Greetings everyone and welcome for a new video on Greek mythology.
Today we will be talking about Theseus and the Minotaur, one of the founding myths of greek civilisation
and particularly the founding myths of Athens.
I will tackle about the legend of the ancient times but also the philosophical myths behind this story.
In the anicent times, Minos was the almighty king of Crete.
The island residents and  people living in the area of Aegean Sea feared him
and would not dare to go against his will.
But one day, his two brothers planned to take over the throne from him.
To show everyone his huge power and to put an end to the conspiracy,
King Minos prayed the god of the Sea, Poseidon to grant him a present as emblem of his power.
Fulfilling this wish, Poseidon arised a white bull as wild as beautiful from the foam and the furious waves.
Overwhelmed,
the King did not think then that he would regret this favor later on.
Many years beforehand, Minos got married with the daughter of the Sun,
the beautiful Pasiphaë.
They had several children together and nothing would opposed to the happiness of
the king, the queen the princes and princesses.
But one day, as if by magic,
the queen Pasiphaë got infatuated with the white bull and
gave birth to a monster:  part man and part bull, the Minotaur.
Pasiphaë were under the spell of the 
god of the Sea
because Minos didn't want to sacrifice the white bull.
As a revenge, the god inspired Pasiphaë to fall in love with the bull.
Once the king came to know about this birth, he became furious.
Ashamed, he decided to hide the child.
To do so, Minos asked to his architect, Daedalus, to build a curious palace,
where countless rooms and corridors were intertwined misteriously.
The Minotaur were locked up in this place called: the Labyrinth.
No one could enter or find his way back excepted for the architect.
Mino's power kept on growing.
Athenians had then to submit themself to the authority of this unstable and aggressif king.
Minos, who kept a huge resentment against  this nation,
because of a catastrophe that happened years before,
demanded that 7 girls and 7 boys were handed over every 9 years.
Those people were led to the labyrinth as sacrifice for the Minotaur.
One day, when Athens had to chose the 14 Athenians that should leave for Crete,
a young man, Theseus, volunteered to leave with the victims.
He hoped to kill the monster that was demanding so much sacrifices from Athenians,
as well as shaking the power of Minos
Everyone applauded his bravery and his generosity,
everyone was sure of his success but his father, king Aegeus feared a misfortune.
Before the departure, his loving father
asked Theseus to raise white sails on his way back
so he would know Theseus was safe.
In Crete, Minos and Pasiphaë's children were all grown up.
Ariadne, one of the young princesses,
became delicate and pretty,
inquisitive and benevolent.
At the Athenians arrival,
she mixed herself with the crowd to have a glance at them.
When she saw Theseus passing by, she admired his fine figure and his bravery
Since then, she did all she could to save him.
She asked Daedalus how to get out of the labyrinth.
He was the only one knowing its secrets.
She told Theseus that she could help him
but in exchange he should bring her along with him
after his victory over the Minautor.
Theseus accepted and Ariadne, following Daedalus' advice,
gave him a ball of thread: the famous Ariadne's thread.
The day after, Athenians were led to the labyrinth for the sacrifice.
Theseus hung the thread at the door extremity of the palace
and enrolled it progressively as he was walking into the maze.
Inside it, escorted by the 13 other athenians,
they followed the death rattle of the monster.
Close to the Minotaur's room, Theseus  raised his sword to be ready for the battle.
He pierced the monster from all sides  and nailed him to the floor to kill him.
The fight over, Theseus took back the ball of thread and followed the thread to his way out
followed by the 13 other athenians.
He then went to the princess which helped him a lot
and all rushed to the boat to leave the island of Crete and avoid Minos' wrath.
Theseus and his fellows
stopped at Naxos island.
Ariadne, exausted by the trip, thought about her family, her friends and her country
about all she gave up by following Theseus.
She fell sound asleep
Theseus, taking the advantage of it, left the island of Naxos without her and sailed to Athen.
In a rush, Theseus forget about his promise to his father and didn't raise the white sails.
Aegeus were checking everyday if the boat has arrived.
Seeing the black sails approching, he was overwhelmed by grief.
It was the sign of his son's death.
He jumped off the cliff and drown in the sea, named after him: Aegean Sea.
Theseus remembered his promise and regreted his rush.
His sorrow was immense, however he became the next king of Athens and many other adventures were ahead.
The story of Theseus and the Minautor is a legend
which aim to tell the story of ancient times under fantastic form or allegorical.
In that respect, Minos is son of Zeus, king of gods, and the son of the Phoenician princess Europa
which came to the island of Crete and gave her name to the European continent.
King Minos takes the historical figure that gave its name to the Minoan civilization.
Civilization which rules the Aegean Sea between 2 000 ~1 200 before J-C,
disscovered by the  English archaeologist Arthur Evans.
On the other side, Theseus, son of Aegean or depends on the version, son of Poseidon god of sea.
Theseus, became king of Athens, symbolise the heros of the Mycenaean civilization.
Civilization which takes place between 1 800 ~ 1 200 before J.C
and overtook military the Minoan civilization.
The Mycenaean defeated the Minoan and appropriated their culture.
In that respect, the symbolic fight between Minos and the Minotaur against
Theseus, the Athenian heros, is a symbole telling the past of ancient times,
the past of the Minoan from the island of Crete and the Mycenaean from continental Greece.
In addition, Theseus' story is a myth, a philisophical myth to give an instruction.
Theseus left for adventures with only his faith and bravery to kill the monster,
the chtonian creature hidden inside the labyrinth.
But this creature, is actually himself.
He needs to face his double, his evil part that is hidden into the bowels of the earth
deep down in himself.
He needs to go and to fight it. To face his own fears,
to face his own doubts, to face the devil inside him.
But
the other important message is the Ariadne's thread, the reason's thread.
Because to enter deep down and not turn crazy and to come back to the light,
we need the reason's thread, the vector of salvation
All of the caracters of this story have its own specific mission.
Ariadne is the transforming power that will allow the male heros to accomplish his achievement.
The Minotaur is the underground creature, the demon, the evil
and represent the primitive force of nature.
As for Minos, he is the ancient heros, the ancient king getting old and wish to keep his power at all cost
but will be overtook by the new generation.
Theseus, the principal heros of the story going through the rites of initiation.
He is doing the journey that will fulfill him as a man.
This is why at the end of it he will be able to be king.
He became the king of Athens and the civilising effect of the big city of the Ancient Greek.
He could accomplished it only after his victory over the Minotaur, his victory over his dark side,
to defeat his demons, to dominate it and to surpasse them.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
