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.