From an age of myths and legends...
come stories of strange beasts...
beautiful maidens...
and the heros that saved them.
Welcome to the labyrinth...
and what it contained.
From ancient Greece...
a tale of treachery...
forbidden love...
and death.
Lisa's book for the Pulp Redux collaboration is themed, Labyrinth. The theme is one which brought so many ideas to mind I was having trouble deciding on one, so in true Kim fashion decided to do two! The first part of my contribution outlines the ancient Greek myth concerning the Labyrinth of Crete.
The sea God, Poseidon, sent to King Minos of Crete, a beautiful white bull to be sacrificed in his honour. Minos so admired the bull that he refused to kill it, and decided to keep it for himself. Poseidon was so angry with Minos, that he cast a spell upon Minos' wife, Pasiphae causing her to fall inlove with the bull. Pasiphae unable to resist the God's spell fell in love with the bull and mated with it. The offspring of their union was the Minotaur.
The Minotaur grew to become ferocious and untamable, so King Minos had a prison built to contain the Minotaur by his servant Daedalus. So Daedalus built for the Minotaur a labyrinth, in which the Minotaur was imprisoned.
come stories of strange beasts...
beautiful maidens...
and the heros that saved them.
Welcome to the labyrinth...
and what it contained.
From ancient Greece...
a tale of treachery...
forbidden love...
and death.
Lisa's book for the Pulp Redux collaboration is themed, Labyrinth. The theme is one which brought so many ideas to mind I was having trouble deciding on one, so in true Kim fashion decided to do two! The first part of my contribution outlines the ancient Greek myth concerning the Labyrinth of Crete.
The sea God, Poseidon, sent to King Minos of Crete, a beautiful white bull to be sacrificed in his honour. Minos so admired the bull that he refused to kill it, and decided to keep it for himself. Poseidon was so angry with Minos, that he cast a spell upon Minos' wife, Pasiphae causing her to fall inlove with the bull. Pasiphae unable to resist the God's spell fell in love with the bull and mated with it. The offspring of their union was the Minotaur.
The Minotaur grew to become ferocious and untamable, so King Minos had a prison built to contain the Minotaur by his servant Daedalus. So Daedalus built for the Minotaur a labyrinth, in which the Minotaur was imprisoned.
Years later, the people of Athens killed one of Minos sons and the King called a plague upon their city. The only way Minos would agree to remove the plague was if the people of Athens agreed that each year they would send seven young men and seven young women to Crete, where Minos sent them into the labyrinth to be devoured by the Minotaur.
Prince Theseus of Athens was determined to stop the slaughter of the Athenian youths and volunteered to go to Crete as a sacrificial victim where he would find a way to destroy the Minotaur. On his arrival in Crete Ariadne, who was the daughter of Minos and Pasiphae saw Theseus and fell in love with him. She provided Theseus with a ball of string and urged him to tie one of the ends to the exit as he entered the Labyrinth, then he would be able to find his way out again. Theseus did as Ariadne bade him and deep in the heart of the Labyrinth he met the Minotaur and killed it, then fled taking Ariadne and the remaining Athenian youths.
I have constructed a set of doors in Lisa's book where I have set out the story of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth. It is an interesting tale and one which I thought should be included in the book.
The second part of my addition to the book is quite different, but as I haven't quite finished it yet you will have to wait a little while longer for a sneaky peek at that part.
