Reflect back to when you were a child. What did you believe in? The tooth fairy? Magic? When we are young, we are often naïve, thinking anything is possible. Greek myths are full of stories where heroes defeat savage monsters. In one such story, a Greek myth tells of the story where every year seven young men and seven young are sacrificed to the Minotaur. The comes the son of the king, Theseus, who battles the Minotaur, a beast, half man, half bull, to save his kingdom from sacrificing any more young lives. In the dark Labyrinth, Theseus only has a length of yarn that the princess of the island gave him to guide him out when he defeated the Minotaur. After slaying the Minotaur, Theseus escapes Crete along with princess Ariadne. However, the
…show more content…
However, with respect to Ariadne, Some stories claim that he simply forgot about her. Other stories say that he was forced to leave her. Many follow the route of betrayal. Theseus would not have escaped the Labyrinth without the wisdom of Ariadne. However, he simply abandons her on an island right after his success. People focus on the idea that Theseus left Ariadne because he was too afraid to live with a woman who was smarter than he. Theseus may just be a man with a large ego who cannot stand for a woman to be smarter than him. He would not be able to take credit for his success. People are too focused on the story of the hero.
However, Greek myths are not just about heroes, but are about philosophy. Stephen Dobyns provides a new perspective on the myth in his poem Theseus with in the Labyrinth. Rather than the story being one of heroics, he focuses on the one event where Theseus leaves Ariadne on an island. Dobyns contributes an intriguing answer. He utilizes the story to introduce a philosophy about the present and the future. The philosophy that Dobyns provides is about how the future cannot be known. Dobyns writes,
Better to be ignorant, to go into the future as
However, with respect to Ariadne, Some stories claim that he simply forgot about her. Other stories say that he was forced to leave her. Many follow the route of betrayal. Theseus would not have escaped the Labyrinth without the wisdom of Ariadne. However, he simply abandons her on an island right after his success. People focus on the idea that Theseus left Ariadne because he was too afraid to live with a woman who was smarter than he. Theseus may just be a man with a large ego who cannot stand for a woman to be smarter than him. He would not be able to take credit for his success. People are too focused on the story of the hero.
However, Greek myths are not just about heroes, but are about philosophy. Stephen Dobyns provides a new perspective on the myth in his poem Theseus with in the Labyrinth. Rather than the story being one of heroics, he focuses on the one event where Theseus leaves Ariadne on an island. Dobyns contributes an intriguing answer. He utilizes the story to introduce a philosophy about the present and the future. The philosophy that Dobyns provides is about how the future cannot be known. Dobyns writes,
Better to be ignorant, to go into the future as