Cody Stricker
Ms. Windish
English II
22 November 2016
The Story of Theseus and the Minotaur
Locked in a labyrinth, fourteen people were killed by this hideous beast every year. An enraged king seeks vengeance of his son. The story of Theseus and the Minotaur is a story of creation, anger, courage, love, and determination.
The Minotaur is a half bull, half man creature. It is described as a creature with the body of a man, and the head and tail of a bull. It was born from Pasiphae and a bull. The bull was sent to Pasiphae by Zeus. Pasiphae was the wife of King Minos. King Minos was embarrassed of the Minotaur, so he ordered Daedalus to create a huge and complex labyrinth in order to house the Minotaur. Daedalus was an extremely skilled craftsman
(The myth of Theseus and the Minotaur). King Minos’ son, Androgeus, decided he wanted to participate in the Panathenaic Games, so he traveled to Athens, which is where the games were held. While at the games, Androgeus was killed by the same bull that got his mother pregnant (The myth of Theseus and the Minotaur). King Minos was furious that his son was killed, so he forced Aegeus the king of Athens to send in seven men and seven women every year as sacrifices for the Minotaur. The men and women were placed into the labyrinth as food for the Minotaur, and because the labyrinth was so complicated, anyone that entered wasn’t able to find their way out no matter the way they turned (Benson 172). On the third year of sacrifices, a man named Theseus, who was the son of Aegeus, decided to become one of the men sacrificed. Theseus was determined to kill the beastly Minotaur and put an end to the terrible sacrifices King Minos was causing (The myth of Theseus and the Minotaur). Everyone in the group of sacrifices was cold and shivering along with Theseus, but instead of being dressed in black colors and mourning like the others, Theseus was dressed in happy colors because he was confident that he was going to leave the labyrinth victorious (Benson 173). Theseus announced to King Minos that he planned to slay the Minotaur, but King Minos knew that even if Theseus managed to kill the beast, Theseus would still be trapped in the labyrinth. Theseus met Princess Ariadne, daughter of King Minos, who instantly fell in love with him. Princess Ariadne gave Theseus a long thread and told him to use it in order to find his way back out of the labyrinth after he had killed the Minotaur. He would do this by unraveling it behind him as he ventured further and further into the labyrinth (The myth of Theseus and the Minotaur). As Theseus wandered about the labyrinth with the other sacrifices, he was careful not to let the thread catch on any sharp rocks and break. Others in the group were crying and screaming out of fear, but Theseus told them to be quiet so he would know when the beast was approaching. After hours of wandering around, they had finally found the Minotaur. As the group watched from a distance, Theseus dodged the Minotaurs attacks courageously, and the beast was killed. Theseus and the group followed the thread back out of the cave. Theseus had put an end to King Minos’ sacrifices. Creation, anger, courage, love, and determination make up the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. This story teaches us the importance of courage and confidence to succeed. Like Theseus, we should all face our problems confidently and with the thought of success pulling us through.
One of the myths was, Polyphemus was in love with a sea nymph named Galateia, a sicilian nereid who had cheated on him with a man named Acis. When Polyphemus discovered this he crushed Acis under a rock. Another myth was the story of Odysseus. This story was when Polyphemus had captured Odysseus one of victorious greek leaders and twelve of his crew members when they were sailing for home from the trojan war. They became captured when they arrived to an unknown island of cyclopes. Odysseus and his men came upon the cave of Polyphemus, and went inside in hopes to steal food while Polyphemus was away tending his flock. Curiosity got the best of Odysseus as he wanted to see what a cyclops looked like. Odysseus and his men hid in the cave waiting for Polyphemus to come back.
The myth Theseus and the Minotaur’s thematic statement is, taking risks can be unknown and the outcome can be mysterious,
Through a series of unfortunate events Odysseus looses all his ships and crewmen. Odysseus is away from native land for a total of twenty years, however the Odyssey only focuses on the last forty-one days of his voyage home. The rest is told in a series of flashbacks told from various charters. The concept of a hero has been interpreted in many different ways throughout the ages. One literary hero who stands the test of time is Odysseus. This essay will compare and contrast Odysseus and Thor (film).
Theseus is taking on the quest for the fame and fortune and royalty as well as to become the king of Athens
John Updike’s book, The Centaur, has taken the classical myth of Chiron the minotaur and put it into a different setting in the United States. Instead of Olympus, Greece as the setting, Olinger high school in Pennsylvania is used as a parallel. The setting is just one of the many examples of parallels in John Updike’s book, mainly regarding the characters.
In Sophocles’ play, Oedipus, the King, there are various instances where Oedipus tries to escape his destiny—enlightenment—only to discover the truth that he cannot. Similarly, in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” the prisoner travails to understand and adjust to his newly visited environment. In both works, the men first had to realize their ignorance before they could begin to acquire knowledge and true understanding of the complexities of the human condition. Specifically, in Oedipus, the King, it was Oedipus’ illusion of himself as a man unequaled in leadership whereas in “Allegory of the Cave” it was the prisoner’s initial refutations of enlightenment being shown him until he realizes its intellectual, spiritual, and social significance.
Odysseus defeats great monsters with the help of his men and the gods. Homer added Greek mythology to the epic poem because that is the main belief of the people at the time. The people believed that the gods and the fates controlled what happened in their lives. Odysseus’s story reflects this belief. His accomplishments are based on the help of the gods, or what the fates wrote into his life. He defeated the monsters and overcame the struggle because that is what was supposed to happen in his life. Odysseus could make his own choices, but his journey is made easier when he listens to the gods and their
There have been many attempts at formulating a theory that accounts for our intuitions regarding the harm of death. Most theories attempt to account for this intuition by attributing the harm of death to a deprivation of some sort. That is a person is harmed when she dies because she is deprived of some good thing. This paper is a defense of Epicurius's argument regarding death as a response to deprivation theories.
Theseus first displays his heroic nature when he was seven years old. Hercules came home and took of his lion’s skin. Convincing as it looks, Theseus friends ran away. “Theseus quickly grabbed an axe and fiercely attacked it” (244). Theseus was ready to risk his life at the age of seven. Theseus friends were terrified but Theseus showed them that he was fearless. Many thrive to obtain the characteristic of fearless and are willing to do anything to achieve the title. Perseus announces that he has no family wealth for the king but Perseus can offer his service. “I would even kill the terrible Gorgon Medusa”(200). Perseus behead the mortal Gorgon with one slice of his sharp sickle. Perseus risked his life just to prove his loyalty and courage. Theseus is a number of heroic things such as strong, selfless etc. Most importantly he is fearless and continuously is able to display it through his actions. Theseus courageously and fearlessly volunteered himself to kill the Minotaur just like how he killed Marathon. This shows that he’s not afraid to kill anyone. He was admired by many, including the Athenians due to his courage and honour. Theseus was known to defeat extremely difficult
Plato’s Theaetetus is one of the most read and interpreted texts under the subject of philosophy. Within the dialect, many topics and questions are analyzed and brought to light. Leon Pearl is the author of Is Theaetetus Dreaming?, which discusses the positions taken on the topic of ‘dreaming’ and ‘being awake’, which is conferred about within the Theaetetus. Pearl critiques the question: “How can you determine whether at this moment we are sleeping and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake and talking to one another in the waking state” asked by Socrates within Plato’s Theaetetus (Pearl, p.108). Pearl first analyzes the question from the skeptic’s point of view and then proceeds to falsify the skeptic’s argument by his own interpretation, stating that “if a man is awake and believe that he is awake, then this constitutes a sufficient condition for his knowing the he is awake” (Pearl, p.108). Within Pearl’s argument, the conclusion at the end of section II becomes questionable when considering that knowledge and true belief have no distinction in the ‘awake state’ of mind.
Greek mythology is a beloved part of literature that has given humans thousands of stories to tell. From stories about deadly quests, powerful deities, to the even more famed aspect of Greek Mythology, its epic heroes. One of the many authors who took inspiration from Greek Mythology, and will serve as reference for this paper, is Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. 1988. The most well known epic heroes from Greek Mythology which Edith Hamilton writes about in her book are Hercules, Jason, Perseus, and Theseus, but the debate lies in which of these heroes is the best. To which the answer is, Theseus is the better epic hero because he possessed superior strength, intelligence, and courage, he was the most just from all other heroes,
...Journey and examine the heroic parallels between Percy Jackson and the great Greek heroes Perseus, Theseus, and Hercules through a timeless lense.
The tale of Odysseus fraught with different kinds of examples of justice. At one point Odysseus is traveling on his way back to Ithaca with many of his men with very little food and drink. He has the idea to entrap the cattle of the sun god Helios.
Our first introduction to Odysseus really shows that his suffering was internal; that the first time we meet him he is so clearly distraught and saddened. We know him as being this big hero but we see him in tears and fee...
It’s obvious that Eusebius loves Constantine more than Maximin. On pages 291, Eusebius states that “Constantine, an emperor and son of an emperor, a religious man and son of a most religious man, most prudent in every way”. On the other hand when he talks about Maximin he describes as, “more to the wiles of a trickster than to the goodwill of his subjects and could not pluck up courage to go an inch beyond the city gates” (Eusebius 292). Based on Eusebius’ diction, it’s clearly to state that even in his diction, anyone can see the basis towards Constantine. Historical wise, Constantine was more of the people than Maximin. Constantine was the first emperor that stop the persecution of the Christians, and to set liberty to all Christians everywhere.