drawing
by picasso
Theseus and the Minetor...um, Minotaur
Long, long ago, back when togas were fashionable the first time around, the city of Athens lived under the weight of a terrible debt. This was not a simple monetary deficit - it was a debt to King Minos of Crete, whose son was killed there when he competed in the annual athletic games.
King Minos took out his revenge in the way powerful and terrible people could in ancient times. He demanded that seven young men and seven young women from Athens come to Crete once every nine years. There these innocents would be devoured by the Minotaur - a frightful monster that was half man, half bull.
Theseus, the grown son of King Aegeus of Athens, knew that his day had come to be one of the fourteen hostages who would make the fateful journey to Crete. But he swore that he would not die at the jaws of the Minotaur. "I will kill him!" he told the others. They did not believe him, but they were impressed with his courage and resolve.
