Theseus Meets His Father

By the time that Theseus arrived in Athens, his father, King Aegeus, had heard of the young hero who had killed the giants and made the road safe for travelers. The king sent a servant to find the young hero and invite him to the castle. Once found, Theseus accepted the invitation and followed the servant into the castle's main hall.

Theseus saw his father from the far end of the hall and was at once filled with great love for the old man. He walked up to the king bravely, pulled out his sword, took off his shoes, and put them down at the king's feet. When the king looked down and saw these things, his heart filled with joy and his eyes filled with tears. To the surprise of all of his guards and servants, he stood up and put his arms around the young man.

With tears running down his face Aegeus said, "Son, you have finally returned to me. I have waited for sixteen years to see you again, and now I see that you have become a great hero. You will live here with me now and will one day become king yourself."

Indeed, both father and son were very happy that day and lived for many months together. All went well until one morning the young prince woke up to find his father very upset and many of the castle servants crying.

"What's wrong, dear father? Why are you so sad?" he asked.

"Oh, my son, the soldiers from Crete have arrived. They have come to collect seven of our young men and women and take them away."

"Where will they take them?" asked Theseus.

"There is a terrible monster that lives in Crete called the Minotaur—he is a giant man with the head of a bull. Long ago, King Minos of Crete put the Minotaur in a huge maze called the labyrinth. This maze is so large and difficult that no one who enters can ever find their way out. Every nine years King Minos sends men to Athens to collect young men and women to feed to the Minotaur."

"But why must we give the Minotaur our people? Why doesn't King Minos kill his own people instead?" Theseus asked angrily.

Aegeus hung his head sadly. "You see, Theseus, many years ago, we hosted some games to test the athletic ability of young men in the land. Among the athletes who participated in those games was the eldest son of king Minos of Crete, Androgeus.

"Androgeus won many of the events, but the next day he was found murdered. Minos believed that we, the Athenians, had killed his son and demanded that every nine years we send him seven men and seven women, at the age that his son had been, to be fed to the Minotaur. This was to be the payment for his son's murder.

"When I refused to send our young men and women, King Minos started a war with Athens and, because his army was stronger, we were defeated. So I had no choice. I had to agree to send our people to the Minotaur."

Theseus learned that this was the third time that the Cretans had come for a collection, and the Athenians were all very unhappy. Every man with a teen-aged son or daughter had to draw a number out of a box to determine who would lose his child. Many people were angry because King Aegeus would not send his own son as a sacrifice. They believed that he was the cause of all their trouble.

Theseus understood the people's anger, so he offered to go to Crete as one of the young people for the Minotaur. All the people of Athens admired the young man for this act. His father tried to change his mind, but the young hero was determined.

"Do not fear, father," Theseus said, "I will kill this monster and Athens will no longer have to send its young men and women to Crete."

"Be very careful, my son, if you die I will not be able to live myself," said Aegeus. "Promise me one thing. When you return from Crete, hang white sails on the ship so that I will know that you are victorious."

"I promise, father," said the young hero.

The ship had black sails while taking the young people to Crete to show the sadness of the task. King Aegeus gave the sailors white sails and ordered them to use the white sails on the return journey, instead of the black ones, if Theseus succeeded in killing the Minotaur.

When the ship arrived in Crete, King Minos ordered that the young men and women stand in a line in front of him. When he saw that one of the young women was very beautiful, he made rude advances and said that she could live if she became one of his wives. Theseus jumped to defend the girl and said that no Athenian would marry a man of Crete. This made the king angry, and he stared at the young man with red eyes. He then took a ring off his finger and threw it into the sea.

The king spoke coldly to Theseus. "If you find my ring, I will set this woman free. If not, then I will take her as my bride and do whatever I want with her."

Theseus jumped instantly into the sea and disappeared for many minutes. Just when King Minos believed that he was dead, Theseus' head appeared above the water. He returned to the beach carrying the king's ring in his hand. The king was both angry and surprised to see this. He was afraid that Theseus was some kind of god come to punish him. Because of his fear, he decided to keep his promise and let the girl go. He then ordered his soldiers to bring the rest of the young people, including Theseus, to the palace.

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