Legend of the Minotaur
Minos was the King of Crete. Under his palace, he had
an elaborate maze in which he kept a Minotaur.
To keep Minos from attacking, Athens sent 7 young
men and 7 young women to be fed to the Minotaur at
King Minos’ palace.
• Theseus, son of King Aegeus of Athens, was
determined to kill the Minotaur. Theseus persuaded
King Aegeus to let him go in the place of one of the
victims.
• King Aegeus reluctantly agreed. However, he
had one stipulation for Theseus. If Theseus
survived, he was to change the ship’s black
sails to white. That way, Aegeus would know
from a distance if his beloved son was alive.
• When Theseus arrived at Minos’ palace in Crete, he
met Ariadne, daughter of King Minos. They
immediately fell in love so Ariadne gave Theseus two
important items to kill the Minotaur and return from
the treacherous labyrinth.
• A sword to kill the
Minotaur with and a
ball of yarn so that
Theseus would not lose
his way in the maze.
• Theseus tied one end of the yarn close to the door and
set out to slay the Minotaur in the labyrinth.
• Theseus found the Minotaur in the labyrinth
and killed it. He then used the yarn to find his
way back out.
• As Theseus and Ariadne fled, an earthquake struck
that destroyed Minos’ palace. They barely made it
onto Theseus’ ship.
• Madly in love and thrilled to have killed the
Minotaur, Theseus forgot to change the sails from
black to white. Aegeus, upon seeing the black sail
return, was distraught.
• Aegeus mistakenly thought his beloved son, Theseus,
was dead. Overcome with grief, Aegeus killed
himself by jumping off a cliff.