Statue of Theseus Athens

Situated in the Athens neighbourhood of Thissio and opposite the Metro Station of the same name lies the Statue of Theseus Athens.

Theseus was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus, his journeys, and his exploits have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. His role in history has been called “a significant cultural transition.

Theseus is often described as the son of Aegeus, King of Athens, and sometimes as the son of the god Poseidon.

Of course, the most famous legend is his slaying of the Minotaur, half man and half bull. He then unites Attica under the Athenian rule: the synoikismos (‘dwelling together’).

As the unifying king, he is credited with building a palace on the fortress of the Acropolis of Athens. Pausanias reports that after the synoikismos, Theseus established a cult of Aphrodite Pandemos (‘Aphrodite of all the People’) on the southern slope of the Acropolis.

The Sculptor of the Statue of Theseus

The sculptor George Vitalis created this magnificent work on a plaster model in 1868. He then presented it at the Olympia of 1870. It is one of the most representative works of modern Greek classicism of the 19th century. 

He was born in the village of Ysternia in Tinos in 1838. He was the son of an experienced architect. At the age of fifteen, he followed his father to Smyrna, where he helped, as a construction contractor, in the construction of neoclassical houses.

Then he came to Athens, where he attended sculpture classes (1857 – 1861) in the workshop of his cousin Georgios Fitalis, then professor of sculpture at the School of Arts, graduating as a probationary sculptor.

Later, at the urging of Queen Amalia and with a scholarship from King Louis I of Bavaria, he continued his studies at the Academy of Munich under the tutelage of Max von Windmann. 

During his studies, he received many awards including the medal of Value of the Bavarian king. He died in Alexandria in 1901.

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