Theseus Bellerophon and Pegasus and the Sacred Band of Thebes From the Ancient Greece Series

TheseusTheseus is most celebrated for killing the Minotaur, but his heroic deeds number much more than this. The six labours of Theseus, where he slew bandits, brigands and wild animals, en route from Troizen to Athens, are another. There are many other adventures to be told about Theseus, not to mention his trip to the Underworld with his friend Pirithous.Bellerophon and the PegasusBellerophon and the Pegasus defeated the Chimera. The fire-breathing beast, with two heads, one of a lion and the other a goat, a serpent for a tail and the body of a goat.Hydra bore Chimera, who breathes fire not to be resisted, a dreadful, great thing, swift of foot and powerful. She has three heads. One is that of a fierce lion, another of a goat, and the last of a mighty serpent snake.In front a lion, behind a serpent and, in the middle, a goat, breathing out the dreadful power of gleaming fire.The Chimera, brilliantly described by Hesiod in The Theogony.The Sacred band of Thebes.The fall of Sparta was down to several reasons, not least the decline in active Spartan hoplite soldiers. The battle that saw them defeated for the first time in centuries and was the beginning of the end of Sparta's dominance in Greece was by an army of Athenians and Thebans, led by the Sacred Band of Thebes. A select group of one hundred and fifty pairs of male lovers, which formed the backbone of the Theban army.