Comparing Theseus And The Minotar, By Suzanne Collins

There are a lot of stories in the world floating from person to person. One short tale can can give a writer the inspiration for a whole series of novels or movies. Take “Theseus and the Minotaur” and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins for example. The ideas are similar in many ways, The Hunger Games story just modernizes them. In an interview with Suzanne Collins, she told us her inspiration for writing the film. She says, “It’s very much based on the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, which I read when I was eight years old… In her own way, Katniss is a futuristic Theseus. But I didn’t want to do a labyrinth story. So I decided to write basically an updated version of the Roman gladiator games.” The Hunger Games retells the myth of “Theseus and the Minotaur” by expressing fake love, portraying the main characters as heroic figures, and using the archetypal example of fire.

In the story “Theseus and the Minotaur”, Theseus is being captured against his will and was almost destined to die.

He is taken as food for the Minotaur, the creature with the body of a man and the head of a bull, that lived underneath the king’s palace. Day after day passed until it was his turn to be the monstrous creature’s dinner. Instead of accepting that he was destined to die, Theseus decided that he was not going down without a fight. A similar situation occurred in The Hunger Games where Katniss Everdeen is being taken to be part of a massive killing party. She could have given up, but instead she decided to persevere and win the war for her little sister back at

home.
In “Theseus and the Minotaur” , the first thing that popped into Theseus’ mind was to make the King’s daughter fond of him. He hoped that she would fall in love with him and help him to kill the Minotaur and survive. His wish came true and the daughter of the king, Ariadne, helped him with his mission. Though her heart is broken when she discovered that he had only used her and their love was not real. The myth of “Theseus and the Minotaur” states, “ ‘ Sister of a bull, ponder this as you wander the coast of Naxos, bellowing and blaring. I never loved you. I never ever loved you, and now I am free to forget you.’ The wind filled the sails, the prow of the ship sliced through the waves, and Theseus was gone” (2-3). This quote shows how Theseus used Ariadne to save himself. He led her to believe that he was in love with him, and then dropped her once the mission was over. Almost the same exact situation occurs in The Hunger Games. Katniss Everdeen shows fake love towards Peeta Mellark to rescue herself from the penalty of death. To gain sponsors, Katniss pretended to love Peeta in a way that everyone believed. The sponsors would send them medication and healing supplements to keep them alive. After Katniss and Peeta returned to district twelve, she decides to continue leading him on. Eventually Peeta will find out and Katniss may leave him. The storylines of The Hunger Games and “Theseus and the Minotaur” are very similar in the way that fake love is portrayed.
In the myth of “Theseus and the Minotaur”, Theseus is portrayed as a heroic figure.