In Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Duke of Athens is Theseus.
Theseus appears at the very beginning of the comedy, preparing for his wedding to Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. Their impending marriage provides the play’s central frame: the lovers’ troubles, the mechanicals’ comic performance, and the enchanted forest adventures eventually converge on the wedding celebrations in Athens.
At court, Theseus hears Egeus demand that his daughter Hermia marry Demetrius rather than Lysander. He initially invokes Athenian law, offering Hermia the stark alternatives of obedience, lifelong chastity, or death. After the night in the forest and the magical confusion involving the lovers, Theseus overrules Egeus and accepts the lovers’ changed pairings.
Theseus is sometimes confused with Oberon because both are powerful male figures, but their worlds differ. Theseus governs Athens as a human duke; Oberon rules the fairies. Hippolyta is Theseus’s bride, not his title or an alternative name. The play was probably written between 1594 and 1596.