Prince Theseus was the son of King Aegeus of Athens, not too long before the Trojan War (around 1300 BCE). At this time, the Minoans, who lived on the island of Crete, had a very strong navy. The Minoan king, King Minos, would often send his navy to attack Greek cities, including Athens. Everyone was afraid of him and his soldiers.
King Aegeus had an agreement with King Minos that if Minos would leave Athens alone, Aegeus would send seven Athenian boys and seven Athenian girls to Crete every nine years to be eaten by the Minotaur, a monster with the body of a man and the head of a bull. They had been doing this for a long time, but this meant many boys and girls had to lose their lives.
One day it was once again time to send the children to Crete and everyone was crying. Prince Theseus said that he was going with them to kill the Minotaur, and save the children and all those who might be sent in the future. His dad, King Aegeus, begged him not to go. Aegeus was afraid that the Minotaur would get Theseus too. But Theseus said he was going, and he got onto the boat. The boat had a black sail, to show how sad everyone was. King Aegeus made Theseus promise to change to a white sail if he lived to come home, to announce that he had won, and Theseus agreed.
When they got to Crete, King Minos and his daughter, Princess Ariadne (arr-ee-AD-nee), came out of their palace to see Theseus and the other Athenian children. King Minos ordered Theseus and the children to be thrown to the Minotaur the next day, but Ariadne fell in love with Theseus and she wanted to help him.
So, late that night Ariadne gave Theseus two things: a sword and a ball of string. She told him to tie the string to the door of the Labyrinth (a network of hallways through which difficult to find one’s way) where the Minotaur lived and unroll it behind him as he went so he could find his way back out. She also told him to use the sword to kill the Minotaur. Theseus thanked Ariadne very much and promised to marry her if he escaped without being eaten by the Minotaur.
The next morning all the Athenians went into the Labyrinth. The children were afraid, but Prince Theseus tied the string to the door and went to find the Minotaur…
Theseus searched the Labyrinth, found the Minotaur, and there was a big fight. Theseus killed the Minotaur with his sword and followed the string back to the door. The other Athenians were very happy to see him and to hear that he had killed the Minotaur.
Princess Ariadne opened the door to let them out, and they all ran away to their ship. Theseus, Ariadne, and all the Athenian children sailed away back towards Athens.
But when Theseus and Ariadne got to the island of Delos, halfway home from Crete, they stopped to rest. Ariadne fell asleep, and Theseus left her there on the island and sailed away to Athens without her. Different Greek stories give varied reasons as to why he did this: maybe he just didn't like her very much; maybe he thought the Athenians wouldn't accept her because she was Cretan; or maybe he was afraid King Minos would be angry. Some stories say it was because the god Dionysos fell in love with her. But all the stories agree that he left her there on the island.
When Theseus got as far as Sounion, he was close enough for the ship to be seen from Athens. But Theseus had made one terrible mistake. He had forgotten to change the sail from black to white! When King Aegeus saw the black sail he thought Theseus was dead, and he was so heartbroken that he jumped off a cliff and killed himself.
When Theseus reached Athens, he was sorry to hear that his father was dead, and that it was his fault. But life went on, and Theseus became king of Athens. He was a very good king who ruled for a many years.
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