This is a variation and a twist on the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. It has the idea of the original myth and yet is true to historical facts and a strange twist on the story.

Aegean Son

by Harrison Monsky

I couldn’t believe I was doing this. Here I was on a boat with thirteen other young Athenians like myself. The boat was headed towards Knossos on the very powerful island of Crete, ruled by King Minos. We were to be given to the Minotaur as his dinner, just as our ancestors had long ago, so that the Minotaur wouldn’t growl and destroy the whole island of Crete by creating an earthquake. But I wanted to stop this tradition; I didn’t want Athens to have to pay tribute to Crete every nine years any more. I was going to kill the Minotaur. The Minotaur was a monster, half-bull and half-man, who lived in a labyrinth under Minos’ huge palace. When he was hungry, he growled so loudly that it created an earthquake and could destroy all of Knossos, the most important city on Crete. The people of Crete worshipped the bull. They even had a sport called bull-leaping, which they thought entertaining.

Finally, after a long voyage overseas, we arrived at Knossos. It was night and very dark, and I could only see a blurry outline of the famous palace. We went down countless stairways and many long passageways. We finally came to a large filthy, bare room with one little flickering candle on the floor. The guards left us there and locked the door. I tried to fall asleep, but I couldn’t, and like many others, all I could think about was the big day ahead of us.

The next morning guards took us through the many passageways and staircases we had passed through the night before until we finally found ourselves outside. There, I took my first glance at the great palace of Minos and the house of the Minotaur. It was the most spectacular thing I had ever seen in my life. It was colorful, with brightly painted frescoes and bullhorns all along the top. It must have been five stories tall with many balconies and terraces. It made me feel tiny, weak and powerless. It made me feel like an ant at the foot of a mansion. It had the most beautiful gardens surrounding it with trees and flowers of all kinds. It was confusing just looking at it. There must have been ten ways to get to every room in the palace.

As we started walking away from the palace and along the way to the woods, we all kept looking back at the beautiful palace glittering in the sunlight. We were flabbergasted each time. We soon came to a clearing in the woods where we were told to stay, and of course we stood there in silence, waiting until a little man came. This little man told us that we would be trained to be bull-leapers, entertainers. But what about the Minotaur and the labyrinth? Weren’t we going to be locked in the labyrinth? Just when this thought popped
into my head, the ground started shaking, and we all heard a huge noise. “Eeeaaarth quaaake!” squeaked the little man as hard as he could. Everyone started screaming and panicking. It wasn’t an earthquake; it was the Minotaur! Why hadn’t the little man said it was the Minotaur? I asked him about that later, and he had no idea what I was talking about. It hit me then: there was no Minotaur or labyrinth. It was just a fairy tale, a myth made up by merchants who heard earthquakes and saw the palace. That’s why we were being trained to become bull-leapers. That’s why I had not heard a single word about the labyrinth or the Minotaur. But now, what was I to do? I had to do something. I had been sent to kill the Minotaur and stop Athens from having to pay tribute. I must lie. I must tell the people of Athens that there was a Minotaur and a labyrinth, or else they would think I was worthless, and my father would be humiliated for the remainder of his life. It was bad, but I had to do it, for my father, my poor old father. I was his only hope. I was Athens’ only hope.

The little man explained to us that bull-leaping involved three people. The first must grab onto the bull’s horns. The second person must go behind the bull to catch the third person, who would jump onto the bull and do a back flip before being caught by the second person. It all seemed pointless to me, but Crete obviously found it quite entertaining. If any slight mistake were made, the result could be deadly. The little man said that we had to be perfect, for we were to perform for King Minos and the people of Knossos in the royal palace.

Thereafter, we practiced and practiced using fake bulls. I was to be the person who held onto the bull’s horns. Usually I pulled the horns out of the dummies by accident and was whipped for doing so. I secretly stole the horns anyway and hid them in a dark corner of our filthy room. There were other people of different nationalities there too. Each group or team of bull-leapers practiced with the people from their city. We practiced in the woods nearby the palace. Days, weeks, months went by. People died of sickness from sleeping with rats and being whipped. Finally the little man came back and told us he thought we were ready, ready to perform for the king. We were to perform in the courtyard in the center of the great palace.

The next day we were woken up and told to put on costumes. We were then led to the courtyard, and I, of all people, had butterflies in my stomach. We entered the courtyard; I froze. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen in my life. There were so many people, and they were all cheering. And there sat the king with his beautiful daughter, Ariadne. I looked at her, and she seemed to look at me. She had a sparkle in her eyes like the golden sun, and then I realized what I was to do. I would kidnap Ariadne and bring her back to Athens. I would then send a messenger to tell King Minos that I threatened to kill her if her father ever menaced Athens again with war. I would also bring back the fake horns I had pulled out when I was practicing and say I killed the Minotaur. It was a dirty plan, but it was the only way everything would turn out right.

We put on a good show, and thankfully nobody was killed. There were only a few minor injuries. I decided that when the guard came in to give us our pathetic meals, I would surprise and kill him and take his uniform. Disguised as a guard, I could go anywhere in the palace. I would find Ariadne and take her. She would lead me to the nearest ship and order a crew, and we would be on our way.

Everything turned out the way I had wanted it to, except I didn’t have to threaten Ariadne or Minos. She told me that she loved me and had ever since she had espied me practicing, and she got me one of her father’s ships with a crew. We were out of Crete before the night was over.

Surely enough, the king found out that his daughter was gone with one of his ships, and he took three ships from his fleet in hopes of finding her. He eventually got lost and gave up all faith. The discouraged king turned back, or tried to, and found himself in Athens where he was welcomed by the desperate king, my father, who had lost all hope of seeing his son (me) again. Therefore, when I arrived at the harbor, the old Athenian king didn’t know it was I because the sails were those of Crete, black, and not the white sails of Athens, and the old king threw himself into the sea. King Minos slipped off of the dock in shock at seeing Ariadne and me in his best ship, smiling and holding hands. And so the two enemies died together in grief, and in my grief I became drunk and killed Ariadne. I told people that I had left her on the island of Naxos because she was Dionysus’ bride so that they wouldn’t think badly of me. I never really loved Ariadne, although I pretended that I did. She was my ticket out of that filthy room with one small, flickering candle. I lied to myself and to Ariadne. She was a foolish girl anyway, to think that I loved her and to give up all her riches and joy for me.

In my despair because of all that had happened—lying, grief, death, murder, and fear—I have come to the cliff where my father, in his grief, had jumped. I will do the same.