοκοῦντά τε, ἦ δ᾽ ὅς, καὶ τὸν ὄντα χρηστὸν φίλον: καὶ περὶ τοῦ ἐχθροῦ δὲ ἡ αὐτὴ θέσις . “That the man who both seems and is good is the friend, but that he who seems but is not really so seems but is not really the friend. And there will be the same assumption [" position , thesis "] about the enemy.”

Because you "set down" your arguments and propositions.

• Would you please explain some more? –  user5306 Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 14:04

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arsis and thesis

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arsis and thesis , in prosody, respectively, the accented and unaccented parts of a poetic foot . Arsis, a term of Greek origin meaning “the act of raising or lifting” or “raising the foot in beating time,” refers in Greek, or quantitative , verse to the lighter or shorter part of a poetic foot, and thesis to the accented part of the poetic foot. In Latin, or accentual , verse, the meanings of these words were reversed— arsis came to mean the accented or longer part of the foot, and thesis the unaccented part. It is the Latin meaning that has been retained in modern usage.

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• Meaning of θέσις

θέσις ( Ancient Greek)

Origin & history.

• a setting , placement , arrangement
• adoption (of a child)
• adoption (in the more general sense of accepting as one's own)
• ( philosophy ) position , conclusion , thesis
• ( dancing ) putting down the foot
• ( metre ) the last half of the foot
• ( rhetoric ) affirmation
• ( grammar ) stop

▾  Derived words & phrases

• ἀντεπίθεσις
• ἀντιμετάθεσις
• ἀντιπαράθεσις
• ἐπιπρόσθεσις
• ἐπισύνθεσις
• ἡμισύνθεσις
• προδιάθεσις
• συγκατάθεσις
• συναντίθεσις
• συνεπίθεσις

▾  Descendants

• Latin: thesis

▾  Dictionary entries

Entries where "θέσις" occurs:

thesis : thesis (English) Origin & history From Latin thesis, from Ancient Greek θέσις ("a proposition, a statement, a thing laid down, thesis in rhetoric, thesis in prosody") Pronunciation IPA: /ˈθiːsɪs/ Pronunciation example: Audio (US) Rhymes:…

deed : …action"), Swedish and Danish dåd ("act, action"). The Proto-Indo-European root is also the source of Ancient Greek θέσις ("setting, arrangement"). Related to do. Pronunciation IPA: /diːd/ Pronunciation example: Audio (US) Rhymes:…

tes : …Origin & history I Noun tes Indefinite genitive singular of te Origin & history II From Latin thesis and Ancient Greek θέσις ("a proposition, a statement"), used in Swedish since 1664. Noun tes (common gender) a thesis, a statement…

Tat : …Low German Daat‎, Dutch daad‎, English deed‎, Danish dåd‎, Gothic 𐌳𐌴𐌸𐍃‎, and Ancient Greek θέσις ‎ ("arrangement"). Pronunciation IPA: /taːt/ Rhymes: -aːt Homophones: tat Noun Tat (fem.) (genitive Tat…

antithesis : antithesis (English) Origin & history From Ancient Greek ἀντί ("against") + θέσις ("position"). Surface analysis anti- + thesis. Pronunciation (Amer. Eng.) IPA: /ænˈtɪ.θə.sɪs/ Pronunciation example: Audio (US) Examples:…

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Cite this page : "θέσις" – WordSense Online Dictionary (7th September, 2024) URL: https://www.wordsense.eu/θέσις/

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θέσκελος (Ancient Greek)

θές (Ancient Greek)

θέτης (Ancient Greek)

θέτο (Ancient Greek)

θέτω (Greek)

θέω (Ancient Greek)

θέων (Ancient Greek)

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saltatio , waying , pravoslavac , salvamento

The son of either Poseidon or Aegeus and Aethra , Theseus was widely considered the greatest Athenian hero , the king who managed to politically unify Attica under the aegis of Athens . Son of either Aegeus , the king of Athens , or Poseidon , the god of the sea, and Aethra , a princess, Theseus was raised by his mother in the palaces of Troezen . Upon reaching adulthood and finding out the identity of his father, he set out on a journey to Athens, during which he managed to outwit and overpower few notorious brigands: Periphetes, Sinis, Phaea , Sciron, Cercyon, and Procrustes. In Athens, after thwarting Medea ’s attempts to eliminate him and capturing the Marathonian Bull, he volunteered to be one of the fourteen young Athenians sent to Crete as a sacrifice to the Minotaur so as to be able to kill the monster inside his Labyrinth. With the help of Ariadne who gave him a ball of thread to navigate himself inside the maze, Theseus managed to find and slay the Minotaur , after which he set sail back to Athens. There he ruled admirably for many years before an unsuccessful attempt (taken with his friend Pirithous ) to abduct Persephone from the Underworld resulted in his deposition and, consequently, treacherous murder by Lycomedes of Scyros.

Theseus in Troezen: Foreshadowings of a Hero

The night Theseus was conceived, his mother Aethra slept with Aegeus, the king of Athens, and Poseidon, the god of the sea. Whoever his father had been, Theseus’ exceptional parentage was evident even in his early years. Soon after Theseus reached adulthood, Aethra sent him to Athens.

The Story of Theseus’ Birth

Even after two wives – Meta and Chalciope – Aegeus, the esteemed king of Athens, was still childless. Fearing the intentions of his three brothers, he headed off to Pythia to learn from the Oracle if he will ever produce a male heir. As always, the advice was all but straightforward: “The bulging mouth of the wineskin, o best of men, loose not until thou hast reached the height of Athens.” Aegeus didn’t understand any of this and sorrowfully set out on a journey back home. On his way to Athens, however, he did make one stop: calling at Troezen , he didn’t miss the chance to ask its king Pittheus if he would help him decipher the Oracle’s ambiguous reply. Pittheus , wise as he famously was, understood it perfectly, but chose to use the knowledge to his benefit: wishing for a nephew with Aegeus’ blood, he got his guest drunk and then introduced him to his daughter Aethra; Aegeus slept with her, a few hours before Poseidon, the mighty god of the sea, did the same. Nine months later, Aethra gave birth to a beautiful child: Theseus.

Heracles’ Lion Skin

Whether the son of a god or an exceptional mortal, Theseus was discernibly unlike his peers even as a child, outshining them in every category. One time, when Heracles visited Pittheus’ kingdom and took off his lion-skin before sitting at the dinner table, the children of the palace, mistaking it for a real lion, all fled in fear and alarm. Theseus calmly took an ax and attacked the skin; even back then, watching the scene with eyes full of love and awe, Aethra already knew what she was supposed to do in few years’ time.

The Sword and the Sandals

Because, you see, before Aegeus left Troezen, he hid his sword and a pair of sandals under a great rock. “If you bore a son in nine months,” he told Aethra, “and if he is able to lift this rock once he reaches manhood – then send him to Athens with this sword and these sandals, for then I’d know that he is, indeed, my son, the future king of Athens.” When the time came, Aethra led Theseus to the rock and relayed to him his father’s message. Theseus lifted the rock with ease and, equipped with Theseus’ tokens of paternity, hit the road to Athens.

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On the Road to Athens

Sending him off to Athens, Aethra begged Theseus to travel by sea and, thus, bypass all the dangers which, by all accounts, lay on the land-route ahead of him. Theseus, however, wanted to earn himself a reputation worthy of a formidable hero before meeting his father. And by the time he reached Athens, he had vanquished so many famous villains – each with a memorable modus operandi – that people were already eager to compare him to his childhood idol, Heracles .

Periphetes, the Club-Bearer

Wielding a bronze club, Periphetes haunted the road near Epidaurus, threatening to savagely beat any traveler daring to cross paths with him. But Theseus wasn’t just any traveler: before Periphetes could realize, he managed to grab the club out of his hands and beat him to death with his own weapon. Emulating Heracles’ actions (who barely slipped out of the skin of the Nemean lion after completing his first labor), Theseus appropriated Periphetes’ club and, soon enough, it became the most recognizable piece of his equipment.

Sinis , the Pine-Bender

Before leaving Peloponnese, Theseus happened upon Sinis, the Pine Bender, so called because of his notorious habit of tying casual travelers to bent-down pine trees, which, upon release, instantaneously tore in two anyone unfortunate enough to be caught by this brutish bandit. However – and somewhat expectedly – Sinis was no match for Theseus: once again, the Athenian hero prevailed using his enemy’s own method of destruction.

Phaea, the Crommyonian Sow

An offspring of Typhon and Echidna , the Crommyonian Sow was either a huge wild pig which troubled the lands around Corinth and Megara or a vicious female robber nicknamed “The Sow” because of her appearance and vulgar manners. Either way, Theseus had no problems dealing with her as well.

Sciron, the Feet-Washer

Not much further, on the rocky coastal road of the Isthmus of Corinth , Theseus encountered Sciron, a mighty brigand who would force passing travelers to wash his feet – only so that he is able to kick his kneeling victims off the cliffs into the sea where a giant sea turtle waited to devour them. Recognizing the danger, once he bent down, Theseus grabbed Sciron by his foot, lifted him up, and then hurled him into the sea. The turtle got its meal either way.

Cercyon, the Wrestler

Compared to the other five malefactors Theseus came across on his road to Athens, Cercyon of Eleusis was somewhat old school: he challenged passersby on a win-or-die wrestling match. Not a good idea when your opponent is Theseus! Needless to say, it was Cercyon who got the wrong side of the proposed bargain. Or as a Greek poet put it in both humorous and oblique manner: Theseus “closed the wrestling school of Cercyon.”

Procrustes, the Stretcher

At first sight, Procrustes seemed a kind man: he offered his house as a shelter to any traveler in need who happened to run into him. The house had two beds, a short and a long one. However, once the ill-fated traveler would choose and lay down in one of them, Procrustes made sure to make him fit the bed ( not the other way around), either by using his infernal apparatus to elongate his extremities or by hammering down his length. As it should be evident by now, Theseus eventually dealt with his host in the same way he did with his guests. And even though we don’t know which one of Procrustes’ two beds spelled the end for Procrustes, it couldn’t have been a pleasurable experience either way.

Theseus in Athens: An Unwelcomed Guest

In Athens, Theseus was quickly recognized by Medea , the wife of his father, Aegeus. So, before Aegeus could make out Theseus’ identity, the hero had to prove his worth and capture the Marathonian Bull.

Aegeus and Medea

When Theseus arrived in Athens, he had the misfortune of being recognized by the wrong person: not by his father Aegeus, but by his then-wife, the sorceress Medea. Obviously, Medea didn’t want Aegeus to be succeeded in his throne by a son from a previous marriage, so she resolved to kill Theseus. She had no problem convincing Aegeus to her side, since the Athenian king still feared that he would be killed by one of his brother’s sons or, even worse, by an outsider. So, soon after arriving in Athens, Aegeus sent Theseus to capture the Marathonian Bull.

The Marathonian Bull

Now, the Marathonian Bull is actually the same bull Heracles managed to capture for his seventh labor. Formerly known as the Cretan Bull , the creature was either set free by Heracles or escaped from Tiryns by itself. After traversing the Isthmus of Corinth, it arrived at Marathon and bothered its inhabitants for years before Theseus finally managed to master it. After showing it to Aegeus and Medea, Theseus killed the Bull and sacrificed it to Apollo .

The Cup of Poison: Theseus Recognized

Medea didn’t expect Theseus to emerge victorious from his clash with the Marathonian Bull; nevertheless, she did have a Plan B, which included a feast and a cup of poison. Fortunately, barely a second before the poison touched Theseus’ lips, Aegeus recognized his sword and his sandals – and, moreover, Medea’s cruel intentions. Two proclamations followed, one naming Theseus as Aegeus’ rightful successor to the throne, and another banishing Medea from Athens forevermore.

Theseus in Crete

Soon after Theseus’ return to Athens, it was due for Aegeus to pay the third yearly tribute to Minos , the king of Crete . Namely, in recompense for the death of Minos ’ son, Androgeus – once savagely killed by the Athenians out of jealousy and envy – Athens obliged to regularly send fourteen of its noblest young men and women to Crete, where each of them was destined to meet the same end: to be thrown into Daedalus ’ Labyrinth and be devoured by the monstrous half-man half-bull Minotaur.

Ariadne and the Minotaur

Always in pursuit for fame and glory – and now deeply despaired over the gruesome fate awaiting the innocent young Athenians – Theseus resolved to do something about this. So, when the time came, he volunteered to go to Crete, where Ariadne , Minos’ beautiful daughter, fell in love with him upon arrival, the very moment she laid eyes on the muscular Athenian prince. Determined to assist him, she begged Daedalus to tell her the secret of the Labyrinth, which, eventually, the old craftsman agreed to. And when the time came for Theseus to enter the Labyrinth, Ariadne gave him a ball of thread (provided by Daedalus) that was supposed to help him navigate himself inside the structure and guide him safely out of it.

Comforted by the fact that he would always be able to find his way out, Theseus delved deep into the Labyrinth and found the Minotaur haunting its innermost depths. As beastly as he was, the Minotaur was no match for Theseus’ strength and determination: after a brief fight, the Athenian killed the monster and followed the thread back to safety.

Theseus and Ariadne

Now, Theseus had promised Ariadne to marry her before even making his first step inside the Labyrinth; and, that’s the first thing he did after coming out of it safe and sound. After the brief marital ceremony, he took Ariadne with him and, together with the other young Athenians, left Crete. Strangely, his marriage with Ariadne lasted no more than just a few days: as soon as his ships reached the island of Dia (later called Naxos), Theseus left the sleeping Ariadne behind him and sailed away. Some say that he did this because he had fallen in love with another girl in the meantime (Panopeus’ daughter Aegle); others – because he had no choice but to obey the will of Dionysus who wanted Ariadne for himself. The latter claim that the god arrived on the island of Dia just moments after Theseus had left it, and swiftly carried Ariadne off in his chariot to be his beloved and immortal wife.

Theseus, the King of Athens

A broken promise.

Before setting off for Crete, Theseus had promised his father that, if he survived the Minotaur, he would change his ship’s black sail to a white one. Thus, Aegeus would be able to discern from some distance whether his son was still alive. Unfortunately, he either forgot his promise altogether or was too distraught to make the change on time. Watching from a vantage point, Aegeus couldn’t bear the sight he had most dreaded to see, so he hurled himself to his death straight away.

Unification of Attica

Theseus was now the king of Athens – and what a king he was! The list of his achievements is rather lengthy, but most authors agree that the greatest among them was the successful political unification ( synoikismos ) of Attica under Athens. In addition, Theseus is credited with instituting the festival of the Panathenaea and the Isthmian Games.

Phaedra and Hippolytus

From his expedition against the Amazons (see below), Theseus brought back to Athens one of their queens – either Antiope or Hippolyte – and she subsequently bore him a son, Hippolytus . After some time, he grew bored with his wife, so he found himself another: strangely enough, none other than Ariadne’s sister, Phaedra ! Phaedra gave Theseus two children – Acamas and Demophon – but, then, to her surprise, fell madly in love with her stepson, Hippolytus . After Hippolytus rejected her advances, she told Theseus that he had tried to rape her. Theseus cursed Hippolytus and, before long, his curse came true: Hippolytus was dragged to death by his horses. Either out of grief or because her treachery was exposed in the meantime, Phaedra hanged herself.

Theseus and Pirithous

While a king, Theseus befriended the king of the Lapiths, Pirithous . He shared numerous adventures with him, the most famous among them being the hunt for the Calydonian Boar , the Centauromachy, and an expedition among the Amazons , from which – to the utter dismay of the women warriors – both returned with new wives. Some years later, the two friends attempted a similar raid in the Underworld, but the abduction of Hades ’ wife, Persephone , didn’t go according to plan: instead of getting Persephone out of there, Theseus and Pirithous remained stuck inside, fixed immovable to two enchanted seats. On his way to capturing Cerberus , Heracles noticed and recognized the heroes ; even though, with some effort, he managed to free Theseus, the earth shook when he tried to do the same with Pirithous; so, Heracles had no choice but to leave Pirithous in the Underworld forevermore.

The Death of Theseus

Once freed from the Underworld, Theseus hurried back to Athens only to find out that the city now had a new ruler: Menestheus. He fled right away for refuge to Lycomedes, the king of the island of Scyros. A tragic mistake, since Lycomedes was a supporter of Menestheus! After a few days of feigned hospitality, Lycomedes took the unsuspecting Theseus on a tour of the island; the second they reached its highest cliff, he violently pushed Theseus to his death.

The Aftermath

Generations passed without much thought being given to Theseus. Then, during the Persian wars, Athenian soldiers reported seeing the ghost of Theseus, clad in bronze armor and in full charge, and came to believe that he was responsible for their victories. The Athenian general Cimon received a command from the Oracle at Delphi to find Theseus' bones and return them to Athens. He did so, and the gigantic skeleton of Theseus was reburied in a magnificent tomb in the heart of Athens, which thereon served as a sanctuary for the defenseless and the oppressed of the world.

Theseus Sources

Mentioned in both the “Iliad” and the “Odyssey,” Theseus is an important character in Euripides’ play “ Hippolytus .” Ovid recounts his conflict with Medea and the Minotaur in the seventh and the eighth book of his “Metamorphoses.” The first biography narrated in Plutarch’s influential “Parallel Lives” is that of Theseus .

See Also: Theseus Adventures , Minotaur, Aegeus, Aethra, Cretan Bull , Ariadne, Phaedra, Pirithous, Calydonian Boar

Theseus Q&A

Who was theseus.

The son of either Poseidon or Aegeus and Aethra , Theseus was widely considered the greatest Athenian hero , the king who managed to politically unify Attica under the aegis of Athens . Son of either Aegeus , the king of Athens , or Poseidon , the god of the sea, and Aethra , a princess, Theseus was raised by his mother in the palaces of Troezen .

What did Theseus rule over?

Theseus ruled over the Athens .

Where did Theseus live?

Theseus ' home was Athens .

Who were the parents of Theseus?

The parents of Theseus were Aegeus and Aethra .

Who were the consorts of Theseus?

Theseus ' consorts were Perigune, Antiope, Ariadne and Phaedra .

How many children did Theseus have?

Theseus had 4 children: Melanippus , Hippolytus , Acamas and Demophon .

Which were the symbols of Theseus?

Theseus ' symbol was the Club.

Theseus Associations

Cite This Article

Theseus, Great Hero of Greek Mythology

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Theseus is one of the great heroes of Greek mythology, a prince of Athens who battled numerous foes including the Minotaur , the Amazons , and the Crommyon Sow , and traveled to Hades, where he had to be rescued by Hercules . As the legendary king of Athens, he is credited with inventing a constitutional government, limiting his own powers in the process. 

Fast Facts: Theseus, Great Hero of Greek Mythology

• Culture/Country: Ancient Greece
• Realms and Powers: King of Athens
• Parents: Son of Aegeus (or possibly of Poseidon) and Aethra
• Spouses: Ariadne, Antiope, and Phaedra
• Children: Hippolytus (or Demophoon)
• Primary Sources: Plutarch "Theseus;" Odes 17 and 18 written by Bacchylides in the first half of 5th c BCE, Apollodorus, many other classic sources 

Theseus in Greek Mythology

The King of Athens, Aegeus (also spelled Aigeus), had two wives, but neither produced an heir. He goes to the Oracle of Delphi who tells him "not to untie the mouth of the wineskin until he arrived at the heights of Athens." Confused by the purposefully-confusing oracle, Aegeus visits Pittheus, the King of Troezen (or Troizen), who figures out that the oracle means "don't sleep with anyone until you return to Athens." Pittheus wants his kingdom to unite with Athens, so he gets Aegeus drunk and slips his willing daughter Aethra into Aegeus' bed. 

When Aegeus wakes up, he hides his sword and sandals under a large rock and tells Aethra that should she bear a son, if that son is able to roll away the stone, he should bring his sandals and swords to Athens so that Aegeus can recognize him. Some versions of the tale say that she has a dream from Athena saying to cross over to the island of Sphairia to pour a libation, and there she is impregnated by Poseidon . 

Theseus is born, and when he comes of age, he is able to roll away the rock and take the armor to Athens, where he is recognized as heir and eventually becomes king.

Appearance and Reputation 

By all the various accounts, Theseus is steadfast in the din of battle, a handsome, dark-eyed man who is adventurous, romantic, excellent with the spear, a faithful friend but spotty lover. Later Athenians credit Theseus as a wise and just ruler, who invented their form of government, after the true origins were lost to time.

Theseus in Myth

One myth is set in his childhood: Hercules (Herakles) comes to visit Theseus' grandfather Pittheus and drops his lion skin cloak on the ground. The children of the palace all run away thinking it is a lion, but the brave Theseus whacks it with an ax.

When Theseus decides to make his way to Athens, he chooses to go by land rather than sea because a land journey would be more open to adventure. On his way to Athens, he slays several robbers and monsters—Periphetes in Epidaurus (a lame, one-eyed club-wielding thief); the Corinthian bandits Sinis and Sciron; Phaea (the " Crommyonion Sow ," a giant pig and its mistress who were terrorizing the Krommyon countryside); Cercyon (a mighty wrestler and bandit in Eleusis); and Procrustes (a rogue blacksmith and bandit in Attica).

Theseus, Prince of Athens

When he arrives in Athens, Medea —then the wife of Aegeus and mother of his son Medus—is the first to recognize Theseus as Aegeus' heir and attempts to poison him. Aegeus eventually does recognize him and stops Theseus from drinking the poison. Medea sends Theseus on an impossible errand to capture the Marathonian Bull, but Theseus completes the errand and returns to Athens alive. 

As the prince, Theseus takes on the Minotaur , a half-man, half-bull monster owned by King Minos and to whom Athenian maidens and youths were sacrificed. With the help of the princess Ariadne, he slays the Minotaur and rescues the young people, but fails to provide a signal to his father that all is well—to change the black sails to white ones. Aegeas leaps to his death and Theseus becomes king.

King Theseus 

Becoming a king does not suppress the young man, and his adventures while king include an attack on the Amazons, after which he carries off their queen Antiope. The Amazons, led by Hippolyta, in turn invade Attica and penetrate into Athens, where they fight a losing battle. Theseus has a son named Hippolytus (or Demophoon) by Antiope (or Hippolyta) before she dies, after which he marries Ariadne's sister Phaedra.

Theseus joins Jason's Argonauts and participates in the Calydonian boar hunt . As a close friend of Pirithous, the king of Larissa, Theseus helps him in the battle of the Lapithae against the centaurs. 

Pirithous develops a passion for Persephone , the Queen of the Underworld, and he and Theseus travel to Hades to abduct her. But Pirithous dies there, and Theseus is trapped and must be rescued by Hercules. 

Theseus as Mythical Politician

As king of Athens, Theseus is said to have broken up the 12 separate precincts in Athens and united them in a single commonwealth. He is said to have established a constitutional government, limited his own powers, and distributed the citizens into three classes: Eupatridae (nobles), Geomori (peasant farmers), and Demiurgi (craft artisans).

Theseus and Pirithous carry off the legendary beauty Helen of Sparta , and he and Pirithous take her away from Sparta and leave her at Aphidnae under Aethra's care, where she is rescued by her brothers the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux). 

The Dioscuri set up Menestheus as Theseus successor—Menestheus would go on to lead Athens into battle over Helen in the Trojan Wars . He incites the people of Athens against Theseus, who retires to the island Scryos where he is tricked by King Lycomedes and, like his father before him, falls into the sea. 

• Hard, Robin. "The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology." London: Routledge, 2003. Print.
• Leeming, David. "The Oxford Companion to World Mythology." Oxford UK: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.
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Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays

Theseus, hero of athens.

Terracotta amphora (jar)

Signed by Taleides as potter

Terracotta kylix: eye-cup (drinking cup)

Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)

Attributed to the Diosphos Painter

Terracotta kylix (drinking cup)

Attributed to the Briseis Painter

Terracotta calyx-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water)

Attributed to a painter of the Group of Polygnotos

Terracotta Nolan neck-amphora (jar)

Attributed to the Dwarf Painter

Attributed to the Eretria Painter

Marble sarcophagus with garlands and the myth of Theseus and Ariadne

Andrew Greene Department of Greek and Roman Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

August 2009

In the ancient Greek world, myth functioned as a method of both recording history and providing precedent for political programs. While today the word “myth” is almost synonymous with “fiction,” in antiquity, myth was an alternate form of reality . Thus, the rise of Theseus as the national hero of Athens, evident in the evolution of his iconography in Athenian art, was a result of a number of historical and political developments that occurred during the sixth and fifth centuries B.C.

Myth surrounding Theseus suggests that he lived during the Late Bronze Age, probably a generation before the Homeric heroes of the Trojan War. The earliest references to the hero come from the Iliad and the Odyssey , the Homeric epics of the early eighth century B.C. Theseus’ most significant achievement was the Synoikismos, the unification of the twelve demes, or local settlements of Attica, into the political and economic entity that became Athens.

Theseus’ life can be divided into two distinct periods, as a youth and as king of Athens . Aegeus, king of Athens, and the sea god Poseidon ( 53.11.4 ) both slept with Theseus’ mother, Aithra, on the same night, supplying Theseus with both divine and royal lineage. Theseus was born in Aithra’s home city of Troezen, located in the Peloponnesos , but as an adolescent he traveled around the Saronic Gulf via Epidauros, the Isthmus of Corinth, Krommyon, the Megarian Cliffs, and Eleusis before finally reaching Athens. Along the way he encountered and dispatched six legendary brigands notorious for attacking travelers.

Upon arriving in Athens, Theseus was recognized by his stepmother, Medea, who considered him a threat to her power. Medea attempted to dispatch Theseus by poisoning him, conspiring to ambush him with the Pallantidae Giants, and by sending him to face the Marathonian Bull ( 56.171.48 ).

Likely the most famous of Theseus’ deeds was the slaying of the Minotaur ( 64.300 ; 47.11.5 ; 09.221.39 ). Athens was forced to pay an annual tribute of seven maidens and seven youths to King Minos of Crete to feed the Minotaur, half man, half bull, that inhabited the labyrinthine palace of Minos at Knossos. Theseus, determined to end Minoan dominance, volunteered to be one of the sacrificial youths. On Crete, Theseus seduced Minos’ daughter, Ariadne, who conspired to help him kill the Minotaur and escape by giving him a ball of yarn to unroll as he moved throughout the labyrinth ( 90.12a,b ). Theseus managed to flee Crete with Ariadne, but then abandoned her on the island of Naxos during the voyage back to Athens. King Aegeus had told Theseus that upon returning to Athens, he was to fly a white sail if he had triumphed over the Minotaur, and to instruct the crew to raise a black sail if he had been killed. Theseus, forgetting his father’s direction, flew a black sail as he returned. Aegeus, in his grief, threw himself from the cliff at Cape Sounion into the Aegean, making Theseus the new king of Athens and giving the sea its name.

There is but a sketchy picture of Theseus’ deeds in later life, gleaned from brief literary references of the early Archaic period , mostly from fragmentary works by lyric poets. Theseus embarked on a number of expeditions with his close friend Peirithoos, the king of the Lapith tribe from Thessaly in northern Greece. He also undertook an expedition against the Amazons, in some versions with Herakles , and kidnapped their queen Antiope, whom he subsequently married ( 31.11.13 ; 56.171.42 ). Enraged by this, the Amazons laid siege to Athens, an event that became popular in later artistic representations.

There are certain aspects of the myth of Theseus that were clearly modeled on the more prominent hero Herakles during the early sixth century B.C. Theseus’s encounter with the brigands parallels Herakles’ six deeds in the northern Peloponnesos. Theseus’ capture of the Marathonian Bull mirrors Herakles’ struggle with the Cretan Bull. There also seems to be some conflation of the two since they both partook in an Amazonomachy and a Centauromachy. Both heroes additionally have links to Athena and similarly complex parentage with mortal mothers and divine fathers.

However, while Herakles’ life appears to be a string of continuous heroic deeds, Theseus’ life represents that of a real person, one involving change and maturation. Theseus became king and therefore part of the historical lineage of Athens, whereas Herakles remained free from any geographical ties, probably the reason that he was able to become the Panhellenic hero. Ultimately, as indicated by the development of heroic iconography in Athens, Herakles was superseded by Theseus because he provided a much more complex and local hero for Athens.

The earliest extant representation of Theseus in art appears on the François Vase located in Florence, dated to about 570 B.C. This famous black-figure krater shows Theseus during the Cretan episode, and is one of a small number of representations of Theseus dated before 540 B.C. Between 540 and 525 B.C. , there was a large increase in the production of images of Theseus, though they were limited almost entirely to painted pottery and mainly showed Theseus as heroic slayer of the Minotaur ( 09.221.39 ; 64.300 ). Around 525 B.C. , the iconography of Theseus became more diverse and focused on the cycle of deeds involving the brigands and the abduction of Antiope. Between 490 and 480 B.C. , interest centered on scenes of the Amazonomachy and less prominent myths such as Theseus’ visit to Poseidon’s palace ( 53.11.4 ). The episode is treated in a work by the lyric poet Bacchylides. Between 450 and 430 B.C. , there was a decline in representations of the hero on vases; however, representations in other media increase. In the mid-fifth century B.C. , youthful deeds of Theseus were placed in the metopes of the Parthenon and the Hephaisteion, the temple overlooking the Agora of Athens. Additionally, the shield of Athena Parthenos, the monumental chryselephantine cult statue in the interior of the Parthenon, featured an Amazonomachy that included Theseus.

The rise in prominence of Theseus in Athenian consciousness shows an obvious correlation with historical events and particular political agendas. In the early to mid-sixth century B.C. , the Athenian ruler Solon (ca. 638–558 B.C. ) made a first attempt at introducing democracy. It is worth noting that Athenian democracy was not equivalent to the modern notion; rather, it widened political involvement to a larger swath of the male Athenian population. Nonetheless, the beginnings of this sort of government could easily draw on the Synoikismos as a precedent, giving Solon cause to elevate the importance of Theseus. Additionally, there were a large number of correspondences between myth and historical events of this period. As king, Theseus captured the city of Eleusis from Megara and placed the boundary stone at the Isthmus of Corinth, a midpoint between Athens and its enemy. Domestically, Theseus opened Athens to foreigners and established the Panathenaia, the most important religious festival of the city. Historically, Solon also opened the city to outsiders and heightened the importance of the Panathenaia around 566 B.C.

When the tyrant Peisistratos seized power in 546 B.C. , as Aristotle noted, there already existed a shrine dedicated to Theseus, but the exponential increase in artistic representations during Peisistratos’ reign through 527 B.C. displayed the growing importance of the hero to political agenda. Peisistratos took Theseus to be not only the national hero, but his own personal hero, and used the Cretan adventures to justify his links to the island sanctuary of Delos and his own reorganization of the festival of Apollo there. It was during this period that Theseus’s relevance as national hero started to overwhelm Herakles’ importance as Panhellenic hero, further strengthening Athenian civic pride.

Under Kleisthenes, the polis was reorganized into an even more inclusive democracy, by dividing the city into tribes, trittyes, and demes, a structure that may have been meant to reflect the organization of the Synoikismos. Kleisthenes also took a further step to outwardly claim Theseus as the Athenian hero by placing him in the metopes of the Athenian treasury at Delphi, where he could be seen by Greeks from every polis in the Aegean.

The oligarch Kimon (ca. 510–450 B.C. ) can be considered the ultimate patron of Theseus during the early to mid-fifth century B.C. After the first Persian invasion (ca. 490 B.C. ), Theseus came to symbolize the victorious and powerful city itself. At this time, the Amazonomachy became a key piece of iconography as the Amazons came to represent the Persians as eastern invaders. In 476 B.C. , Kimon returned Theseus’ bones to Athens and built a shrine around them which he had decorated with the Amazonomachy, the Centauromachy, and the Cretan adventures, all painted by either Mikon or Polygnotos, two of the most important painters of antiquity. This act represented the final solidification of Theseus as national hero.

Greene, Andrew. “Theseus, Hero of Athens.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/thes/hd_thes.htm (August 2009)

Further Reading

Barber, Elizabeth Wayland, and Paul T. Barber. When They Severed Earth from Sky: How the Human Mind Shapes Myth . Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005.

Boardman, John "Herakles." In Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologicae Classicae , vol. V, 1. Zürich: Artemis, 1981.

Camp, John McK. The Archaeology of Athens . New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001.

Gehrke, Hans-Joachim. "Myth, History, and Collective Identity: Uses of the Past in Ancient Greece and Beyond." In The Historian's Craft in the Age of Herodotus , edited by Nino Luraghi, pp. 286–313. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Harrison, Evelyn B. "Motifs of the City Siege of Athena Parthenos." American Journal of Archaeology 85, no. 3 (July 1981), pp. 281–317.

Hornblower, Simon, and Antony Spawforth, eds. The Oxford Classical Dictionary . 3d ed., rev. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Neils, Jenifer. "Theseus." In Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologicae Classicae , vol. VII, 1, pp. 922–51. Zürich: Artemis, 1981.

Servadei, Cristina. La figura di Theseus nella ceramica attica: Iconografia e iconologia del mito nell'Atene arcaica e classica . Bologna: Ante Quem, 2005.

Shapiro, H. A. "Theseus: Aspects of the Hero in Archaic Greece." In New Perspectives in Early Greek Art , edited by Diana Buitron-Oliver, pp. 123–40. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1991.

Shapiro, H. A. Art and Cult under the Tyrants in Athens . Mainz am Rhein: Philipp von Zabern, 1989.

Simon, Erika. Festivals of Attica . Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1983.

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[ thee -sis ]

He vigorously defended his thesis on the causes of war.

Synonyms: proposal , contention , theory

• a subject for a composition or essay.
• a dissertation on a particular subject in which one has done original research, as one presented by a candidate for a diploma or degree.
• Music. the downward stroke in conducting; downbeat. Compare arsis ( def 1 ) .
• a part of a metrical foot that does not bear the ictus or stress.
• (less commonly) the part of a metrical foot that bears the ictus. Compare arsis ( def 2 ) .
• Philosophy. Hegelian dialectic

/ ˈθiːsɪs /

• a dissertation resulting from original research, esp when submitted by a candidate for a degree or diploma
• a doctrine maintained or promoted in argument
• a subject for a discussion or essay
• an unproved statement, esp one put forward as a premise in an argument
• music the downbeat of a bar, as indicated in conducting
• (in classical prosody) the syllable or part of a metrical foot not receiving the ictus Compare arsis
• philosophy the first stage in the Hegelian dialectic, that is challenged by the antithesis
• The central idea in a piece of writing, sometimes contained in a topic sentence .

Word History and Origins

Origin of thesis 1

Example Sentences

“The Saudis have been proving the thesis of the film — they do in fact have an army,” said Thor Halvorssen, founder and chief executive of the nonprofit Human Rights Foundation, which funded the movie.

It’s a hypothesis that Bush pursued in her master’s thesis, and last year she began attending virtual Goth parties in a final round of field work before defending her doctoral thesis later this year.

While this partnership was planned prior to the coronavirus outbreak, co-founder Jordana Kier said the pandemic instantly proved out the expansion thesis.

They’ve had to defend that thesis for a very, very long time in front of a variety of different customers and different people.

Over the past decade, In-Q-Tel has been one of the most active investors in the commercial space sector, with a broad investment thesis that touches many aspects of the sector.

In “Back Home,” Gil also revisits the nostalgia for the South explored in his Johns Hopkins thesis, “Circle of Stone.”

At least father and son were in alignment on this central thesis: acting “gay”—bad; being thought of as gay—bad.

Her doctoral thesis, says Ramin Takloo at the University of Illinois, was simply outstanding.

Marshall McLuhan long ago argued the now accepted thesis that different mediums have different influences on thinking.

He wrote his Master's thesis on the underrepresentation of young people in Congress.

And indeed for most young men a college thesis is but an exercise for sharpening the wits, rarely dangerous in its later effects.

It will be for the reader to determine whether the main thesis of the book has gained or lost by the new evidence.

But the word thesis, when applied to Systems, does not mean the 'position' of single notes, but of groups of notes.

This conclusion, it need hardly be said, is in entire agreement with the main thesis of the preceding pages.

Sundry outlying Indians, with ammunition to waste, took belly and knee rests and strengthened the thesis to the contrary.

Related Words

• proposition
• supposition

What Is The Plural Of Thesis?

Plural word for  thesis.

The plural form of thesis is theses , pronounced [ thee -seez ]. The plurals of several other singular words that end in -is are also formed in this way, including hypothesis / hypotheses , crisis / crises , and axis / axes . A similar change is made when pluralizing appendix as appendices . 

Irregular plurals that are formed like theses derive directly from their original pluralization in Latin and Greek.

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Theseus is a legendary hero from Greek mythology who was considered an early king of Athens . Famously killing villains, Amazons , and centaurs, Theseus' most celebrated adventure was his slaying of the fearsome Minotaur in the labyrinth of the Cretan king Minos.

In the Classical period, Theseus came to represent the perfect Athenian - the just man of action determined to serve his city as best he could and the staunch defender of democracy. Theseus appears in several Greek tragedy plays and his battle with the Minotaur was a favourite subject of Greek vase painters. He is the subject, too, of one of Plutarch 's Lives biographies.

Early Adventures of Theseus – the Labours

In legend, Theseus' father was considered either the son of the god Poseidon or King Aegeus of Athens. His mother was Aethra, daughter of Pittheus, the king of Troezen, whom Aegeus seduced. Theseus spent his childhood at Troezen in the northeast of the Peloponnese as Aegeus had warned Aethra not to tell her son who his real father was until he came of age, perhaps explaining why Theseus was considered the son of Poseidon in his youth. When a young adult, the hero gathered up gifts of sandals and a sword from his father which had been buried under a heavy rock for when he was old enough to lift it. With these tokens, Theseus set off for Athens to claim, as Aegeus' only son, his inheritance, the kingdom of Athens. Before he could reach the city, though, he first had to battle various villains and monsters.

The first villain to be dispatched was Periphetes, who smashed the heads of anyone he came across with a huge iron club. Theseus killed him without ceremony and took his club as a handy weapon for his future adventures. A similar baddy was Sinis (also Sines) who hung around the Corinth countryside and bent pine trees so that they might strike and kill people who passed through the Isthmus. Our hero killed the troublesome Sinis using, of course, a bent pine tree. According to Plutarch, Theseus had a son, Melanippus, by Sinis' daughter Perigune.

Next came Skiron who blocked the narrow sea passage through the rocks of Megara . He took delight in forcing people to wash his feet and when they bent down to do so he would kick them over the cliff and into the sea. Whether the unfortunate travellers survived the fall or not was irrelevant as, in any case, they were then eaten by a giant turtle that haunted those parts. All this frightful behavior was put to an end by Theseus who kicked Skiron into the sea to be eaten by his own accomplice or, in another version, to be turned into a rock.

Next in line came Kerkyon, the champion wrestler who crushed to death anyone who passed his way, but Theseus beat him at his own sport. The last scoundrel was Prokroustes (also Procrustes or Damastes) who waylaid travellers and forced them onto a bed; if they were too tall for the bed he would chop off the excess, if they were too short he would stretch them using weights or hammer their limbs to increase their length. Theseus swiftly dealt with him too by putting him on his own device.

Finished with littering the Greek countryside with dead villains, Theseus then had to kill a bad-tempered sow called Phaia which was causing trouble, again, in the Corinth area. He finally did arrive at Athens, where he was not helped by his jealous step-mother Medea . She and Theseus' cousins, the Pallantidae, tried several times to do away with our hero but their ambushes and poisonings came to nothing. Medea then sent Theseus off on the dangerous errand of dealing with the bull of Marathon which was terrorizing the countryside. The hero captured the animal and sacrificed it to Apollo . In yet more adventures, Theseus even found time to help Meleager in the Calydonian Boar hunt and to accompany Jason and his Argonauts on their quest to find the Golden Fleece , but his greatest trial was yet to come.

Theseus & the Minotaur

Theseus' most famous adventure was his slaying of the Minotaur of King Minos on Crete . Every year (or every nine, according to Plutarch) Athens was compelled to send seven young men and seven young women to feed this fearsome creature with a man's body and the head of a bull, which dwelt in the mysterious labyrinth at Knossos , built by the famed architect Daedalus . The terrible tribute was, in some sources, compensation for the death of Minos' son Androgeous, killed by jealous competitors after he won at the Athenian Games (in other versions he was killed by the bull of Marathon). The unique Minotaur came from the union of Minos' wife Pasiphae and a bull after the queen was made to fall in love with the animal by Zeus as revenge for Minos' refusal to sacrifice it in the god's honour.

Theseus, seeking to put a stop to this barbarity, enrolled himself as one of the seven youths and sailed to Crete. On the way, our hero, with the help of Amphitrite , Poseidon's wife, retrieved a ring which had been thrown into the sea by Minos. On arrival Theseus fearlessly entered the lair of the Minotaur from which no one had ever come out alive. There, with the help of Ariadne , daughter of Minos, the hero marked his way through the winding passages of the labyrinth using a ball of string. Striking down the beast with his sword, he easily followed the string back to the labyrinth's entrance and freed Athens from her terrible obligation to Minos.

Sailing back to Athens, Theseus rather ungallantly abandoned Ariadne on the island of Naxos , perhaps on the advice of Athena , but she soon found solace in the arms of the god of wine Dionysos , whom she married. In another version she is killed by Artemis , acting on instructions from Dionysos, who had once been betrothed to the princess and was miffed to have lost her to Theseus. The hero then stopped at Delos , offered a sacrifice to Apollo, and performed what would become a famous dance, the geranos or Crane dance, which mimics the movements inside the labyrinth.

Theseus then sailed on home but was hit by tragedy when he forgot, as he had promised to his father before setting off, to hoist a white sail instead of the usual black one (set as a mark of mourning for the doomed youths) which would signal to his waiting father that all was well. Theseus' father saw the black sail, thought his son had been killed by the Minotaur and, utterly distraught, threw himself off the cliff into the sea below. Thereafter, the sea carried his name, the Aegean . Theseus thus inherited the throne and he settled down to government, unifying the many small settlements of the area into a single political unit (synoecism), and establishing a peaceful and prosperous period for Athens.

Battling Amazons, Centaurs & Hades

This was not the end of Theseus' adventures as he was involved in several other myths too. He fought the Amazons alongside Hercules when they invaded Attica to regain the girdle of their queen Hippolyta , aka Antiope, which Hercules had stolen as one of his labours. In some accounts, Hippolyta was Theseus' first wife and together they had a son, Hippolytos. Next up, Theseus fought the centaurs, the half-man, half-horse creatures, which had disrupted the wedding of Theseus' good friend Pirithous (Peirithoos) of the Lapiths.

Theseus then tried to abduct Persephone from Hades in the underworld so that Peirithous might marry her. Hades was not to give up his bride so easily (especially after the trouble taken to get her down there in the first place) and he tricked the pair into sitting on thrones which entrapped them. Theseus was only rescued by the exploits of Hercules, who had come to capture Cerberos in his final labour, but Peirithous was, alas, left to his fate.

Theseus' second wife was Phaidra, sister of Ariadne, with whom he had two sons, Akamas and Demophon. Unfortunately for family harmony, Phaidra then fell in love with her step-son Hippolytos. Her advances were not reciprocated, though, and scorned, she furiously told Theseus that his son had tried to rape her. Outraged, Theseus called upon Poseidon to punish Hippolytos, and the god of the sea responded by sending a bull from the depths of the ocean. This creature so frightened the horses of Hippolytos' chariot that they tipped the youth into the sea where he drowned. Phaidra, hit by pangs of guilt, then hanged herself to complete a typical cycle of Greek tragedy.

In another abduction, but this time more successful, Theseus captured Helen when she was a child and gave her to his mother to look after until she reached womanhood. The girl was rescued by her brothers, though, the Dioscuri . The latter invaded Attica for the purpose and Theseus was forced to flee to the Aegean island of Skyros. According to legend, the hero was killed there by King Lycomdedes, who pushed him off a cliff. His bones were eventually recovered by the Athenian statesman and admiral Cimon c. 475 BCE, who brought them back to Athens and placed them in a temple , the Theseion. Theseus was subsequently honoured by the Theseia festival held each year in the city and was forever associated with the 8th day of each month, the traditional day the hero had first arrived in Athens as a youth.

What is the Significance of the Theseus Myths?

The myths involving Theseus became prominent in the 6th century BCE, at a time when the city of Athens was entering a period of dominance in wider Greece . Theseus may have been a convenient alternative to that other great Greek hero Hercules, and he gave the city a prestigious heritage which differed from other cities . Theseus was also promoted by the Athenian statesman Cleisthenes , who was arch-rival to the Peisistratids who regarded Hercules as the symbol of Athens' strength. The long list of villains that Theseus deals with is also very similar in nature to the older story of Hercules' twelve labours. In his fight against the Amazons and centaurs, Theseus was likely a metaphor for Athens' resistance against foreign attack.

The requirement of paying a tribute of youths to Minoan Crete may have been based on a real payment of tribute to the Aegean's dominant trading power in the middle Bronze Age . The Minoans were also bull-worshippers as attested by archaeological finds such as bull horn architectural decorations, bull rhytons, and frescoes, and other artwork depicting a sport of bull-leaping. In addition, the palace of Knossos was extremely large for its time and was composed of multiple small adjoining rooms, many with columns and open ceilings acting as light-wells. It would not be at all surprising that Athenian visitors might consider this architectural wonder a labyrinth. In another possible link, the very word labyrinth may be connected to the labrys, a double axe symbol of important religious significance to the Minoans.

How is Theseus Represented Art & Literature ?

Theseus appears, in particular fighting the Minotaur, in Greek art from the last decade of the 6th century BCE. Scenes from the hero's battles on his first journey to Athens were present in relief sculpture on the Hephaesteion of Athens and the Athenian treasury at Delphi - both buildings date to c. 500 BCE - and the temple of Poseidon at Sounion and the heroon at Trysa in Lycia .

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The hero's battles with the bull of Marathon and the Minotaur were particularly popular with black-figure vase painters, the finest example being the Francois Vase , which shows many scenes from the Theseus story. Special mention should be given to a magnificent Attic red-figure Kylix, now in the British Museum, which depicts all of the hero's labours. Theseus is distinguished from similar painted scenes of Hercules fighting a bull and centaurs as the former is usually depicted without a beard.

Theseus appears in the tragedies of both Euripides ( Hippolytus and Suppliant Women – where he criticizes tyranny and defends democracy) and Sophocles ( Oedipus at Colonus ). Finally, the labyrinth appeared on Cretan coins, and the motif was also a popular device in Roman art , especially floor mosaics.

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Bibliography

• Bagnall, R. et al. The Encyclopedia of Ancient History. Wiley-Blackwell, 2012
• Carabatea, M. Greek Mythology. Adam Editions, 1997.
• Carpenter, T.H. Art and Myth in Ancient Greece. Thames & Hudson, 1991.
• Hope Moncrieff, A.R. Classical Mythology. Senate: an imprint of Studio Editions, 1994.
• Hornblower, S. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2012.
• Kinzl, H. A Companion to the Classical Greek World. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
• Plutarch. The Rise and Fall of Athens. Penguin Classics, 1960.

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> > > 4286 4286. prothesis Original Word: πρόθεσις, εως, ἡ Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: prothesis Phonetic Spelling: (proth'-es-is) Definition: a setting forth, proposal, the showbread, sacred (bread) Usage: a setting forth, the show-bread; predetermination, purpose. (from , "before" and , "purposefully set forth") – properly, – literally, "a setting forth in advance for a ("God's "). Word Origin from Definition a setting forth, i.e. fig. proposal, spec. the showbread, sacred (bread) NASB Translation consecrated (3), purpose (7), resolute (1), sacred (1). STRONGS NT 4286: πρόθεσις πρόθεσις, προθέσεως, ἡ (προτίθημι); 1. the setting forth of a thing, placing of it in view (Plato, Demosthenes, Plutarch); οἱ ἄρτοι τῆς προθέσεως (Vulg.panes propositionis), the showbread, the Sept. for הַפָנִים לֶחֶם ( ; ( ( לֶחֶם ( ; ); twelve loaves of wheaten bread, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel, which loaves were offered to God every Sabbath, and, separated into two rows, lay for seven days upon a table placed in the sanctuary or anterior portion of the tabernacle, and afterward of the temple (cf. Winer, RWB, under the word Schaubrode; Roskoff in Schenkel see p. 213f; (Edersheim, The Temple, chapter ix., p. 152ff; BB. DD.)): ; ; (οἱ ἄρτοι τοῦ προσώπου, namely, Θεοῦ, ; ἄρτοι ἐνωπιοι, ); ἡ πρόθεσις τῶν ἄρτων (the rite of) the setting forth of the loaves, . 2. a purpose (2 Macc. 3:8; (Aristotle), Polybius, Diodorus, Plutarch): ; ; ; ; ; ; ; τῇ προθέσει τῆς καρδίας, with purpose of heart, . purpose, showbread. From ; a setting forth, i.e. (figuratively) proposal (intention); specially, the show-bread (in the Temple) as exposed before God -- purpose, shew(-bread). see GREEK προθεσει προθέσει προθεσεως προθέσεως προθεσιν πρόθεσιν προθεσις πρόθεσις prothesei prothései protheseos protheseōs prothéseos prothéseōs prothesin próthesin prothesis próthesis • • • • • ἄρτους τῆς ἔφαγον ὃ and they ate the consecrated bread, loaves of the presentation he ate which ἄρτους τῆς ἔφαγεν οὓς and ate the consecrated bread, bread of the presentation ate which ἄρτους τῆς λαβὼν ἔφαγεν and ate the consecrated bread bread of the presence having taken ate πάντας τῇ τῆς καρδίας them all with resolute heart them all, that with purpose of heart all of the resolute purpose of heart δόξαντες τῆς κεκρατηκέναι ἄραντες that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor that they had obtained [their] purpose, loosing having thought the purpose to have gained having weighed [anchor] τοῖς κατὰ κλητοῖς οὖσιν according to [His] purpose. the called according to [his] purpose. to those who according to [his] purpose called are κατ' ἐκλογὴν τοῦ θεοῦ that God's purpose according that the purpose of God according to election purpose of God προορισθέντες κατὰ τοῦ τὰ according to His purpose who works according to the purpose of him who worketh having been predestined according to [the] purpose of him who the κατὰ τῶν αἰώνων with the eternal purpose which the eternal purpose which according to [the] purpose of the ages κατὰ ἰδίαν καὶ χάριν to His own purpose and grace his own purpose and according to his own purpose and grace ἀγωγῇ τῇ τῇ πίστει conduct, purpose, faith, manner of life, purpose, faith, conduct the purpose the faith καὶ ἡ τῶν ἄρτων and the table and the sacred bread; and the shewbread; which and the presentation of the loaves The Moment Statue of Ancient God Helios Was Unearthed in Athens Overfishing and climate change threaten fish populations, dramatic rise in working pensioners in greece, historian predicts presidential election following 9 out of 10 accurate calls. Environment The Ancient Greek Story Behind the Word “Sycophant” We all know about the great richness of Greek words and how they have been influential in so many other languages. Speaking about the Greek origin of a word is familiar to most people. However, in the case of the production of figs , there is a “legal issue” related to the ancient culinary world . That has led to the evolution of a word, sycophant, commonly found to this day in plenty of idioms. The word ‘sycophant’ is a word with a special meaning, and the reason becomes clear to all who know the story. Dictionary meaning of sycophant If you look the word ‘sycophant’ up in any dictionary , the explanation will more or less be the same. A sycophant is, namely, one who “praises powerful or wealthy people in an insincere way, usually to gain some advantage,” according to the Cambridge Dictionary . This is something many people have most likely witnessed in some way. The Greek meaning Talking about the actual meaning of the word, there is a slight difference between the English and Greek languages. In both cases, it refers to a devious person. In Greek, however, it denotes a person who through false statements, tries to belittle someone, again probably to achieve a personal goal. Thus, while in English a sycophant is one who praises in a devious way, in Greek, such an individual is one who actually calculatingly criticizes for the sheer purpose of personal gain. Ancient history In terms of ancient history, the masterpiece Deipnosophistae , meaning “dinner-table philosophists,” written by Athenaeus of Naucratis is relevant. In his second book, the Egyptian writer of Greek origin writes: “And Isistrus, in his Attics, says that it was forbidden to export out of Attica the figs which grew in that land, in order that the inhabitants could have the exclusive enjoyment of them. And as many people were detected in sending them away surreptitiously, those who laid informations against them before the judges were then first called sycophants.” But the question that remains is why they called them as such. To be specific, the word ‘sycophants’ originates from two separate words. Sìkon (Greek: Συκον), meaning ‘fig’ and fènin (Greek: φαινειν), meaning ‘to show or indicate.’ Thus, this refers to the protagonist of the book, or “one who shows figs.” Sycophants were, namely, those individuals who reported the illegal export of figs outside the territory of Attica. They helped local authorities identify people who were using an illegal market for profit. Of course, we may wonder why they were helping local authorities and whether they were intimidated into participating in this activity or if it was for some practical advantage. In fact, according to ancient Athenian law, in the event of a confirmed charge, as compensation, the accuser received an amount equal to that inflicted on the offender. The fig market Hence, as can be deemed, the fig market was quite an important resource in Ancient Greece and they used to consider it to be on par with the oil and wine industry. In the words of a certain Philomnestus, unknown to us today: “Since the sycophant got his name from these circumstances, because…at that time there were fines and taxes imposed upon figs and oil and wine, by the production of which imposts they found money for the public expenses; they called those who exacted these fines and laid these information sycophants, which was very natural, selecting those who were accounted the most considerable of the citizens.” This is why the word sycophant was a term for a devious person. However, it still served the local authorities and legality of the public market. See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com . Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email! ancient Athens Ancient Greece Ancient Greek food Ancient Greek language Greek words in English History of food More Greek News Mit experts warn of 5 dangerous ai risks to human survival, ai sparks concerns in music industry, warns grammy ceo, why the guy fawkes mask became the face of anonymous. Privacy Policy Greek Name Days Watch Greek TV Live © Copyright - GreekReporter.com SI SWIMSUIT SI SPORTSBOOK Former Cavaliers Forward Exits NBA, Signs With Greek Team Tommy wild | 4 hours ago. Cleveland Cavaliers A familiar face for Cleveland Cavaliers fans will not be playing in the NBA next season. Cedi Osman is headed to the Greek Basketball League and is joining Panathinaikos, which the team owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos revealed on Instagram . An important piece of this is that Panathinaikos is coached by Ergin Ataman, who coaches Osman for the Turkish National team. It's a bit shocking that someone of Osman's skillset won't be in the NBA next season. At this point of his career, he may not be a starting-caliber forward on a championship team, but he can still provide a nice spark off the bench in a limited role. Cedi averaged 6.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.7 assists while shooting 39 percent from behind the arc and 47.9 percent from the floor last season with the San Antonio Spurs . Any playoff team could've used that production as a depth piece, including the Cavaliers . After the announcement, Sam Amico of Hoops Wire reported that the Los Angeles Lakers offered Osman a training camp invitation, but he decided to take his talent overseas instead. Osman will always be remembered for his time with the Cavs. He spent the first six seasons with Cleveland and saw them go from a Finals contender led by LeBron James to a rebuilding team relying on lottery picks and back to a playoff-caliber team. During those six seasons, Osman averaged 9.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists and shot 42 percent from the floor. Osman's time with Cleveland came to an end following the 2022-23 season when he was part of a three-team trade that brought Max Strus to the Cavs. Perhaps, Osman could someday return to the NBA. But for now, he's focused on this new chapter of his career. 281 COMMENTS thesis thesis (n.) thesis. (n.) late 14c., "unaccented syllable or note, a lowering of the voice in music," from Latin thesis "unaccented syllable in poetry," later (and more correctly) "stressed part of a metrical foot," from Greek thesis "a proposition," also "downbeat" (in music), originally "a setting down, a placing, an arranging; position ... THESIS Thesis was the primordial, ancient Greek goddess of creation, a divinity related to Physis (Mother Nature). She occurs in the Orphic Theogonies as the first being to emerge at creation alongside Hydros (the Primordial Waters) and Mud. Thesis was sometimes portrayed as the female aspect of the first-born, bi-gendered god Phanes (Life). thesis etymology online, origin and meaning The Greek origin of the word "thesis" emphasizes its connection to proposing and arguing a point. A thesis is not simply a summary of existing knowledge but a unique contribution based on original research. The process of writing a thesis involves critical thinking, analysis, and the ability to communicate complex ideas effectively. ... The Goddess Thesis in Greek Mythology The name Thesis is one given to a rarely spoken about goddess from Greek mythology; with her name mainly surviving only in fragments of ancient texts. In her own right Thesis was an important goddess for she was a Greek goddess of Creation, but Thesis' role was within the Orphic tradition whilst surviving tales are based on the tradition ... Theseus Theseus - Wikipedia ... Theseus thesis thesis (plural theses) Senses relating to logic, rhetoric, etc. (rhetoric) A proposition or statement supported by arguments. (by extension) A lengthy essay written to establish the validity of a thesis (sense 1.1), especially one submitted in order to complete the requirements for a non- doctoral degree in the US and a doctoral degree in the ... θέσις θέσῐς • (thésis) f (genitive θέσεως); third declension. a setting, placement, arrangement. deposit. adoption (of a child) adoption (in the more general sense of accepting as one's own) (philosophy) position, conclusion, thesis. (dance) putting down the foot. (metre) the last half of the foot. (rhetoric) affirmation. thesis, n. meanings, etymology and more There are seven meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun thesis. See 'Meaning & use' for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence. thesis has developed meanings and uses in subjects including. prosody (Middle English) music (Middle English) rhetoric (late 1500s) logic (late 1500s) education (late 1700s) philosophy (1830s) Thesis Definition & Meaning The meaning of THESIS is a dissertation embodying results of original research and especially substantiating a specific view; especially : one written by a candidate for an academic degree. ... from Late Latin & Greek; Late Latin, from Greek, downbeat, more important part of a foot, literally, act of laying down; in other senses, Latin, from ... How does PIE root dhē- 'to set, to put', evolve to mean 'thesis'? [Etymonline for 'thesis (n.)':] late 14c., "unaccented syllable or note," from Latin thesis "unaccented syllable in poetry," later (and more correctly) "stressed part of a metrical foot," from Greek thesis "a proposition," also "downbeat" (in music), originally "a setting down, a placing, an arranging; position, situation," from root of tithenai "to place, put, set," from PIE root * dhe-"to ... Arsis and thesis Arsis, a term of Greek origin meaning "the act of raising or lifting" or "raising the foot in beating time," refers in Greek, or quantitative, verse to the lighter or shorter part of a poetic foot, and thesis to the accented part of the poetic foot. In Latin, or accentual, verse, the meanings of these words were reversed— arsis came ... θέσις‎ (Ancient Greek): meaning, translation θέσῐς (fem.) (genitive θέσεως) a setting, placement, arrangement. deposit. adoption (of a child) adoption (in the more general sense of accepting as one's own) (philosophy) position, conclusion, thesis. (dancing) putting down the foot. (metre) the last half of the foot. (rhetoric) affirmation. Theseus The son of either Poseidon or Aegeus and Aethra, Theseus was widely considered the greatest Athenian hero, the king who managed to politically unify Attica under the aegis of Athens.Son of either Aegeus, the king of Athens, or Poseidon, the god of the sea, and Aethra, a princess, Theseus was raised by his mother in the palaces of Troezen.Upon reaching adulthood and finding out the identity of ... Thesis A thesis (plural: 'theses') is a document written in support of an idea that is presented for discussion or disputation. ... The word "thesis" comes from the Greek θέσις, meaning "position", and refers to an intellectual proposition. "Dissertation" comes from the Latin dissertāti ... Theseus, Great Hero of Greek Mythology Updated on August 31, 2019. Theseus is one of the great heroes of Greek mythology, a prince of Athens who battled numerous foes including the Minotaur, the Amazons, and the Crommyon Sow, and traveled to Hades, where he had to be rescued by Hercules. As the legendary king of Athens, he is credited with inventing a constitutional government ... Theseus, Hero of Athens In the ancient Greek world, myth functioned as a method of both recording history and providing precedent for political programs. While today the word "myth" is almost synonymous with "fiction," in antiquity, myth was an alternate form of reality.Thus, the rise of Theseus as the national hero of Athens, evident in the evolution of his iconography in Athenian art, was a result of a ... THESIS Definition & Meaning Thesis definition: a proposition stated or put forward for consideration, especially one to be discussed and proved or to be maintained against objections. See examples of THESIS used in a sentence. Syn and Thesis- Greek root words Flashcards Syn and Thesis- Greek root words. Syn. Click the card to flip 👆. with,together. Click the card to flip 👆. Theseus Theseus - World History Encyclopedia ... Theseus A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology The origin of the Pyanepsia, and the reinstitution of the Isthmian games, were also ascribed to Theseus. One of the most renowned of the adventures of Theseus was his expedition against the Amazons. He is said to have assailed them before they had recovered from the attack of Hercules, and to have carried off their queen Antiope. Strong's Greek: 4286. πρόθεσις (prothesis) -- a setting forth, i.e. fig 4286 próthesis (from 4253 /pró, "before" and 5087 /títhēmi, "purposefully set forth") - properly, providence - literally, "a setting forth in advance for a specific purpose ("God's pre-thesis"). Thesis Definition & Meaning Thesis definition: A proposition that is maintained by argument. A proposition maintained or defended in argument, formerly one publicly disputed by a candidate for a degree in a medieval university. Thesis ( Greek Root Word ) Flashcards Thesis. A position taken in a argument supported by a set of reasons. Theme. An essay or composition on a certain subject with a statement and supporting reasons. Parenthesis. (Para - beside) - statement beside (or inside) a main sentence. Synthetic. (Syn-Together) elements put together to make a material like a natural one (synthetic rubber ... The Ancient Greek Story Behind the Word "Sycophant" Figs, Syko in Greek, represented an important product of the ancient Athenian economy. Credit: E.Abadjieva/Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY-SA 4.0. We all know about the great richness of Greek words and how they have been influential in so many other languages. Speaking about the Greek origin of a word is familiar to most people. The impact of Black Greek organizations in politics Black Greek letter organizations have a history of advocating for people's access to equal […] DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — We are nine weeks away from election day, and the race for president is ... Former Cavaliers Forward Exits NBA, Signs With Greek Team Cedi averaged 6.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.7 assists while shooting 39 percent from behind the arc and 47.9 percent from the floor last season with the San Antonio Spurs.. Any playoff team ... assignment essay homework paper phd report resume review speech thesis