He exists solely for glory, but as soon as he earns one trophy, he gets bored and goes off seeking others. She portrays Theseus as a man of physical presence and fearlessness utterly lacking in empathy or any feeling other than a thirst for adoration. But Saint, as her title declares, focuses on the women-not just Ariadne but Phaedra their mother, Pasiphae and their sisters everywhere, whether abused wives, daughters forced into grotesque marriages, or victims of war and invasion.Īriadne’s greatest virtue, I think, is Saint’s concept behind the characters, especially the two principals. The Theseus-Minotaur myth offers a rich vein to explore, as Mary Renault did in The King Must Die. But once the hero has achieved his coup, which will grant him everlasting fame, what happens to Ariadne-and Phaedra, her younger sister-is another matter. And with the help of Ariadne, Minos’s elder daughter, he succeeds, against all odds. Except one year, Theseus, prince of Athens, takes his place among those chosen to die. Every year, Athens sends young men and women as tribute, to be fed to the Minotaur. Minos, king of Crete, keeps a monster, the Minotaur, in an impenetrable labyrinth that kills and eats humans.
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