labyrinth - Scarlet Theatre

Section 5 - The story of the labyrinth
worried that if he disobeyed he would be attacked and the terrible
horns of battle would sound in his peaceful palace. So every year he
sent seven men and women of Athens to their deaths at the heart of
the beast’s lair.
One year, Aegeus’ son, the merciless and proud Theseus, heard that
his father was selecting Athenians to send to the Minotaur’s labyrinth.
Theseus was outraged that his father had continued to pay this
sacrifice to Minos year after year. He begged his father to let him go
with the young people, and promised that he would return with them
all alive and well.
Fathers are usually reluctant to send their sons into the lair of a
monster, and Aegeus was no exception. He grumbled and sighed but
eventually Theseus had his way, and his father grudgingly allowed
him to join the group of young Athenians headed for Crete.
Down on the shore, just as Theseus was about to set sail, Aegeus
made him promise to change the sail of his boat to pure white canvas
if all had gone well. If the boat returned clothed in its usual black,
Aegeus would know that his son had died.
When Theseus and the troop of young Athenians arrived in Crete,
they were greeted by Minos and his young daughter Ariadne.
Immediately, there was a bolt of electricity between the handsome
young Theseus and Minos’ beautiful, saffron haired daughter. They
were unable to tear their eyes from the other’s gaze. All the time
Minos was barking out his bitter commands, Theseus’ mind was
closed to everything but the wonder of Ariadne.
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That night, the Athenians were due to be sent into the labyrinth to
meet their grim fate. But Ariadne was not going to relinquish her love
on the very same day that it had begun, so she stole into Theseus’
chamber and instructed him carefully: he was to take a ball of string
into the labyrinth, and the sharpest of swords. Can you guess what
the string was for? To unweave the puzzle that the labyrinth would
wind around him and find his way out safely. And the sword? To kill
the vicious Minotaur of course.
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