Theseus and the Minotaur
A Hero Enters the Labyrinth
On the island of Crete stood an enormous royal palace. Beneath it was an even stranger place: the Labyrinth, a twisting maze built by the clever inventor Daedalus. At its centre lived the Minotaur, a fierce creature with the body of a man and the head of a bull.The Minotaur belonged to King Minos of Crete, a powerful and proud ruler. After defeating Athens in a war, Minos demanded a terrible payment. Every few years, Athens had to send young people to Crete, where they were forced into the Labyrinth. Nobody had ever found the way out.
In Athens, Prince Theseus listened as families whispered about the next ship. Its sail would be black, showing that it carried sadness. Theseus decided he would sail with the group. “I will defeat the Minotaur,” he told his father, King Aegeus. Aegeus was horrified. Aegeus feared that his son would never return. He begged Theseus not to go, but Theseus would not change his mind.At last, Aegeus made him promise something. “If you return safely, replace the ship’s black sail with a white one. Then I will know you are alive before you reach the harbour.” When the ship reached Crete, King Minos came to inspect the Athenians. With him was his daughter Ariadne. She noticed Theseus at once. Perhaps it was his courage. Perhaps it was the way he stared at the palace as if he were already planning where to put the victory statue.
Ariadne knew the Labyrinth better than anyone except Daedalus. She also knew that strength alone would not save Theseus. You could defeat every monster in Greece and still spend the rest of your life walking past the same suspicious-looking corner. That night, Ariadne secretly met Theseus. She gave him a sword and a ball of thread.“Tie one end at the entrance,” she said. “Unroll it as you walk. Then follow it back.” The thread was as important as the sword because it made escape possible.
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