From hit theMinotaurto flesh out the power of Athens , the Grecian mythological hero Theseus has a lot going for him . But , as " Olympians " author and artist George O’Connor excuse , Theseus is a hard character to like .
" When I was a small fry , when I first got into Greek mythology , Theseus was my guy cable , " O’Connor say . " I ’ve always care the underdog and I felt like Theseus had to struggle and work for what he sire , but then he goes on to do a couple of things that are really operose to accept . "
O’Connor is a New York - establish writer , illustrator and cartoonist , best eff for his 12 - loudness " Olympians " series , which take Greco-Roman renditions of various Greek myths and reiterate them for readers of all ages . While the serial publication allowed him to translate his womb-to-tomb rage for myth into dynamic and relatable form , it did n’t come without its challenges .
" Hellenic mythology deals with a fortune of subject field subject that we would traditionally not deliberate very cool for kids , " O’Connor suppose . " But I also feel like you ca n’t remove the dentition from Hellenic mythology . You do it a ill turn . You might as well not be doing Hellenic mythology . So , in my adaptations , I have very much decided just to put the clobber out there in a very matter of fact direction , without much judgment , but also without being denotative . "
While the " Olympians " serial rarely features profligate , O’Connor say that he made an exception when it total to the telling of classic tale Theseus and the Minotaur . To unwrap why , of row , we really have to dig into the myth itself .
Who Was Theseus?
Theseus was , first and first , the mythological founder - hero of Athens , tied explicitly to the ancient city . He was describe in glowing terms by Athenians to champion their values and power . He is often identify as the Earthly Word of King Aegeus , but he is also the son of the powerful sea god Poseidon . He was raised by his female parent on the island of Sphairia , but his father lead sandals and a steel for the son beneath a swell boulder . When Theseus grew honest-to-goodness , he was able to move the rock’n’roll and find the detail , unveil his purple fortune .
In O’Connor ’s telling of the narrative , this is a key present moment . The young Theseus is able to lift the boulder , get him to suspect his own divine lineage , but the items hidden beneath speak only to mortal kingship . It is the beginning of a life-time define by both entitlement and endless taking hold .
" His whole misstep from there on in is to take as much power as possible , " O’Connor say .
Is Theseus a Hero or a Villain?
When he discovers his connexion to Aegeus , Theseus travel overland to Athens , overcoming six labors in the unconscious process . While these encounters bear all the hallmarks of heroic feat , he also go on to commit less wholesome routine — including kidnappingHelen of Troyas a shaver , so that he might marry her after she matures into the beauty of legend .
But Theseus ' most famous adventure comes in his journey to the island of Crete , where Grecian myth line the tyrannous rule of King Minos , who hides his son , the Poseidon - curse man - bull known as the Minotaur , in a immense subterranean labyrinth . Minos throws Athenean testimonial — human victim — into this labyrinth , to be slaughtered by the monster . When Theseus himself comes in the place of one of the Athenian protection , he sets himself up on a collision track with the mythical creature - military personnel .
Naturally , Theseus surmount the Minotaur — but he does so not through strength and bravery , but through secret knowledge and treachery . It all begin with his seduction of Minos ' girl Ariadne , who is also secretly the Minotar ’s half - baby .
" Theseus shows up and he has the bearing of a god , " O’Connor says . " He ’s beautiful . He ’s passing substantial . He ’s very magniloquent . He take care like an Olympian . He seduces Ariadne and she betrays her family , her acculturation andeverythingby giving him the celebrated string that he use to get out of the internal ear . She also snarf him a weapon in some versions of the fib . Basically , he would n’t have manage to belt down the Minotaur and escape the labyrinth without her . "
Of course , it ’s easy to forgive a little underhanded cunning in the frustration of a colossus — but what Theseus does next is much harder to accept .
" afterwards , Theseus and Ariadne leave Minoa on a ship and he literally just forget about her . They set shore on the island of Naxos and he just forsake her there . This woman gave up everything in her lifespan for him , but he just bury her and goes on ! It end up being a happy story for her , as she eventually meets Dionysus , which is really a step up in my opinion . But yeah , he ’s just a employ - them - and - go out - them type . "
The Minotaur Gets a Bad Rap?
If this were not unsound enough , many later interpretation of the myth depict the Minotaur in a far more sympathetic light . After all , his monstrous state is not the result of his own doing , but Poseidon ’s punishment on Minos for his unwillingness to sacrifice a exceptional white bull . Poseidon cursed Minos ' wife with a monstrous birth and the Minoan labyrinth became the Minotaur ’s prison .
O’Connor says that he doubts the Minotaur ’s sanguinary nature , given that neither bulls nor humans are known for eating people — plus he drew on such aspiration as Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges ' short story " The House of Asterion , " which reiterate the myth from the monster ’s own point of view and utilize his right name : Asterion , which means " the starry one . "
" I love that write up , " O’Connor says . " You do n’t realize that it ’s the Minotaur at first . It takes you a while to envision it out and then Theseus come in and belt down him . There ’s a great line in the story from Theseus that I quote in the book . He demand , ' Can you believe it , Ariadne ? The Minotaur scarce champion himself . ' "
Once more , it ’s knockout to get behind a hero whose most famous adversary can be interpreted as a prisoner who does n’t even campaign back .
O’Connor depict the death of the Minotaur as a bally coming upon , driving home the vehemence of the enactment , and during Theseus ' final embrace with Ariadne , he depicts the hero gazing aside from her , centre already on the next conquest .
But Theseus has one last move of selfishness up his arm . According to the myth , he was teach to run up a lily-white sail as he returned to Athens , to let his father King Aegeus know his struggle against Crete had been successful and he had survived . Instead , he flies a black flag and Aegeus give himself from the castle walls in anguish .
Guess who is king of Athens now ?
" I write him as a scoundrel , " O’Connor says . " I think he ’s a more sinister figure than a desperate one . "
