Theseus and the Minotaur

by Graeme Davis

  Euripides also wrote a lost play titled Theseus, and Theseus is mentioned in his tragedy Heracles, when Hercules recounts his adventures in the Underworld.

  The Athenian playwright Sophocles wrote lost plays on both Theseus and Phaedra. (The Print Collector / Alamy)

  Sophocles

  A contemporary of Euripides (though some say he wrote earlier), Sophocles is best known today for his so-called Theban plays, a trilogy that tells the story of the doomed King Oedipus of Thebes. Theseus plays a role in the second play, Oedipus at Colonus, appearing as the king of Athens to offer refuge to Oedipus and his daughter Antigone. Sophocles also wrote plays titled Theseus and Phaedra, both of which survive only in fragments.

  Oedipus at Colonus by Fulchran-Jean Harriet from 1798, now held in the Cleveland Museum of Art. After blinding himself, Oedipus wandered Greece led by his daughter Antigone. Theseus plays a minor role in Sophocles’ play about Oedipus.

  Ovid

  The first-century Roman poet Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) referred to Theseus in two of his most famous works. The Metamorphoses, which showed Theseus and Pirithous in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar, has been mentioned. The Heroides (“Heroines”) is a series of 15 poems that take the form of letters written by various women from Greek and Roman mythology to their lovers. Two of the poems refer to the story of Theseus.

  In the fourth poem, Phaedra confesses her illicit love to Hippolytus, begging him to “acknowledge the favor I give you and conquer your hard heart.” Phaedra offers Hippolytus all of Crete as her dowry and mentions Pasiphae’s passion for the bull, saying “will you be more savage than that wild bull?” Although Phaedra acknowledges that her love for Hippolytus is wrong, she confesses that she is helpless before her passion.

  The tenth poem is addressed by Ariadne to Theseus after he has abandoned her on Naxos. She expresses her dismay at his abandonment and wishes that she had never helped Theseus defeat the Minotaur, begging Theseus to come back for her.

  Seneca

  Phaedra, by the first-century Roman writer Seneca the Younger, is thought to draw upon Sophocles’ lost play as well as other sources, including the lost Greek playwright Lycophron and the poetry of Ovid.

  Theseus is missing in the Underworld, and it seems that he may never return. Phaedra is once again a slave to her passions rather than the unlucky victim of divine jealousy. Instead of committing suicide before Hippolytus’ death, Phaedra lives long enough to berate Theseus for cursing his son, reveal her deception, and fall upon a sword.

  A modern adaptation of Seneca’s play, Phaedra’s Love by British playwright Sarah Kane, was first performed in 1996 at London’s Gate Theatre. This version focuses on Hippolytus, making him lazy and cynical rather than unbendingly moral.

  The Minotaur seen by Virgil and Dante in Hell by Gustave Doré.

  Later Retellings

  Historians agree that we will never know how much Classical science and literature were lost following the collapse of the Roman Empire. From the Middle Ages onward, writers took pieces of the Theseus myth from the surviving Classical sources and adapted it for their own times.

  Boccaccio, Chaucer, and Shakespeare

  The 14th-century Florentine poet Giovanni Boccaccio is best known for his Decameron, a collection of tales illustrating life in Renaissance Italy. He also wrote a 12-book epic poem titled Teseida delle Nozze d’Emilia (“The Theseid, Concerning the Nuptials of Emilia”). Although the poem’s stated subject is the life and career of Theseus, the main narrative concerns the rivalry between two cousins, Palemone and Arcita, for the love of Emilia, who is the younger sister of the Amazon queen Hippolyta.

  Chaucer used the same story in The Knight’s Tale, the first of his renowned Canterbury Tales, and Shakespeare (now agreed to have been working with John Fletcher) also used it in his late play The Two Noble Kinsmen.

  Theseus also appears, as a fairly minor character, in Shakespeare’s better-known play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which is set around his wedding to Hippolyta.

  Dante

  In Book 9 of the Inferno, Dante refers to the adventures of Theseus and Pirithous in the Underworld, listing them among the mortals who have come this way before. Dante and Virgil encounter the Furies, who mention how they spared Theseus and threaten to summon Medusa to turn the poet to stone. Pirithous, who remained in the Underworld, is neither seen nor mentioned.

  Jean Racine

  Jean Racine (1639–99) was a contemporary of Molière and is regarded today as one of France’s greatest tragic playwrights. He had written plays on several Classical subjects before he turned to Phaedra in 1677.

  Racine’s plot is more complex than those of his predecessors. Theseus is missing and presumed dead. Phaedra is under pressure to secure the succession to the throne of Athens by forming an alliance with his son Hippolytus. This would allow her to declare the secret and obsessive love she has long held for her stepson, which has slowly driven her to the brink of hysteria. Hippolytus, far from being a cold, chaste devotee of Artemis, is secretly in love with a princess from a dynasty that Theseus supplanted, who has been placed under a vow of chastity against her will.

  Phaedra tries to sabotage their love, but without success. She obtains Hippolytus’ sword and when Theseus unexpectedly returns, its presence in her chamber is claimed as evidence of rape. Theseus banishes Hippolytus, who flees to the side of his princess. Theseus, witnessing their tenderness, begins to doubt his son’s guilt, but is too late to prevent the curse from taking its fatal effect. Phaedra confesses all before taking poison, and a remorseful Theseus adopts his dead son’s beloved as his own daughter.

  The 20th Century

  After Racine, there were few significant retellings of the Theseus myth in English until the middle of the 20th century, although the subject continued to be popular with artists and sculptors, as will be seem from many of the illustrations in this book.

  Literary Retellings

  Mary Renault’s The King Must Die (1958) and its sequel The Bull from the Sea (1962) remain in print today. Renault retells the myth in a very matter-of-fact style, setting it in a realistic version of the Bronze Age Mediterranean with all of the myth’s fantastic elements explained. Thus, for example, the sacrifice to the Minotaur is actually the famed Cretan bull-dance, the Minotaur itself is a man wearing a ritual mask, and the Centaurs are a wholly human tribe who live very closely with their horses. Like Renault’s books on Alexander the Great, Socrates, and Plato, this is very well-researched and well-reasoned historical fiction. The first volume covers Theseus’ career up to his return to Athens, while the second follows his friendship with Pirithous, his relationship with Hippolyta, and his marriage to Phaedra.

  “Tribute to the Minotaur,” from an American political cartoon (Library of Congress)

  Several other retellings have followed Renault’s, both literary and cinematic. Steven Pressfield’s Last of the Amazons (2002) focuses on the conflict between the growing Greek civilization and the steppe-dwelling Amazon horse-clans. The book was optioned by Hollywood director James Cameron, but no movie version has yet appeared. British actor and TV presenter Tony Robinson, best known as Baldrick in the Blackadder series, wrote a children’s retelling of the Minotaur story with Blackadder co-creator Richard Curtis in 1998, under the title Theseus – The King Who Killed the Minotaur.

  One of the most interesting 20th-century adaptations of the myth was “The House of Asterion,” a short story by famous Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges, which was first published in 1947. Borges gives the Minotaur’s point of view, depicting him as isolated and longing for a “redeemer” who will free him from his life.

  The myth of Theseus and the Minotaur continues to inspire modern writers. Suzanne Collins, the author of the best-selling Hunger Games trilogy, is quoted as saying that the story of Minos’ demand for Athenian children as hostages, combined with the images of Roman gladiatorial games and modern reality television, gave her the initial idea for the series. The Minotaur also
appears in the book and movie versions of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, where it is slain by the eponymous hero.

  Movies and Television

  One of the earliest movie versions of the story was Teseo contro il minotauro (“Theseus vs. the Minotaur”), a low-budget Italian movie released in 1960 and available in English under the titles Warlord of Crete and Minotaur: Wild Beast of Crete. Directed by Silvio Amadio and starring American actor and former athlete Bob Mathias as Theseus, the film was standard Italian sword-and-sandal fare, comparable to the Steve Reeves Hercules movies that were popular at that time.

  However, this was not the first movie treatment of Theseus. A 1910 Vitagraph silent picture titled The Minotaur is now apparently lost, but the Gettysburg Times of September 21 that year mentions a showing at the town’s Walter Theater. The paper’s plot summary, which was printed entirely without punctuation, reads “Theseus a young Greek brought up in obscurity by his mother proves his strength and departs for Athens to meet his father the king.”

  The Minotaur was seen very infrequently between 1960 and 1990. Donald Pleasance and Peter Cushing starred in the 1976 movie The Devil’s Men, which featured a Minotaur cult kidnapping young women for sacrifice. The same year, the Scooby-Doo gang defeated it in an episode titled Lock the Door, It’s a Minotaur! A similar encounter took place in 1983 in the episode Scooby and the Minotaur. In 1979, the legend served as the basis for the Doctor Who serial, The Horns of the Nimon, the Nimon themselves being giant humanoids with bull heads.

  Henry Cavill as Theseus in the 2011 film Immortals. (AF archive / Alamy)

  The advent of computer-generated visual effects gave the Minotaur a new lease of life on screen. Between 1990 and 2013, the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com) lists more than 20 movies and TV episodes featuring Theseus, the Minotaur, or both. The Minotaur faces a bewildering array of foes including Sinbad (three times), Hercules (both the Disney and Kevin Sorbo versions), the Beastmaster, modern teens who happen to be descended from Greek gods, and even a band of misfit toys called the Raggy Dolls.

  Theseus’ kidnapping of Helen is retold in the 2003 miniseries Helen of Troy; in this version, Theseus is killed by Pollux and Helen is returned to Sparta. Theseus also appears in the 2011 movie Immortals, which rewrites the myth to include the evil King Hyperion of Heraklion (a modern Cretan city close to the site of Knossos) who is searching for a powerful divine weapon that he intends to use against the gods. Phaedra is featured as a virgin prophetess who assists Theseus and eventually falls in love with him; the Minotaur is one of Hyperion’s minions and is slain by Theseus. The sought-after weapon is found embedded in a rock, echoing Theseus’ recovery of his father’s sword.

  A movie titled Theseus is said to be in production and scheduled for a 2014 release, but no further details were available at the time of writing.

  Games

  Since the first edition of Dungeons & Dragons was published in 1974, Minotaurs (usually treated as a race rather than a single, unique creature) have been a common foe in fantasy games. Most games treat them as little more than bull-headed ogres; their origins are seldom explained, beyond rumors of vengeful or bestial deities. In Games Workshop’s Warhammer fantasy setting, Minotaurs are larger and more powerful versions of the goat-like Beastmen whose bodies have been warped by the Ruinous Powers of Chaos.

  Minotaurs receive a very similar treatment in most video games. They tend to be a mid-ranking enemy with great strength and toughness but only average intelligence. Where Minotaur culture is portrayed, it tends to be a warrior society similar to those of fantasy barbarians, where status is based almost entirely on fighting prowess.

  Like tabletop fantasy games, most video games do not show Minotaurs in their legendary context. One interesting exception is Sony’s God of War series, which is set in a world inspired by Greek myth. Although they are a race rather than a unique creature, the Minotaurs favor axes, recalling the other major symbol of Minoan culture. The series features many different breeds of Minotaurs, with varying strengths and special powers. In God of War II (2007), the game’s hero Kratos fights a duel with Theseus to determine who is the greatest warrior in all Greece.

  In God of War III (2010), Kratos enters the Underworld and encounters Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Aeacus (who is substituted in some myths for Minos’ second brother Sarpedon) in their roles as judges of the dead. In the Underworld he comes across the imprisoned Pirithous (the game uses the alternate spelling Pierithous). Kratos also encounters Daedalus, who is imprisoned in the Labyrinth.

  A great many other video games have used the imagery of the Minotaur. The massive multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft features a Minotaur race called the Tauren, peaceful hunters who worship the Earthmother, the goddess of nature. True to their bullish appearance, they are fierce fighters when roused to anger. World of Warcraft’s main competitor, Everquest, features more traditional Minotaurs who are clannish warriors following a variety of evil masters. Kabam’s Dragons of Atlantis features Minotaur troops in both its web and mobile versions.

  The Minotaur Brand

  The Minotaur’s powerful image has ensured it a place in popular culture. Its name can be found on products from a rugged mountain bike through a range of gun holsters to a military engineering vehicle, a sports car, a launch rocket, and an antitank mine. The name has also been adopted by American professional wrestler Steve DiSalvo and Brazilian mixed martial artist Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira.

  HMS Minotaur. Launched in 1863, this Royal Navy ironclad was the third of six British ships to bear that name. The name HMS Theseus has been used only three times.

  Britain’s Royal Navy has had no fewer than six ships named HMS Minotaur. The first was a 74-gun ship of the line launched in 1793 that fought under Nelson at the Nile and Trafalgar; the most recent was a cruiser (which gave its name to a class of similar cruisers) launched in 1943. The US Navy’s USS Minotaur served in World War II and Korea as a specialized vessel for the repair of landing craft.

  Theseus has given his name to three Royal Navy ships. One, like the first HMS Minotaur, was a 74-gun ship of the line and served at the Battle of the Nile. The second, launched in 1892, was a cruiser that served in World War I. The third and last HMS Theseus was a light aircraft carrier launched in 1944, which went on to serve in the Korean War and the Suez crisis of 1956 before being scrapped in 1962. The Bristol Theseus turboprop engine was tested in 1947 but was never developed commercially, being superseded by the more powerful Proteus.

  On this evidence, the Minotaur seems to have won the battle of the brands quite decisively. Theseus is known as the hero who slew the Minotaur, but the Minotaur is much more than just another of Theseus’ foes. It has spawned whole fantasy races, and moved on to more famous opponents such as Hercules and Sinbad.

  CONCLUSION

  While Theseus had the mix of divine and royal blood that all Greek heroes required, it might be argued that there is little that sets him apart from the others. Although he began his heroic career by lifting a great stone, he was not as strong as Hercules. Although he tricked Periphetes out of his club, he was not as cunning as Odysseus. Although he overcame many enemies in battle, he was not as invincible as Achilles. When he ventured into the Underworld, it was for a baser reason than Orpheus. And although his later life was marked by tragedy, he was not as extravagantly doomed as Oedipus.

  Even though Theseus overcame many dangerous foes in his career, they were almost always more colorful than he was. The bandits he encountered on the road to Athens were memorable, each with his own particular form of murder, like prototype supervillains. The Minotaur, whose killing marked the pinnacle of Theseus’ career, was – and remains – a truly iconic monster.

  A Minotaur from the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. (AF archive / Alamy)

  Even Theseus’ acts as king of Athens tell us little about his personality. Although Plutarch writes about his social and poli
tical reforms in great detail, they seem like little more than the mythic retrofitting of the necessary steps for creating a democratic regional power. Of all the tales of Theseus, this is the most obvious Athenian propaganda, invoking the memory of the city’s great hero to add luster to the political and social principles that the city espoused.

  Yet it is still possible to reconstruct something of Theseus the man by a careful reading of the myths. Setting aside thoughts of his myth as an allegory constructed by later Athenians and taking the hero himself at face value, Theseus emerges as a vivid and very human character.

  His early adventures show a young man who is aware of the responsibilities of a hero. He makes a vital land route safe for travelers, removes a menace from the plain of Marathon, and leads the defense of his father’s city against a dangerous and cunning foe. This sense of responsibility also shows in his willingness to confront the Minotaur.

  Theseus’ civic reforms as king of Athens show the same devotion to duty, coupled with a belief in Athens’ destiny both as a regional power and as a budding democracy. When he appears in the stories of others as king of Athens, he is always shown as a just and compassionate ruler. Few kings of the time would willingly step down rather than enjoying the fruits of rulership, and while Theseus was not afraid to use his royal power, we sense that he did not use it for his own gain.