drawing
by picasso
Theseus promptly entered the maze, unwinding his guiding thread as he went. Eventually, he found himself in a wide clearing in the center of the maze. There was the monster - an enormous, ugly, deadly creature - and as soon as Theseus approached, the Minotaur leapt up and charged him. With one stroke, Theseus plunged his sword into the massive beast's chest - and brought him screaming to his knees. In seconds, Theseus finished him off.
Theseus followed the golden thread back to the entrance of the Labyrinth, where he found Ariadne and the others waiting for him. They raced off for their ship and safety.
We wish the story ended here...but like all good myths, this one cannot be permitted a hero's ending.
Ariadne died suddenly and inexplicably on the return trip. Theseus was so stricken by her untimely passage that he forgot to fly the white sails as he approached Athens...and when King Aegeus saw the black sails, he committed suicide before the ship reached the harbor. So in the end, despite Theseus' great triumph in Crete, he arrived home a saddened and changed man. He became king of Athens and maintained a kingdom based on fair practices and goodness until the end of his days.
