Terror In the Labyrinth!

Every year, seven young Greek men and seven girls left their city of Athens and never came back. Everybody knew where they went and what happened to them; and everybody knew why they were never seen again.

King Minos of Crete had never made a secret of the fact that they were fed to a hungry monster which he kept in a weird palace of its own. Year after year, the sacrifices went on, and it seemed that nothing could stop them. Minos, it was obvious, had no intention of removing the harsh punishment he inflicted on the Athenians for killing his son out of jealousy after he had beaten them at the Games.

Furious at his son’s murder, Minos had besieged Athens. He called upon Zeus, the king of the gods, to bring a plague down upon the people. When the Athenians pleaded to have the plague removed, Minos set a harsh condition. The disease would go, he said, if the Athenians would send 14 of their fairest young people to his monster each year.

They agreed, and the stern punishment was carried out annually. The Athenians knew that it would not end until the monster died or was killed! But who could kill it?

At this time, Theseus, who was both the son of the king of Athens and of a god, was being brought up by his mother in another town. When he became a young man, he began a journey to Athens to join his father, the king. On the way, he had adventures with bandits and monsters, and it was clear that he was a fighter beyond compare.

However, he did not look the bold and fierce fighter he really was, for he wore a white robe, and his fair hair was carefully arranged. When he reached Athens, a group of workmen building a temple openly laughed at him.

Theseus decided to give them a show of his strength. Picking up a heavy ox-cart, he threw it right over the temple they were building. This silenced their jeers.

More adventures awaited Theseus. Athens was at war, and Theseus fought and beat his father’s enemies. After he had killed a wild bull which was rampaging through part of the country, the ambassadors arrived from Crete for their annual collection of young people to sacrifice to the monster.

Theseus took the place of one of the young men, for he planned to kill the monster and bring the sacrifices to an end. Fortune was on his side when he reached Crete, for he fell in love with King Minos’s daughter, Ariadne, who told him all about the monster.

“It is called the Minotaur,” she said. “It is a horrible creature with a bull’s head, and it only eats human flesh.” The place in which it lived was the Labyrinth where there was such a maze of winding passages that anybody who entered it never found their way out.

“But I know how you can go in and come out again safely,” said Ariadne. At once, Theseus set off for the Labyrinth and found himself in long stone passages with paths branching off on both sides. He could easily have lost his way if Ariadne had not given him a ball of string which he unrolled as he went to make a trail to follow when he was ready to leave.

At last, he came face to face with the fearful Minotaur. There was a terrific battle. But Theseus had skill and strength on his side. He struck one final, powerful blow, and the Minotaur swayed and toppled. It was dead!

Theseus was a hero to all Athens. Never again would the monster feed upon the young people of the city. Theseus left Crete in triumph with Ariadne as his bride!