![]() ![]() Instead, he had grown up unaware of his ancestry in his mother’s home city of Troezen.Īthenian legend said that King Aegeus had no children and was anxious over who would inherit his kingdom upon his death. Theseus was the son of the Athenian king, Aegeus, but he had not been raised in that city. It was one of these young men who would defeat the Minotaur, but he was not an ordinary sacrificial victim. Needing to feed the cannibalistic beast, the king demanded the sacrifices of young men and women of Athens. The Minotaur, the legendary bull-headed monster of Crete, had been imprisoned in the Labyrinth by King Minos. The dual parentage of Theseus shows both the mythological and historic meaning behind the legend of the Minotaur. The young hero was not just the child of King Aegeus, but was also considered a son of Poseidon. Already making a name for himself as a monster slayer, Theseus had travelled from Troezen to take his place as heir. The young prince had not been born in Athens and had only recently arrived in his father’s city. Theseus, however, had his own complicated relationship with the city of Athens. ![]() The king of Athens himself could not end the barbaric practice, but his son vowed to kill the monster and protect the youths of the city. To keep the man-eating beast fed, King Minos demanded young men and women be sacrificed from the conquered city of Athens. The Minotaur was a monstrous man with the head of a bull who was imprisoned in the famous Labyrinth of Crete. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |