Thesean, a.
(θiːˈsiːən)
Also † Theseian.
[f. L. Thēsē-us adj. + -an.]
Of or belonging to Theseus, a legendary hero-king of Athens. So Theseid (θiːˈsiːɪd) [ad. L. Thēsēïs, -idem, Gr. θηση{giumlacu}ς, -ίδα], the title of a poem on the exploits of Theseus; transf. a poem of the same character as the ‘Theseid of hoarse Codrus’ referred to by Juvenal. Theseium (θiːˈsiː(ɪ)əm), Theseum (θiːˈsiːəm), Theseion (θiːˈsaɪɒn) [a. L. Thēsēium, Gr. θησεῖον], the temple of Theseus at Athens, or the Doric building to which the name is now applied (generally held to be the temple of Hephæstus).
| 1815 B. R. Haydon Jrnl. 6 Nov. in T. Taylor Life Haydon (1853) I. xv. 294 Lord Elgin's steward..thus entirely ruined the moulds of the *Theseian bas-reliefs, which had cost Lord Elgin so much. 1902 Speaker 26 June 370/1 These..should go far to explain the old Thesean legends. |
| 1725 Pope's Odyss. I. View Epic Poem, etc. iv. 10 Poets..who composed their *Theseids, Heracleids, and the like. a 1822 Shelley Def. Poetry Ess. & Lett. (Camelot) 39, I confess myself..unwilling to be stunned by the Theseids of the hoarse Codri of the day. 1873 Hayman Odyss. xi. 260 note II. 205 An Amazon of the Theseid legend. |
| 1819 E. Dodwell Tour Greece I. xii. 362 The *Theseion impresses the beholder more by its symmetry than its magnitude. |
| 1837 Antiq. Athens 68 Unlike the lavish decoration of the temple of Minerva, the *Theseium was ornamented with a sparing hand. |
| 1854 tr. Hettner's Athens & Peloponnese 152 The monument of Aristion in the *Theseum at Athens. |