Theseus and the Minotaur. 6th grade B.

One of the most beloved Greek legends is "The Minotaur":

Many years ago there were two important cities: Athens and Knossos. Knossos was ruled by a cruel and despotic king called Minos. Minos was very powerful: he had conquered or controlled all territories around him. Athens was not an exception, and it was under his iron fist. Every year its citizens had to pay a tribute of 100 young men and women. Their destiny was awful: to feed the horryfing monster half bull half man called "Minotaur".

At this point appears the hero: Theseus. Thesesus was prince of Athens. He decided to travel to Knossos hidden among the 100 young people with a fair goal: to kill the minotaur and to stop the annual tribute.

When Theseus arrives to Knossos, a girl called Ariadne falls in love with him. She tells him that the Minotaur lives inside a labyrinth, and that if he wants to escape from there, he has to take a ball of thread and unroll it while going inside. After killing the monster, he should roll the thread again, returning alive to the daylight.

Theseus follows Ariadne's advice point by point. He enters in the labyrinth unrolling the thread; then he kills the Minotaur, and finally, by rolling it again, he comes back outside. But when Ariadne is going to embrace and kiss him, Thesesus rejects her. She stood on the beach first astonished, then heartbroken, crying while the hero returned to Athens.



Questions:

1. What was the Minotaur?
2. Where did he live?
3. What problem had Athens with Knossos?
4. How many young men and women were sent to Knossos every year from Athens?
5. Who is the hero?
6. What was his goal?
7. Who helped Theseus?
8. Did he kill the minotaur?
9. How did he scape from the labyrinth?
10. What happened with Ariadne?