For other uses, see Theseus (disambiguation)

Theseus Slaying Minotaur (1843), bronze sculpture by Antoine-Louis Barye

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Theseus /ˈθiːsiːəs/ (Ancient Greek: Θησεύς Greek: [tʰɛːsěu̯s]) was the mythical^[1] founder-king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, both of whom Aethra had slept with in one night. Theseus was a founder-hero, like Perseus, Cadmus, or Heracles, all of whom battled and overcame foes that were identified with an archaic religious and social order.^[2] As Heracles was the Dorian hero, Theseus was the Athenian founding hero, considered by them as their own great reformer: his name comes from the same root as θεσμός ("thesmos"), Greek for "institution". He was responsible for the synoikismos ("dwelling together")—the political unification of Attica under Athens, represented emblematically in his journey of labours, subduing highly localized ogres and monstrous beasts. Because he was the unifying king, Theseus built and occupied a palace on the fortress of the Acropolis that may have been similar to the palace that was excavated in Mycenae. Pausanias reports that after the synoikismos, Theseus established a cult of Aphrodite Pandemos ("Aphrodite of all the People") and Peitho on the southern slope of the Acropolis.

Plutarch's vita of Theseus makes use of varying accounts of the death of the Minotaur, Theseus' escape and the love of Ariadne for Theseus, in order to construct a literalistic biography, a vita.^[3] Plutarch's sources, not all of whose texts have survived independently, included Pherecydes (mid-sixth century BC), Demon (ca 300 BC), Philochorus and Cleidemus (both fourth century BC).^[4]

Early years[link]

Theseus and Aethra, by Laurent de La Hyre

Aegeus, one of the primordial kings of Athens, found a bride, Aethra who was the daughter of king Pittheus at Troezen, a small city southwest of Athens. On their wedding night, Aethra waded through the sea to the island of Sphairia that rests close to the coast and lay there with Poseidon (god of the sea and earthquakes). The mix gave Theseus a combination of divine as well as mortal characteristics in his nature; such double fathers, one immortal and one mortal, was a familiar feature of Greek heroes.^[5] After Aethra became pregnant, Aegeus decided to return to Athens. Before leaving, however, he buried his sandals and sword under a huge rock^[6] and told Aethra that when their son grew up, he should move the rock, if he were heroic enough, and take the tokens for himself as evidence of his royal parentage. In Athens, Aegeus was joined by Medea, who had fled Corinth after slaughtering the children she had borne Jason, and had taken Aegeus as her new consort. Priestess and consort together represented the old order in Athens.

Thus Theseus was raised in his mother's land. When Theseus grew up and became a brave young man, he moved the rock and recovered his father's tokens. His mother then told him the truth about his father's identity and that he must take the sword and sandals back to king Aegeus to claim his birthright. To journey to Athens, Theseus could choose to go by sea (which was the safe way) or by land, following a dangerous path around the Saronic Gulf, where he would encounter a string of six entrances to the Underworld,^[7] each guarded by a chthonic enemy. Young, brave and ambitious, Theseus decided to go alone by the land route, and defeated a great many bandits along the way.

The Six Entrances of the Underworld[link]

• At the first site, which was Epidaurus, sacred to Apollo and the healer Aesculapius, Theseus turned the tables on the chthonic bandit, the "clubber" Periphetes, who beat his opponents into the Earth, and took from him the stout staff that often identifies Theseus in vase-paintings. At the time, Theseus was called the Mother Dog for many reasons.

The deeds of Theseus, on an Attic red-figured kylix, ca. 440–430 BCE (British Museum)

Detail of the kylix at right: Theseus and the Crommyonian Sow, with Phaea

• At the Isthmian entrance to the Underworld was a robber named Sinis often called "Pityokamptes" (Greek: Πιτυοκάμπτης, "he who bends Pinetrees"). He would capture travelers, tie them between two pine trees which were bent down to the ground, and then let the trees go, tearing his victims apart. Theseus killed him by his own method. He then became intimate with Sinis's daughter, Perigune, fathering the child Melanippus.

• In another deed north of the Isthmus, at a place called Crommyon, he killed an enormous pig, the Crommyonian Sow, bred by an old crone named Phaea. Some versions name the sow herself as Phaea. The Bibliotheca described the Crommyonian sow as an offspring of Typhon and Echidna.

• Near Megara an elderly robber named Sciron forced travellers along the narrow cliff-face pathway to wash his feet. While they knelt, he kicked them off the cliff behind them, where they were eaten by a sea monster (or, in some versions, a giant turtle). Theseus pushed him off the cliff.

• Another of these enemies was Cercyon, king at the holy site of Eleusis, who challenged passers-by to a wrestling match and, when he had beaten them, killed them. Theseus beat Cercyon at wrestling and then killed him instead. In interpretations of the story that follow the formulas of Frazer's The Golden Bough, Cercyon was a "year-King", who was required to do an annual battle for his life, for the good of his kingdom, and was succeeded by the victor. Theseus overturned this archaic religious rite by refusing to be sacrificed.

• The last bandit was Procrustes the Stretcher, who had two beds, one of which he offered to passers-by in the plain of Eleusis. He then made them fit into it, either by stretching them or by cutting off their feet. Since he had two beds of different lengths, no one would fit. Theseus turned the tables on Procrustes, cutting off his legs and decapitating him with his own axe.

Medea and the Marathonian Bull, Androgeus and the Pallantides[link]

Theseus captures the Marathonian Bull (kylix painted by Aison, 5th century BC)

When Theseus arrived at Athens, he did not reveal his true identity immediately. Aegeus gave him hospitality but was suspicious of the young, powerful stranger's intentions. Aegeus's wife Medea recognized Theseus immediately as Aegeus' son and worried that Theseus would be chosen as heir to Aegeus' kingdom instead of her son Medus. She tried to arrange to have Theseus killed by asking him to capture the Marathonian Bull, an emblem of Cretan power.

On the way to Marathon, Theseus took shelter from a storm in the hut of an ancient woman named Hecale. She swore to make a sacrifice to Zeus if Theseus were successful in capturing the bull. Theseus did capture the bull, but when he returned to Hecale's hut, she was dead. In her honor Theseus gave her name to one of the demes of Attica, making its inhabitants in a sense her adopted children.

When Theseus returned victorious to Athens, where he sacrificed the Bull, Medea tried to poison him. At the last second, Aegeus recognized the sandals, shield, and sword, and knocked the poisoned wine cup from Theseus's hand. Thus father and son were reunited, and Medea, it was said, fled to Asia.

When Theseus had appeared in the town, his reputation had preceded him, having travelled along the notorious coastal road from Troezen and slain some of the most feared bandits there. It was not long before the Pallantides' hopes of succeeding the apparently childless Aegeus would be lost if they did not get rid of Theseus (the Pallantides were the sons of Pallas and nephews of King Aegeus, who were then living at the royal court in the sanctuary of Delphic Apollo^[8]). So they set a trap for him. One band of them would march on the town from one side while another lay in wait near a place called Gargettus in ambush. The plan was that after Theseus, Aegeus, and the palace guards had been forced out the front, the other half would surprise them from behind. However, Theseus was not fooled. Informed of the plan by a herald named Leos, he crept out of the city at midnight and surprised the Pallantides. "Theseus then fell suddenly upon the party lying in ambush, and slew them all. Thereupon the party with Pallas dispersed," Plutarch reported.^[9]

Theseus and the Minotaur[link]

Theseus and the Minotaur on 6th-century black-figure pottery

Pasiphae, wife of King Minos of Crete, had several children before the Minotaur. The eldest of these, Androgeus, set sail for Athens to take part in the Pan-Athenian games which were held there every five years. Being strong and skillful, he did very well, winning some events outright. He soon became a crowd favorite, much to the resentment of the Pallantides and they assassinated him, incurring the wrath of Minos.

When King Minos had heard of what befell his son, he ordered the Cretan fleet to set sail for Athens. Minos asked Aegeus for his son's assassins, and if they were to be handed to him, the town would be spared. However, not knowing who the assassins were, King Aegeus surrendered the whole town to Minos' mercy. His retribution was that, at the end of every Great Year (seven solar years), the seven most courageous youths and the seven most beautiful maidens were to board a boat and be sent as tribute to Crete, never to be seen again.

In another version, King Minos of Crete had waged war with the Athenians and was successful. He then demanded that, at nine-year intervals, seven Athenian boys and seven Athenian girls were to be sent to Crete to be devoured by the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull monster that lived in the Labyrinth created by Daedalus.

On the third occasion, Theseus volunteered to slay the monster. He took the place of one of the youths and set off with a black sail, promising to his father, Aegeus, that if successful he would return with a white sail.^[10] Like the others, Theseus was stripped of his weapons when they sailed. On his arrival in Crete, Ariadne, King Minos' daughter, fell in love with Theseus and, on the advice of Daedalus, gave him a ball of thread. This was so he could find his way out of the Labyrinth.^[11] That night, Ariadne escorted Theseus to the Labyrinth, and Theseus promised that if he returned from the Labyrinth he would take Ariadne with him. As soon as Theseus entered the Labyrinth, he tied one end of the ball of string to the door post and brandished his sword which he had kept hidden from the guards inside his tunic. Theseus followed Daedalus' instructions given to Ariadne; go forwards, always down and never left or right. Theseus came to the heart of the Labyrinth and also upon the sleeping Minotaur. The beast awoke and a tremendous fight then occurred. Theseus overpowered the Minotaur with his strength and stabbed the beast in the throat with his sword (according to one scholium on Pindar's Fifth Nemean Ode, Theseus strangled it).^[12]

After decapitating the beast, Theseus used the string to escape the Labyrinth and managed to escape with all of the young Athenians and Ariadne as well as her younger sister Phaedra. Then he and the rest of the crew fell asleep on the beach. Athena wakes Theseus and tells him to leave early that morning. Athena tells Theseus to leave Ariadne and Phaedra on the beach. Stricken with distress, Theseus forgot to put up the white sails instead of the black ones, so the king committed suicide. Dionysus later saw Ariadne crying out for Theseus and took pity on her and married her.

Ship of Theseus[link]

According to Plutarch's Life of Theseus, the ship Theseus used on his return from Crete to Athens was kept in the Athenian harbor as a memorial for several centuries.

The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus,^[13] for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their place...

The ship had to be maintained in a seaworthy state, for, in return for Theseus's successful mission, the Athenians had pledged to honour Apollo every year henceforth. Thus, the Athenians sent a religious mission to the island of Delos (one of Apollo's most sacred sanctuaries) on the Athenian state galley — the ship itself — to pay their fealty to the god. To preserve the purity of the occasion, no executions were permitted between the time when the religious ceremony began to when the ship returned from Delos, which took several weeks.^[14]

To preserve the ship, any wood that wore out or rotted was replaced; it was, thus, unclear to philosophers how much of the original ship actually remained, giving rise to the philosophical question whether it should be considered "the same" ship or not. Such philosophical questions about the nature of identity are sometimes referred to as the Ship of Theseus Paradox.

Regardless of these issues of the originality of the ship's structure, for Athenians the preserved ship kept fresh their understanding that Theseus had been an actual, historic figure — which none then doubted — and gave them a tangible connection to their divine providence.

Theseus and Pirithous[link]

Theseus Defeats the Centaur by Antonio Canova (1804–1819), Kunsthistorisches Museum

Theseus's best friend was Pirithous, prince of the Lapiths. Pirithous had heard stories of Theseus's courage and strength in battle but wanted proof, so he rustled Theseus's herd of cattle and drove it from Marathon, and Theseus set out in pursuit. Pirithous took up his arms and the pair met to do battle, but were so impressed with each other they took an oath of friendship and joined the hunt for the Calydonian Boar. In Iliad I, Nestor numbers Pirithous and Theseus "of heroic fame" among an earlier generation of heroes of his youth, "the strongest men that Earth has bred, the strongest men against the strongest enemies, a savage mountain-dwelling tribe whom they utterly destroyed." No trace of such an oral tradition, which Homer's listeners would have recognized in Nestor's allusion, survived in literary epic. Later, Pirithous was preparing to marry Hippodamia. The centaurs were guests at the wedding feast, but got drunk and tried to abduct the women, including Hippodamia. The Lapiths won the ensuing battle.

In Ovid's Metamorphoses Theseus fights against and kills Eurytus, the "fiercest of all the fierce centaurs"^[15] at the wedding of Pirithous and Hippodamia.

The abduction of Helen and encounter with Hades[link]

Theseus carries off the willing Helen, on an Attic red-figure amphora, ca. 510 BCE

Theseus, a great abductor of women, and his bosom companion, Pirithous, since they were sons of Zeus and Poseidon, pledged themselves to marry daughters of Zeus.^[16] Theseus, in an old tradition,^[17] chose Helen, and together they kidnapped her, intending to keep her until she was old enough to marry. Pirithous chose Persephone. They left Helen with Theseus's mother, Aethra at Aphidna, whence she was rescued by the Dioscuri.

On Pirithous' behalf they travelled to the underworld, domain of Persephone and her husband, Hades. As they wandered through the outskirts of Tartarus, Theseus sat down to rest on a rock. As he did so he felt his limbs change and grow stiff. He tried to rise but could not. He was fixed to the rock on which he sat. Then, as he turned to cry out to his friend Pirithous, he saw that he himself was crying out too. Around him was standing the terrible band of Furies with snakes in their hair, torches and long whips in their hands. Before these monsters the hero's courage failed and by them was led away to eternal punishment.

For many months in half darkness, Theseus sat immovably fixed to the rock, mourning both for his friend and for himself. In the end he was rescued by Heracles. He had come down to the underworld for his 12th task. There he persuaded Persephone to forgive him for the part he had taken in the rash venture of Pirithous. So Theseus was restored to the upper air but Pirithous never left the kingdom of the dead for when he tried to free Pirithous, the Underworld shook. When Theseus returned to Athens, he found that the Dioscuri had taken Helen and Aethra to Sparta.

Hippolyta[link]

Theseus, believed either to be in the company of Heracles, or of his own accord, had been on a quest in the land of the Amazons, a race of all-female warriors who had sex with men for reproduction but killed or banished any male children born. Sensing no trouble or malice from Theseus, the Amazons decided to welcome him by having the queen Hippolyta go aboard his ship bearing gifts. After boarding the ship, Theseus left for Athens, claiming Hippolyta as his bride. This sparked a war between the Amazons and the Athenians. Hippolyta eventually bore a son for Theseus, whom they named Hippolytus (Ἱππόλυτος). Theseus lost his love for Hippolyta, however, after he had seen Phaedra .

Plutarch's Life places Hyppolyta's Amazonian sister, Antiope, as the Amazonian kidnapped by Theseus. In this account, Antiope is the mother of Hyppolytus (named after her sister).

Phaedra and Hippolytus[link]

Phaedra, Theseus's second wife, bore Theseus two sons, Demophon and Acamas. While these two were still in their infancy, Phaedra fell in love with Hippolytus, Theseus's son by Hippolyta. According to some versions of the story, Hippolytus had scorned Aphrodite to become a devotee of Artemis, so Aphrodite made Phaedra fall in love with him as punishment. He rejected her out of chastity.

Alternatively, in Euripides' version, Hippolytus, Phaedra's nurse told Hippolytus of her mistress's love and he swore he would not reveal the nurse as his source of information. To ensure that she would die with dignity, Phaedra wrote to Theseus on a tablet claiming that Hippolytus had raped her before hanging herself. Theseus believed her and used one of the three wishes he had received from Poseidon against his son. The curse caused Hippolytus' horses to be frightened by a sea monster, usually a bull, and drag their rider to his death. Artemis would later tell Theseus the truth, promising to avenge her loyal follower on another follower of Aphrodite.

In a version by Seneca, the Roman playwright, entitled Phaedra, after Phaedra told Theseus that Hippolytus had raped her, Theseus killed his son himself, and Phaedra committed suicide out of guilt, for she had not intended for Hippolytus to die.

In yet another version, Phaedra simply told Theseus Hippolytus had raped her and did not kill herself, and Dionysus sent a wild bull which terrified Hippolytus's horses.

A cult grew up around Hippolytus, associated with the cult of Aphrodite. Girls who were about to be married offered locks of their hair to him. The cult believed that Asclepius had resurrected Hippolytus and that he lived in a sacred forest near Aricia in Latium.

Other stories and his death[link]

According to sources, Theseus also was one of the Argonauts, although Apollonius of Rhodes states in the Argonautica that Theseus was still in the underworld at this time. Both statements are inconsistent with Medea being Aegeus' wife by the time Theseus first came to Athens. With Phaedra, Theseus fathered Acamas, who was one of those who hid in the Trojan Horse during the Trojan War. Theseus welcomed the wandering Oedipus and helped Adrastus to bury the Seven Against Thebes.

Lycomedes of the island of Skyros threw Theseus off a cliff after he had lost popularity in Athens. In 475 BC, in response to an oracle, Cimon of Athens, having conquered Skyros for the Athenians, identified as the remains of Theseus "a coffin of a great corpse with a bronze spear-head by its side and a sword." (Plutarch, Life of Cimon, quoted Burkert 1985, p. 206). The remains found by Cimon were reburied in Athens. The early modern name Theseion (Temple of Theseus) was mistakenly applied to the Temple of Hephaestus which was thought to be the actual site of the hero's tomb.

Adaptations of the myth[link]

Theseus with the head of Minotaur

Prose[link]

Racine's Phèdre (1677) features Theseus as well as Hippolytus and the title character.

Theseus is a prominent character as the Duke of Athens in William Shakespeare's plays, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Two Noble Kinsmen. Hippolyta also appears in both plays. Theseus likewise appears as a major character in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Knight's Tale.

Mary Renault's The King Must Die (1958) is a dramatic retelling of the Theseus legend through the return from Crete to Athens. While fictional, it is generally faithful to the spirit and flavor of the best-known variations of the original story. The sequel is The Bull from the Sea (1962), about the hero's later career.

Kir Bulychev's 1993 book An Attempt on Theseus' Life (Покушение на Тезея) is about a plot to assassinate a man during a virtual reality tour in which he lives through Theseus' life.

John Dempsey's "Ariadne's Brother: A Novel on the Fall of Bronze Age Crete" (1996, ISBN 960-219-062-0) tells the Minoan Cretan version of these events based on both archaeology and myth.

Steven Pressfield's 2002 novel Last of the Amazons attempts to situate Theseus's meeting and subsequent marriage to Antiope, as well as the ensuing war, in a historically plausible setting.

Jorge Luis Borges presents an interesting variation of the myth in a short story, "La Casa de Asterión" ("The House of Asterion").

British comedian Tony Robinson wrote a version of the Theseus story entitled "Theseus: Super Hero".

Author Suzanne Collins was inspired by Theseus to write The Hunger Games trilogy, which was published from 2008–2010.^[18]

Film and television[link]

Theseus is played by Bob Mathias in the 1960 film Minotaur, the Wild Beast of Crete, and by Tom Hardy in the 2006 film Minotaur.

A 1971 Soviet cartoon, "The Labyrinth", covers the titular adventure as well as Theseus's encounters with the Crommyonian sow and Procrustes.

In the 2011 Tarsem Singh film, Immortals, Theseus (played by Henry Cavill) leads a war against the mortal king Hyperion (played by Mickey Rourke) of Heraklion.

Notes[link]

References[link]

Primary sources[link]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Theseus

• Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca
• Ovid, Metamorphoses
• Plutarch, Theseus

Secondary sources[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Theseus

• Burkert, Walter, Greek Religion (1985)
• Kerényi, Karl, The Heroes of the Greeks (1959)
• Price, Anne, The Quest for Theseus (London, 1970) examines the Theseus-Minotaur-Ariadne myth and its historical basis, and later treatments and adaptations of it in Western culture.
• Ruck, Carl A.P. and Danny Staples, The World of Classical Myth: ch. IX "Theseus: making the new Athens" (1994), pp. 203–222.
• Walker, Henry J., Theseus and Athens, Oxford University Press (US 1995). The most thorough scholarly examination of Theseus's archaic origins and classical myth and cult, and his place in classical literature.

External links[link]

• (Theoi Project) Plutarch: Life of Theseus

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2009)

Harald Schmidt
Harald Schmidt
Born	(1957-08-18) August 18, 1957 (age 54) Neu-Ulm, West Germany
Occupation	talk show host, comedian and television producer
Website
Sat.1 Official Site

Harald Franz Schmidt (born August 18, 1957 in Neu-Ulm, Bavaria) is a German actor, writer, comedian and television entertainer best known as host of two popular German late-night shows.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

As son of refugees who fled from South Moravia (now Czech Republic) in 1945, Schmidt spent his youth in Swabian Nürtingen, where he went to grammar school. Due to his strict Catholic upbringing he devoted time to the Roman Catholic church, serving as choirmaster and playing the organ.

At the age of 21, Schmidt went to Stuttgart to attend drama school for three years. After that, he gained on-stage experience at Städtische Bühne (Municipal Stage) in Augsburg. His first role was that of the 2nd Mamaluke in Lessing's Nathan the Wise. In 1984, Harald Schmidt became a text writer for the cabaret Kom(m)ödchen in Düsseldorf and in 1986, was honoured as "Best Newcomer cabaret artist" and toured through Germany with his own show.

Television[link]

Before long, TV noticed the talented young comedian and in 1988 Schmidt began to host his first TV show, MAZ ab. This was followed by shows like Psst! and Schmidteinander, but the biggest boost to his career occurred in 1992, when he started hosting the popular Saturday night show, Verstehen Sie Spaß? (a variation of Candid Camera). Schmidt was awarded Germany's most important TV award, "Adolf-Grimme-Preis", which would be followed by many others. Just one year later, he was honoured as the "Entertainer of the year" and awarded the famous Bambi award and the Golden Camera.

In 1995, Schmidt changed from the publicly funded TV station ARD to the privately owned channel Sat.1 and started the late night talk and variety show, Die Harald Schmidt Show. From 30 June 2003 the show was broadcast five days a week, including Monday evening. On the 8th December 2003, Schmidt suddenly announced the end of the show, following a change of management of Sat.1. The last show was aired on the 23rd December 2003.

Harald Schmidt and Manuel Andrack live in Karlsruhe

"Creative break" and show relaunch[link]

In 2004, Schmidt toured through Germany with a live comedy show, featuring his former late night show sidekick Manuel Andrack. On December 23 of the same year, the new show Harald Schmidt began featuring Andrack, back on ARD, where Schmidt had begun his television career 16 years earlier.

In October 2005, his daughter Amelie was born.

Harald Schmidt resides in Cologne with his partner Ellen Hantsch, a school teacher, and five children, the eldest being from a former relationship. Little is known about the children and their two mothers as Schmidt shields them from the public. In interviews he hardly talks about them.

Shows[link]

[edit] Harald Schmidt Show (Sat.1)

Schmidt is host of the German late night show comparable to Late Night with Conan O'Brien or Late Night with David Letterman, which has now begun a second run after a year-long "creative break". The original show, named Die Harald Schmidt Show and shown on German television network Sat.1, featured stand-up comedy as well as famous national and international guests.

In its later years, the show became a critics' favourite due to Schmidt's "intellectual" sense of humour. For example, he hosted one show completely in French. On another occasion, the screen was blacked for half of the show making it into a "radio broadcast". Another time, he disproved a critic who had written that it is impossible to spend several minutes on TV just cracking nuts.

[edit] Harald Schmidt (ARD)

Schmidt began a second run with a new show on publicly funded ARD, this time without "celebrity" interviews and with even more discussion of current events in a rather freely associative manner. As the German entertainer Thomas Gottschalk recently quipped, Schmidt will always attract the student and intellectual crowd, Gottschalk himself will take care of the rest.

On his first show after the break Schmidt appeared with long hair and a fluffy full beard (which looked kind of grey-white-blond-yellowish and reminiscent of Ernest Hemingway and made it to the newspaper headlines the next morning) making fun of his long absence from the public. Although he claimed right on: "I swear, I shaved this morning!". After summer break in 2005 the "celebrity guest" segment was reintroduced.

[edit] Schmidt & Pocher (ARD)

Late in 2007, Manuel Andrack was replaced by Comedian Oliver Pocher, who had a more active part than his predecessor, and some other elements changed as well. The broadcast's title was changed to "Schmidt & Pocher", trying to attract a younger audience. Oliver Pocher was less educated and "less intellectual", a fact that caused some criticism among Harald Schmidt's core audience and broadsheet newspaper comments in Germany.

[edit] Harald Schmidt (Das Erste)

As of 2011, Schmidt hosts a live show for Das Erste each week.

[edit] Return to Sat. 1 as Harald Schmidt Show again

On September 15, 2011 Schmidt returned to his former network Sat.1 picking up is former show name of Die Harald Schmidt Show again. Sat.1 cancelled the show after one season due to low viewer levels.^[1]

[edit] Harald Schmidt Show (Sky Deutschland)

Starting September 11, 2012 new episodes will be shown on Sky Hits HD and Sky Atlantic HD, two channels of the German Pay-TV network Sky Deutschland.^[2]

Concept/crew[link]

The self-proclaimed hypochondriac became popular for his cynical jokes, cruel remarks and wry intellectual wit. (Even though he is obsessed with health he was able to lampoon this weak spot in a self ironic TV commercial for a medicine curing colds.) Schmidt models himself after people like Johnny Carson and Conan O'Brien, but adds few factors and qualities to his show himself.

He engaged in long, seemingly boring conversations with his "supervising producer" Manuel Andrack (known as "chief dramatic adviser"), who sat at a desk next to Schmidt's, and, like Letterman, also included his staff in the show, for instance, his band leader Helmut Zerlett and his cue card girl Suzana Novinscak (both omitted in the new show). After a few new shows, Schmidt celebrated the return of French woman Nathalie Licard. Previously Schmidt's reporter in the old show, she sat on a stool, opposite Manuel Andrack, in front of the band. On occasion, she was involved in the goings-on (like dressing up as Eliza Doolittle in front of the audience, helping Schmidt to bring people from the audience who were chosen to form an impromptu choir etc.). It has been announced on the 28th of March 2012 that the "Harald Schmidt Show" will end on the 3rd of May 2012 on SAT1.

Criticism[link]

Especially during the first years of Die Harald Schmidt Show, Schmidt was sometimes criticised for making fun of minorities like foreigners or gays. He also did some Adolf Hitler imitations in his show (in one of these he as Hitler warned young people not to vote for racist and nationalistic parties). However, especially Schmidts more unorthodox and politically incorrect jokes have garnered the show a reputation as cult television and his supporters accused critics of being incapable of understanding satire.

Awards[link]

Awards include three German Television Awards, the viewers choice award Bambi, the Grimme Award, the Golden Camera and the Golden Lion as best showmaster.

Related meme[link]

A picture of Schmidt, with a beard and long hair, holding up his index finger, is the basis of an Internet meme known as "fgsfds."

References[link]

External links[link]

• Die Harald Schmidt Show (old site)
• Harald Schmidt at the Internet Movie Database
• Schmidt's new Show (SAT.1)

Henry Cavill
Cavill at a Vanity Fair party at the Tribeca Film Festival, April 2009
Born	Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill (1983-05-05) 5 May 1983 (age 29) Jersey, Channel Islands
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2001 – present

Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill (born 5 May 1983) is a British actor. He has appeared in the films The Count of Monte Cristo and Stardust, and played the role of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, on the Showtime series The Tudors, from 2007 until 2010. He has been cast as Superman in the 2013 film Man of Steel.

Early life[link]

Cavill was born on the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands, the fourth of five boys. His mother, Marianne, works as a secretary in a bank, and his father, Colin, is a stockbroker.^[1] He was educated at St. Michael's Preparatory School in Saint Saviour, Jersey before attending Stowe School,^[2] a boarding school in Buckinghamshire, England. He began acting in school plays during prep school,^[3] and has said that if he had not become an actor, he would have joined the army^[2] or gone to university to study ancient history, specifically Egyptology.^[3][4]

Career[link]

Cavill had his first film role in Kevin Reynolds' 2002 adaptation The Count of Monte Cristo. He went on to star in Laguna (2001), and afterwards appeared in BBC’s The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (2002), the TV film Goodbye Mr. Chips (2002), and the TV series Midsomer Murders (2003). In 2003 he had a supporting role in I Capture the Castle, followed by Red Riding Hood (2004), Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005), and Tristan & Isolde (2006). He had a minor role alongside Sienna Miller and Ben Barnes in Matthew Vaughn's adaptation of Stardust (2007).

From 2007 to 2010, Cavill had a leading role in Showtime's television series The Tudors as Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. The series was well-received: it was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2007 and won an Emmy in 2008. Cavill credits the show with bolstering his career: "It’s done the most for me to date. [ . . . ] Now that there's an audience somewhere in America that’s aware of who I am, I have more sell-ability, because of The Tudors."^[5] Entertainment Weekly named him the "Most Dashing Duke" and praised his work on The Tudors for displaying "charm, depth and a killer bod".^[6]

Cavill had been set to star as Superman in director McG’s 2004 film Superman: Flyby. However, McG pulled out of the project and direction was taken over by director Bryan Singer, who recast Brandon Routh as the lead.^[7][8] Cavill was also the cause of a write-in effort from fans to see him cast as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005).^[9] The role eventually went to Robert Pattinson. Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series, was outspokenly in favor of Cavill playing the character of Edward Cullen in the Twilight film,^[10] calling him her "perfect Edward".^[11] By the time production of the film began, however, Cavill was too old to play the character,^[11][12] and again the role went to Robert Pattinson. In 2005, Cavill was a final contender for the role of James Bond in Casino Royale.^[13] The producers and director Martin Campbell were torn between him and Daniel Craig; reportedly Campbell supported Cavill but the producers preferred an older Bond.^[7][14] Ultimately Craig landed the role. In their December 2005 issue, Empire magazine dubbed Cavill the "Unluckiest Man in Hollywood" for this series of near-misses.^[2] Despite reports that he was a contender for Batman in Batman Begins, Cavill confirmed that he never auditioned for nor was offered the role.^[7][13]

In early 2008, Cavill became a model/spokesperson for Dunhill fragrances.^[15] The television ad featured a suited-up Cavill walking through the Union Jack flag, before mounting a helicopter.^[16] A second television ad featured Cavill driving a car through a deserted London at night, and meeting with a young woman.^[17] He starred in director Joel Schumacher's horror film Blood Creek (2008) and in 2009 he had a minor role in Woody Allen’s comedy film Whatever Works.

Cavill played the lead role of Theseus in Tarsem Singh's mythological, big-budget special effects film Immortals, released November 11, 2011.^[18] In 2012, Cavill will star alongside Bruce Willis in The Cold Light of Day. On January 30, 2011, it was announced that Cavill had been cast in the role of Clark Kent/Superman in director Zack Snyder's Man of Steel.^[19] Snyder called Cavill "the perfect choice to don the cape and S shield."^[20][21] Entertainment media applauded Henry Cavill on his road to success.^[22][23]

Personal life[link]

On 4 May 2011, his girlfriend, showjumper Ellen Whitaker, announced their engagement.^[24][25][26]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Henry Cavill at the Internet Movie Database

Anand Gandhi आनंद गांधी
Anand Gandhi
Born	26 September 1980 Mumbai
Occupation	Filmmaker
Awards	Best Short Film, Syracuse International Film Festival

Anand Gandhi (आनंद गांधी) (born 26 September 1980 in Mumbai, India) is an independent filmmaker and screenwriter based in Mumbai. He was initially involved in parallel theatre, where he wrote and directed several critically acclaimed plays. He is also a visiting lecturer at many mass media colleges.

Career[link]

His film directorial debut Right Here Right Now (2003) achieved substantial critical acclaim. Right Here Right Now is a 30 minute long film that deals with the idea of cyclic causality. His second film Continuum (2006) has been co-directed by Khushboo Ranka. Continuum is a montage of simple stories from everyday life, popular culture and folklore that explore "the continuum of life and death, of love and paranoia, of trade and value, of need and invention, of hunger and enlightenment".

Anand Gandhi's writing career began in 2000 with the emergence of the daily soap genre in India. He wrote dialogue for the first eighty-two episodes of the extremely popular show Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. Kyunki... and his other show Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, for which he wrote screenplay, are the longest running TV shows in the history of Indian Television. He is often quoted for his disgust over the aesthetics of Indian Television, including the shows he wrote for.

He moved away from his television career to write and direct highly acclaimed award-winning plays like Sugandhi, Pratyancha, Kshanotsav, Na and Janashtaru. Almost all his work has been produced for the alternative one act theatre. Till date, he has written only one mainstream play Chal Reverse Ma Jaiye. It achieved moderate success commercially, and won the Transmedia Best Play award for 2005.

His first feature length film "The Ship of Theseus" is now under postproduction.

Filmography[link]

• Right Here, Right Now (2003)
• Continuum (2006)

Awards[link]

Anand Gandhi has won the following awards (in bold) and nominations.

[edit] Syracuse International Film Festival

• 2004 Best Short Film for Right Here Right Now

shnit international shortfilmfestival[link]

• 2004 Best Short Film (Audience Award) for Right Here Right Now

[edit] Tribeca Film Festival

• 2004 Official Selection for Right Here Right Now

Hannover International Film Festival[link]

• 2007 Winner, Film Comet for Continuum

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Anand Gandhi

• Anand Gandhi at the Internet Movie Database
• Right Here, Right Now at the Internet Movie Database
• Continuum at the Internet Movie Database
• Anand Gandhi's Official Site
• The Statesman: Of our time
• The Hindu: Anand Gandhi turns filmmaker with “Theseus’s Ship”
• DNA: On a Different Pitch
• Hindustan Times: Who’s next in Bollywood?
• Indian Express: Sea Change

Patrick Wolf
Background information
Birth name	Patrick Denis Apps
Born	(1983-06-30) 30 June 1983 (age 28)
Genres	Indietronica Folktronica Alternative rock Baroque pop
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Low Altitude Records Faith & Industry Tomlab Loog Bloody Chamber Music Mercury Records
Website	PatrickWolf.com

Patrick Wolf (born Patrick Denis Apps on 30 June 1983) is an English singer-songwriter from South London. Patrick utilises a wide variety of instruments in his music, most commonly the ukulele, piano and viola. Known for combining electronic sampling with classical instruments, Wolf's styles range from romantic folk to techno-pop.

Biography[link]

Patrick Wolf was born in St Thomas' Hospital,^[1] South London,^[2][3] into a creative family. He started his musical education with Piano lessons but soon got bored and progressed onto violin lessons and church choirs and made his first theremin at age eleven, and first began recording songs with his violin, voice, and car boot sale organs on a four-track tape recorder at age twelve. At fourteen, he joined and performed with pop art collective Minty. Two years later, he dropped his music A-Levels, which he was studying at Davies Laing and Dick Sixth Form College off Bond Street, and left home. During this period, as well as working in Super Lovers clothing store in Covent Garden, Wolf earned money from busking in a string quartet and formed a group called 'Maison Crimineaux', a noisy trio built on destructive ethics around white noise and pop music. He also continued to write and record his own material. A Maison Crimineaux gig in Paris was attended by electronic maestro Kristian Robinson (aka Capitol K), who would then go on to release Wolf's debut album Lycanthropy.

[edit] Lycanthropy and Wind in the Wires

Wolf's ongoing writing and recordings brought him to the attention of Fat Cat Records, who provided him with an Atari computer and a mixing console. During the recording of Lycanthropy, Wolf studied composition at Trinity College of Music for one year. Lycanthropy was released in the summer of 2003. He also made some guest appearances as a viola player with Chicks on Speed, Arcade Fire, Owen Pallett, CocoRosie and The Hidden Cameras. The Germany-based Tomlab later released the album in America and Europe. His second album of 2005, Wind in the Wires, which was inspired by Patrick's Cornish and Irish roots, was released on the same label and likewise met with critical acclaim. The single Tristan, based on the Cornish legend, Tristram of Lyonesse, received significant attention from critics and remains a fan favourite.

[edit] The Magic Position

Following the success of Wind in the Wires, Wolf signed a record deal with Loog in 2005 and began recording his third album, The Magic Position, which featured collaborations with Marianne Faithfull and Edward Larrikin of Larrikin Love.^[4] Its official release on 26 February met with critical acclaim, and gained a degree of commercial success due to the relative accessibility compared to his previous works.^{[citation needed]} The Magic Position was released in the United States on Low Altitude Records on 1 May 2007.^[5] A concept album on the theme of love, the majority of the album was written after the end of a long term intimate relationship. In January 2007, the first of six vodcasts was made available on iTunes. The series included live performances of old and new material and interviews. Wolf promoted the album with a concert tour in North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia, culminating in two sold out nights at London's Shepherds Bush Empire. Both of these shows, which were shot and directed by photographer Brantley Gutierrez, are in development to be shown on a Virgin channel and then released on DVD.

[edit] The Bachelor and Lupercalia

Wolf began work on his next album, initially titled Battle, immediately after The Magic Position tour ended. The album was originally conceived as a political album. The focus then shifted to the depression experienced by Wolf during the tour. However, before entering the studio, he fell in love, changing the direction of the album again, and eventually providing enough material for two releases. Wolf parted ways with Universal Records, and on 10 December 2008 announced to NME his plan to sell £10 shares of the album on bandstocks.com: "Basically, you can invest in the finishing of the album and the production of it, and you get a share in the album. So you almost become part of the record company, like a co-owner of the album."^[6] On 12 February 2009, Wolf announced that the two discs would be titled The Bachelor and The Conqueror (although the latter album title has subsequently been changed). The Bachelor's first single, "Vulture", was released on 2 April 2009, on vinyl and digital download. The B-sides include new song, "The Tinderbox", and remixes of the title track.

The Bachelor was released on 1 June 2009, while the second single from the album, "Hard Times", was released on 6 July 2009. The third and final single, "Damaris", was released on 14 December 2009.^[7]

In April 2010 it was announced that Wolf had signed a record deal with Hideout, a subsidiary of Mercury Records, who will release his fifth album, Lupercalia. The final title was announced via Twitter on 23 December 2010.^[8]

On 4 November 2010, Wolf announced that the first single from Lupercalia was to be "Time of My Life" and the song was posted on YouTube. Of the song, Wolf said: "'Time of My Life' is a song that I began writing at the end of a relationship in 2006 and then finished three years later during a temporary break-up in my current relationship. The new album has a direct narrative about love and optimism surviving through adversity and recession. I wanted to celebrate the love and hope I have found in the last few years." The song was released on 6 December 2010. He also announced that Lupercalia would be released in May 2011.

On 10 January 2011, Wolf announced on his official Twitter account that the second single from the album, "The City", would be released on 14 March 2011.^{[dated info][9][10]}

On 6 April 2011, Wolf released Lupercalia 20 June 2011 worldwide (excluding USA, where it was released 28 June 2011).^[11] In the same month, Wolf was featured on the cover of national UK publication Notion), which included an interview conducted by writer Alex Lee Thomson, clothes by James Long, and photos by James Moriarty.

Next Project[link]

On 18 May 2012 Wolf announced that he was working on his next album, to be released later in the year: "I'm going back to the studio and recording my jubilee record... The album will be totally, totally, totally stripped down. It's time for me to be retrospective about the last ten years before I move onto the next ten. I'm 28 and I think it's quite fun to sing the songs you wrote as a teenager." ^[12]

Personal life[link]

Wolf reflects that as a teenager, he was bullied at school for his perceived eccentricity and effeminacy. At the time, he was unsure whether he was gay or bisexual. Mentors at school treated him with disdain when he came to them for support on the issue. The bullying problem was only rectified after his mother changed schools. Wolf comments, "With gay or bi people, I think education still wonders if it's a nature-versus-nurture thing. If you were black, they'd know they couldn't change you, and racist bullying would never be condoned, but if someone is quite feminine or knows they might be gay at 13, they think they can change you with a bit of rugby."^[13]

On 27 February 2007, in an interview with thelondonpaper, Wolf raised questions about his sexuality: "In the same way I don’t know if my sixth album is going to be a death-metal record or children's pop, I don’t know whether I’m destined to live my life with a horse, a woman or a man. It makes life easier."^[14] In a 5 July 2007 interview with the Sydney Star Observer, he confirmed his sexuality: "My sexuality is kind of liberal. I fall in love with men and women. I guess you would call me bisexual. I like to have sex and fall in love—I don't like giving terminology for my sexuality."^[15][16][17] Later, in 2009, Wolf told The Guardian that though in the past he has had relationships with women, he now identifies himself as gay. As an artist, Wolf reflects that he doesn't like to worry about whether he makes a record "too gay or too straight or too this or too that."^[13]

In September 2008, Wolf claimed that he was beaten up by security guards for kissing his boyfriend at a Madonna concert in London. Wolf told Electroqueer: "We were beaten up outside Wembley [Stadium], handcuffed. [...] The police came and it just went on and on and on. My man's face covered in blood. [...] They totally twisted my arm and my legs - it was just mad. They are currently researching the CCTV - it just really nuts. [— sic] We basically got beaten up by the police."^[18][19]

On 31 December 2010, Patrick Wolf announced via Twitter that he was set to enter a civil partnership with his boyfriend William Pollock.^[20] He confirmed in an interview at Bestival 2011 that this will take place in summer 2012 due to touring commitments.

Modeling[link]

Wolf, along with The Paddingtons, Edward Larrikin, and The View, was featured in a series of photographs by Mario Testino as a part of a campaign for Burberry in August 2007.^[21]

Wolf has also worked with a variety of designers at London Fashion Week 2009.

Discography[link]

• Lycanthropy (2003)
• Wind in the Wires (2005)
• The Magic Position (2007)
• The Bachelor (2009)
• Lupercalia (2011)

References[link]