Theseus

The oral tradition of myths makes collecting a complete version of “Theseus and the Minotaur,” an ancient Greek myth from the sixth century BC, a difficult task. No version contains every recorded detail about Theseus’s adventures in the Labyrinth of Crete. Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Stephen Fry’s Heroes, and many other sources contain varying levels of detail about Theseus’s heroics. This challenge increases when different translations of the text are considered, since part of the text is always lost in the act of translation.

This guide refers to James Baldwin’s book Old Greek Stories, originally published in 1895. This version of the Theseus and Minotaur myth is titled “The Cruel Tribute” and covers the story from Minos’s declaration of the tribute to Theseus’s crowning as king of Athens.

King Minos brings his military against Athens in an act of war. When the elders of Athens meet with him to determine what caused the acts of aggression, he reveals that he holds Athens responsible for the death of his son Androgeos. Minos then demands that Athens pay a tribute to Crete. When he discovers that the king of Athens, Aegeus, seemingly has no sons, Minos demands that Athens send seven noble young men and seven maidens to Crete every year. The elders agree to these demands and ask what will happen to the children. They are informed that the children will be sent into the Labyrinth and fed to the Minotaur, a monster that is half man, half bull.

This tribute occurs many times until Theseus returns from Troezen to claim his position in Athens as the son of Aegeus, who welcomes him with open arms at the same time that the yearly tribute is demanded. Theseus has never heard of these tributes and asks his father about them. When he explains them, Theseus becomes outraged and volunteers to be one of the tributes who will enter the Labyrinth. His goal is to slay the Minotaur and save the people of Athens. Aegeus disagrees at first but relents when Theseus promises to sail back to Athens under a white sail, which will indicate that he survived the Labyrinth and the Minotaur. If the sails are only black, Aegeus will know that Theseus is dead.

The lottery for that year occurs, and lots are drawn to determine who will be sent to Crete. Seven maidens and six noble young men are selected. When the sixth male is drawn, Theseus steps forward and volunteers himself so that another name will not be drawn. The 14 tributes are placed on a ship and taken to Crete.

They arrive in Crete and are taken before King Minos and his daughter Ariadne, who takes notice of Theseus and falls in love with him. She makes a plan with Daedalus the inventor to save Theseus and the tributes. That night, she sneaks into the jail and gives Theseus a sword and a ball of string that Daedalus gave her. The sword is for fighting the Minotaur; the string is to be tied to the door of the Labyrinth when they enter and unwound as they walk in. When the fight is over, Theseus can wind the string up again and use it as a guide to allow him and the other tributes to escape the Labyrinth. Theseus thanks Ariadne and promises to take her with him when they leave Crete and make her his wife.

The next morning, the guards take the tributes deep into the Labyrinth. Once they are far enough in that the tributes have no hope of finding their way back, the guards use secret passages to leave the Labyrinth and abandon the tributes to their fates. Theseus tells the other Athenians to get behind him and wait for the Minotaur to come for them. The maidens sit, and the men stand behind Theseus in wait. Soon, they hear scuffling and know that the Minotaur is approaching. Theseus reminds everyone to stay close to him and remain behind him. The Minotaur arrives and is surprised to see that Theseus has a sword. No one has ever entered the Labyrinth armed.

Theseus and the Minotaur charge at each other. The Minotaur is wounded, and Theseus kills it with another blow. The Athenians celebrate Theseus’s victory. He then guides the Athenians out of the Labyrinth by winding up the string that he had left as a trail for them to follow. Ariadne is waiting for them at the entrance to the Labyrinth and guides them all to a ship that they can use to sail to Athens. Minos does not know that the Athenians escaped, and he believes that a robber kidnapped Ariadne in the middle of the night.

The ship sails into Athens flying only a black sail; the crew of the ship forgets to raise a white sail while celebrating its escape. Aegeus sees the black sail without a while sail and believes that Theseus is dead. In grief, he throws himself into the sea. This makes Theseus king of Athens.