Page 83 - Unit 2 - Exercise 1A

Page 83 - Unit 2 - Exercise 1A

Theseus and the Minotaur

Theseus lived in Ancient Greece. His father was the king of Athens. One day, Theseus and his father were at the harbour. There was a ship there with a black sail.

‘Where is the ship going, Father?’ asked Theseus. ‘To the island of Crete,’ said the king. ‘Every year we send seven young men and seven young women to King Minos, the king of Crete. Why?’ said Theseus. ‘King Minos,’ said his father, ‘has a terrible monster, called the Minotaur. It’s half man and half bull. It lives in a huge maze, called the Labyrinth. And it eats people!’ ‘Don’t send the ship,’ said Theseus. ‘We must,’ said his father. ‘King Minos will attack us.’ ‘Then I’ll go,’ said Theseus. ‘And I’ll kill the Minotaur.’ ‘All right,’ said the king sadly. ‘I’ll wait on the cliffs every day. When you come back, change the black sail to white.

Then I’ll know you’re safe.’ So the ship sailed to Crete with Theseus and the other young people. ‘Who will go into the Labyrinth first tomorrow?’ asked King Minos. ‘I will,’ said Theseus. ‘You’re very brave, but you won’t come back!’ laughed the king.

But the king’s daughter, Ariadne, fell in love with Theseus. She gave him a large ball of string. ‘Use this,’ she said, ‘so that you will find your way out of the Labyrinth.’

The next day, Theseus tied the string to the entrance and went into the Labyrinth. For hours he walked through the dark maze. Suddenly, he heard a terrible noise. It was the Minotaur. The monster rushed at him, but Theseus jumped up and grabbed its horns. He pulled hard and broke the monster’s neck. The Minotaur was dead.

Theseus followed the string back to the entrance.

‘My father will be very angry,’ said Ariadne. ‘You must take me with you to Athens.’ They ran to the ship and sailed away from Crete. ‘Thank you,’ said Ariadne. ‘I’m free from my cruel father, and soon we will be married.’

‘Married?’ thought Theseus. ‘Ariadne helped me, but I don’t want to marry her!’ A few days later they stopped at an island. ‘I’ll guard the ship, while you find some food,’ said Theseus. When Ariadne was gone, he quickly sailed away from the island.

However, he forgot to change the ship’s sail. When his father saw the black sail, he cried: ‘My son is dead!’ He jumped off the cliff into the sea and drowned. The king’s name was Aegeas, and to this day, we call that sea the Aegean Sea.