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“Theseus, the first matador of bulls, according to Greek mythology”. So figure in “Cossío”, in his volume on the Party. And is that according to mythology Theseus, son clandestine Aegean king of Athens, killed the Minotaur, born of the romance between Pasífae and the Bull of Crete. The revenge of Poseidon would come soon and, that being, half-animal, half-man, only ate human flesh.
Similar beast was locked in a labyrinth that he built the craftsman Daedalus , a maze that whoever went in never came out. It was devoured by the Minotaur that the king Minos of Crete “I had so terrified his neighbors that all the years he paid a tribute to leave in peace.” So begins the chapter “Theseus and the Minotaur” from the book “the Greek Myths” (Anaya), by Geraldine McCaughrean and Emma Chichester Clark, with translation of Jaime Valero.
as we have in ABC.it is in an article in the past year, while the Minotaur roamed the labyrinth of the palace of Crete, occurred a tragedy: Androgen , son of king Minos, was killed after winning an olympiad, and his father declared war on Athens, which ended up surrendering. The surrender came at a price: deliver seven men and seven women the terrible maze. And so did the king of Athens, Aegean.
Fed up of such savagery, his son, Theseus is envalentonó and set sail alongside thirteen other young people to Crete while his father asked that if he reaches his purpose clinched a white candle in your boat; otherwise, you would lay a black color.
Ball of string
Although there are many versions -some say that the Minos demanded the sacrifice of Theseus-as told in “the Greek Myths”, the prince of Athens took a step to the front and offered the first to venture into the maze. It was very dark and did not know what path to take… Each step leading to a certain death.
But the hero received the help of Ariadne , the daughter of king Minos in love with the young. Gave him a ball of thread (a roll of string, says the aforementioned book) to know where to return in case you go with the Minotaur.
“Theseus progressed to groping in the dark,” he says “the Greek Myths”-. It was true: without the rope, there would be no delay in getting hopelessly lost in the maze of passages winding. Suddenly, his fingers brushed a clump of hair, rough and warm, after the curvature bony horn. The Minotaur roared next to her ear, and knocked him to Theseus of a push. What stomped with their hooves sharp. He dealt a blow that forced him to let go of the rope. Fought completely in the dark. The monster, half-man, half-bull, we estrujó between his arms furry and scourged him with his tail. But Theseus grabbed him by the horns and turned first to one side, then the other does. Kicked him, he hit her, grappled with him, and finally the beast uttered a babbling, and fell dead.”
there Are many versions on how she died-the Minotaur: some say that Theseus killed him by punching, other than you nailed your own horn and some that he wore a sword supplied by Ariadne.
The issue is that the brave Theseus was able to leave healthy and safe from the maze. Ariadne went with him. But there was no end of wine and roses. As explained by Carlos Garcia Gual in “Dictionary of Myths” , “Dionysius, in love with Ariadne, kidnapped her and took her to Lemnos, where he has lain with her and engrendó to Toante, Estáfilo, Enopión and Parapet”. And Theseus forgot to change the black sail for the white, so his father, seeing from the Acropolis the cloth of jet, thought that his son had been devoured by the Minotaur, threw himself into the void. Legend has it that there is the baptism of the Aegean Sea.
According to The “Cossío”, Theseus not only killed the Minotaur, but the bull of Marathon. And he adds: “To the death of Aegean, went up to the throne of Athens , took part in the war of the centaurs, in the conquest of the golden fleece and in the hunt for the monstrous boar of Calidonia”. Hence, the initial conclusion: “Theseus, the first matador de toros”.
(Note: a study conducted by Antonis Kotsonas and published in “American Journal of Archaeology”, suggests that the labyrinth never existed. This specialist has carried out a deep investigation through literary references and materials related to the myth through several millennia. His conclusion is that the legendary building that housed the Minotaur is only an “abstract memory” of ancient times and that is not related to an actual monument).
