The author portrays Theseus as a flawed human being. In early adventures, Theseus proved that he was a 'hero' but it wasn't until he slew the minotaur he became a legend, the living embodiment of braveness. However the author also made sure to mention that he deserted Princess Ariadne and even killed her father without much thought in order to allow the reader to understand that this so called hero although brave is far from perfect.

In context to the question,

'How does the author characterize theseus in the story? cite evidence from the text in your response.

The author presents Theseus as a foible human and a contradictory character in the text. He displays courage and shown to be the warrior at the beginning but later after the attack on Athens by the mInos, he left Ariadne behind and later abandons her which eventually made her to kill herself. He even murders her father without considering his own heroism that he displays during the early adventurous('The moment she was gone...set sail...left her...island'). This suggests the key idea of the text i.e. 'not let your pleasure overpower your thoughtfulness and ability to make judgment.'

i believe your answer is mountains.