Theseus, the Prince of Athens had come to Crete with a mission. He would put an end to his country’s people becoming fodder for the Minotaur. Read on…
The next day Theseus and his people were led to the labyrinth where the Minotaur was imprisoned. A grim- faced guard pushed them all inside the labyrinth and firmly shut the door.
Theseus set to work immediately. He tied the thread to the knob of the door. “Do not be frightened! Just make sure this thread doesn’t come off the knob. This will help me find my way back after I’m done with that monster,” whispered Theseus to the young prisoners.
As he went deeper and deeper into the darkness of the labyrinth, Theseus unwound the golden thread Ariadne, the princess of Crete, had given him. He did not know how far he had gone, for the maze seemed to go on forever. “Keep going down but never to your left,” he remembered Ariadne’s words. She probably had had a word with Daedalus, the master craftsman who made the labyrinth, thought Theseus. He already had his sword in hand, which he had kept hidden in his tunic when the guards came to get them. How will I find that Minotaur before he finds me? thought Theuseus as he went further and further downwards. Suddenly he heard loud snores coming from below. Ah! Looks like the fellow needs his beauty sleep. Theseus smiled in the dark. But the smallest of sounds could wake the beast out of his slumber. As he neared the beast, the Minotaur rose with a horrible cry and came towards him.
Half bull, half human, the Minotaur towered over Theseus, his eyes blood red, his horns shaking menacingly. As the beast bent down to pick him up, Theseus caught hold of his two horns and twisted the head from side to side. The Minotaur roared in anger but Theseus did not let go as the great beast tried to push him back. Theseus took the sword he had tucked into the belt of his tunic while he grappled with the Minotaur and thrust it deep into the beast’s neck.
“Ahhhhhhhh…” the creature crumbled to the ground with a loud cry. The Minotaur was dead! Theseus fumbled in the dark for the left over ball of thread. Holding its end, he found his way back to the door where the others were waiting for him. “Quick! Let’s go” he whispered. Princess Ariadne opened the door, looking relieved. “I’m coming with you!” she told Theseus as the group made their way to the ship waiting for them.
“Of course!” replied Theseus, wondering how he would explain this complication when he got back to Athens. They set sail under the cover of darkness.
On their way, they stopped at the island of Naxos where a magical breeze blew which put them all to sleep. In his dream Theseus saw Dionysus come to him and claim Ariadne. She’s my promised bride, he said to him. Theseus awoke from the dream and found the Princess deep in slumber. Without waking her, he set sail again with his people. I don’t want to mess with the gods, he said to himself. So what if Dionysus was just a god of wine?
Overcome by confusion and guilt perhaps, Theseus forgot to change the ship’s black sails to white as he promised his father, in the event of their victory.
King Aegeus who meanwhile waited at a cliff for his son’s return saw the ship come in.
Seeing the black sails, the King assumed his son and the others were dead. Full of grief, he threw himself down to the sea below and was drowned. Was it a punishment for Theseus for leaving Ariadne in the lurch?
In any case, Ariadne found Dionysus on waking up and soon married him and lived happily ever after with him as a goddess.