Notes

“The Super True Overly Dramatic Story of Theseus and the Minotaur” is a play or reader’s theatre. The audience is heavily dependent on the narrator and stage directions to help guide them to the theme. An example of this comes during the approach, as Theseus enters the inner most cave to face the Minotaur. The narrator tells the audience that, “Bravely our hero thrust at the monster from left and then right/The carnivorous monster put up a treacherous fight”. Even in the face of danger, Theseus keeps his promise to his father that he will slay the monster. In contrast, more obvious examples of the theme are shown in the original myth. According the “Theseus and the Minotaur”, which is a short story, Theseus does not think twice about helping the fair headed princess, Ariadne. She gives him the supplies and the advice—proving to be a very helpful ally, but he later leaves her without reason on the island of Naxos. Though it might seem that Theseus is deceitful during his return, he did actually fulfill his promise to “take the princess away from Crete”.