Chapter 4 The Tale of Theseus-4

Theseus became prince and heir to the throne.His first achievement was to kill fifty sons of his uncle Pallas.They have been coveting the throne for a long time, and now they are very annoyed at this foreigner who came suddenly, because he will not only govern the country, but also dominate them in the future. The 50 sons got the weapons and set up an ambush to attack Theseus.But their messenger, also a stranger, reported the conspiracy to Theseus.Immediately Theseus rushed to their ambush and killed fifty men.In order not to make this self-defense killing arouse the disgust of the people, he immediately went out and did an adventure that was beneficial to the people: subduing the marathon bison.This bison was originally captured from Crete by Hercules, and later released by the order of Eurystheus. It ran rampant in the four villages of Attica and endangered the people.Theseus caught the bison and brought it back to Athens for people to watch, and later slaughtered it and sacrificed it to Apollo, the sun god.

At this time, King Minos of Crete had sent envoys three times to ask for tribute.The situation is this: Androgeus, the son of Minos, was conspired to kill him in Attica.Minos raised an army to avenge his son and caused great disasters to the residents there. The gods also caused drought and plague there, making the place a desolation.So the Temple of Apollo issued an oracle: If the Athenians can quell Minos's resentment and obtain his understanding, then the disaster in Athens and the anger of the gods will be relieved immediately.The Athenians begged Minos for peace and promised to send seven pairs of virgins and virgins to Crete every nine years as a tribute.After Minos received the boys and girls, he imprisoned them in the famous Cretan labyrinth, and then killed them by the ugly half-man, half-bull monster Minotaur.Now it's time for the third tribute.Boys and girls faced a terrible and cruel fate.Their parents complained that Aegeus was the bane of disasters, saying that he had let an illegitimate son inherit the throne, but he was indifferent to other people's children and let them be slaughtered.The complaints reached Theseus' ears, which made his heart ache.When everyone was assembled, he stood up resolutely and announced that he was willing to go without drawing lots. The Athenians praised his bravery and selflessness.When Aegeus heard about it, he rushed over and asked him to change his mind repeatedly, but Theseus was firm and determined. He comforted his father and promised that he would be able to subdue the Minotaur and prevent other virgins got damage.In the past, ships with virgin boys and girls sailed to Crete with black sails.Now Aegeus heard his son's proud speech, and gave the helmsman a white sail.He ordered that if Theseus returned safely, the black sails on the ship should be replaced with white sails, otherwise, the black flag would still hang to indicate failure.

After the lottery, the young Theseus first came to the Temple of Apollo with the boys and girls who had been drawn, and offered an olive branch wrapped with white wool to God Apollo in the name of everyone as a gift for protection.Then they came to the sea together again, and boarded the sad ship.The oracle at Delphi had told him that he should choose the goddess of love as his guide.Although Theseus didn't understand what this meant, he still made a sacrifice to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and it turned out to be effective.Because when Theseus arrived in Crete and was brought before King Minos, this youthful and beautiful man won the favor of the king's charming daughter Ariadne, and she secretly confided to Theseus He expressed his love for him, and gave him a ball of thread, and taught him to tie one end of the ball to the entrance of the labyrinth, and then follow the rolling ball of thread until he reached the dwelling of the ugly Minotaur.In addition, she gave Theseus a sword with which to slay the Minotaur.

Minos sent Theseus and others into the labyrinth.Theseus went ahead.He defeated the Minotaur with two treasures, and luckily got out of the maze along the ball of thread with the boys and girls.When they came out, Ariadne fled with them. Following her advice, Theseus dug all the bottoms of the Cretan ships so that Minos could not pursue them.After boarding the boat, they thought it was all right, so they took the boat to Dia Island without any worries.The island was later called Naxos.Theseus suddenly saw Bacchus in a dream.Dionysus claimed that Ariadne had been engaged to him long ago, and he threatened Theseus with disaster if he did not keep Ariadne.

Theseus grew up with his grandfather, who warned the earth to fear the gods, so he was afraid that the gods would be angry with him, so he had to leave the sad princess on the desolate island and go back by boat.That night, Bacchus, the god of wine, brought Ariadne to Mount Drivos.When he reached the mountain, he disappeared without a trace, and soon Ariadne also disappeared. Theseus and his entourage were very sad and depressed because of the loss of the girl Ariadne, so they forgot that the black sails were still on the ship, and they did not change the white sails.The ship sailed quickly towards the home coast with a sad sign.Aegeus was looking up at the coast, when he suddenly saw a ship with black sails sailing in the distance, and thought his son was dead.Desperate, he jumped into the sea and drowned.Later, in memory of him, the sea was called Ego Sea (Aegean Sea).

After a while, Theseus led the crowd to land.He offered sacrifices to the gods on the coast, and sent a messenger to the city to tell everyone that the boys and girls had been rescued.He saw that some greeted him with joy, while others were immersed in infinite sorrow.He couldn't figure out what the hell was going on.At this time, the news of the king's death gradually spread.When the messenger heard the news, he returned to the seashore. He saw Theseus offering sacrifices in the temple, so he stood silently outside the door, lest the sad news disturb the sacred ceremony.After pouring out the sacrifice, he told Theseus the news of King Aegeus' death.Theseus suddenly fainted on the ground.