Theseus and the Minotaur

Queen Pasiphae slept with a bull sent by Zeus, and gave birth to Minotaur, a creature half man — half bull. King Minos was embarrassed by this, but he did not want to kill the Minotaur, so he put the Minotaur in the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth was a very large building that was constructed by Daedalus.

King Minos imprisoned his enemies in the Labyrinth so that the Minotaur could eat them. The labyrinth was such a complicated construction that no one could ever find the way out alive.

Androgeus, Son of Minos, participated in the Panathenaic Games, but he was killed during the Marathon by the bull that impregnated his mother Pasiphae. Minos was obviously infuriated by this, so he demanded that the king of Athens sends 7 men and women every year to be eaten by the Minotaur in the Labyrinth.

On the third year of this tradition, Theseus, Son of Aegeus decided that he wanted to be one of the seven men that were sent of to the Labyrinth. Theseus was confident that he could kill the Minotaur and end the suffering for the future human sacrifices.

Theseus promised his father that he would put up white sails coming back from Crete, allowing him to know in advance that he was coming back alive. The boat would return with the black sails if Theseus was killed.

Theseus traveled to Crete ant told King Minos that he was going to slay the Minotaur.

When Theseus was in Crete, he met Princess Ariadne, Daughter of King Minos. Princess Ariadne Fell madly in love with Theseus so she decided to help Theseus on his journey through the Labyrinth. Princess Ariadne gave Theseus a ball of thread to unravel as he goes through the Labyrinth, so that once he kills the Minotaur, he knows his way out.

Theseus brings the thread into the Labyrinth and manages to kill the Minotaur. He follows the thread back to the entrance and saves all of the people with him. Theseus decides to take Princess Ariadne, and they sailed away from Crete with immense amounts of joy.

Theseus was so distracted by the celebrations that he forgot to put up the sails, that communicated to his father that he was safe. King Aegeus was waiting at Cape Sounion to see the sails of the boat. He saw the black sails from afar and presumed his son was dead. He dropped himself to the waters, committing suicide and since then, this sea is called the Aegean Sea.