Theseus and the Minotaur

A long time ago in ancient Greece, the island of Crete was ruled by a king named Minos. He and his wife had a beautiful daughter, Ariadne. However, after displeasing a god, Minos’s wife also gave birth to a half-man, half-bull beast that ate human flesh. Minos had a master inventor build a labyrinth. The king then locked the beast, called the Minotaur, inside it. Regular human sacrifices were offered in order to keep the Minotaur alive.

Years earlier, Crete had defeated Athens in a war, and one of the conditions of its surrender was that the Athenians had to offer sacrifices to feed the Minotaur. Every seven years, the leaders of Athens sent their seven bravest boys and their seven most beautiful girls to the Minotaur as tributes. This practice continued for many years.

Finally, a young hero named Theseus decided to put an end to the sacrifices. “I will go to Crete and face the Minotaur,” he said. His father, King Aegeus of Athens, begged his son not to go, but Theseus would not change his mind. To calm his worried father, though, he promised that his ship would return with white sails if he was alive. If he was dead, the sails would be black.

席修斯與牛頭怪

在很久之前的古希臘，克里特島是由一位叫作邁諾斯的國王統治。他和妻子有一個美麗的女兒雅瑞德妮。然而在邁諾斯觸怒一位神祇後，他的妻子也生了一隻吃人肉的半人半公牛的野獸。邁諾斯要一位發明大師建造一座迷宮。然後國王把這隻叫米諾陶的野獸鎖在裡面。定期供應人類獻祭讓米諾陶維生。

多年前，克里特在一場戰爭中打敗了雅典，而雅典投降的條件之一是雅典人必須供應祭品來餵食米諾陶。雅典的領袖每七年要送七個最勇敢的男孩和七個最美麗的女孩給米諾陶當貢品。這項慣例延續了許多年。

最後，有一位名叫席修斯的年輕英雄決定終止獻祭。他說：「我要去克里特島面對米諾陶。」他的父親雅典國王依吉斯懇求他兒子不要去，但席修斯不肯改變心意。不過為了讓憂慮的爸爸安心，他承諾如果他活著，回航的船會用白帆。如果他死了，船帆會是黑色的。