Theseus

Theseus was the legendary Ionian founder-king of Athens and a mythic hero like Perseus, Cadmus and Heracles, all of whom overcame journeys to the underworld, the young, brave and ambitious Theseus also made an epic journey and defeated a great many foes and monstrous beasts.

Sailing back to Greece from Crete after killing the fierce Minotaur, Theseus put in at Delos, where he made a sacrifice to the god of the island and dedicated a temple to Venus where he danced with the young Athenians a dance consisting in certain measured turning and twisting. Dicaearchus writes, this dance is called among the Delians the “Crane.”

Theseus was a charismatic and artful leader considered by Athenians as their own great reformer, responsible for the political unification of Attica under Athens. The Greek poet-historian Aristophanes also credited him with inventing many everyday Athenian traditions.

The name "Theseus" comes from the same root as "thesmos", Greek for institution.