Theisius Vs Ariadne Essay, Research Paper

Theseus & Ariadne

My soul leaned out to grasp her. All else in this moment was as passing

dust clouds or a summer shower. says Theseus, the Athenian hero and

narrator of The king Must Die by Mary Renault, about the kingdom of

Athens as he looks over it from is father s palace. Theseus has a stronger

love for Athens then anything else, including the gods. Soon after he

discovers the beauty of Athens, he is sent to Crete to be a bull dancer: a kind

of sacrifice for the decadent goddess on earth Ariadne. When they meet

they quickly fall in love despite her passionate, blood thirsty personality.

When the Cretan civilization is overturned by war, he takes Ariadne and the

cranes,( his bull dancing team ), and they go to a nearby island called Naxos.

While they are there, Ariadne takes part in a celebration and ends up

performing the acts of the women who are in touch with the gods of the

civilization. Theseus is troubled by this because she did such a holy act

without communicating or being in touch with the gods. He makes the hard

decision to leave Naxos and return to Athens without Ariadne. He loves

Athens too much, and thinks that it might hurt Athens to bring Ariadne back

with him. He makes this decision because Ariadne will never respect the

gods as he does because she does not believe in them. Also, she has lived as

the goddess on earth too long , and is used to having human blood

sacrificed to her. Because of this, she has a spoiled attitude, and takes things

for granted. Finally, she is the epitome of the Matriarchal culture, and he was

raised in the Patriarchal world.

Ariadne can never devout herself to the gods like Theseus because she

does not believe in them. She basically thinks that they are silly superstition.

When she follows the others to the top of the mountain in pursuit of the king

of Naxos, she keeps on going when all of the others who do not hear the gods

have stopped. If she had really believed in the gods, she would have stopped

with the others out of respect for them, but since she does not, it is all a game

for her and she keeps on playing.

Living as the goddess on earth for so long has molded her into,

basically, a spoiled brat. She is so used to having people sacrifice to her as if

she was an almighty goddess. They even sacrifice human bodies. Not even

the real gods ask for those kinds of sacrifices! What is sad is that she takes

the whole thing so lightly. She thinks nothing of the bull court other than that

it is a great form of entertainment. In fact, the bull dancers are giving their

lives up for her! If she goes back to Athens with Theseus, she will not be

able to handle it because she is so used to being treated like a goddess. They

even carry her when she leaves the palace!

She grew up in the Matriarchal culture where the women are the rulers,

and the men are just there to work and get them pregnant. All the women in

her culture are highly respected. If Theseus takes her back to Athens with

him, she will never be able to respect him as a king who has authority over

her. He wonders Will she always see me as a mainland bull-boy, even when

I am king? . Probably.