Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29235 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-04
• Binding: Paperback
• 362 pages

Synopsis
Theseus, the boy-king of Eleuisis, is ritually preordained to die after one year of marriage to the sacred Queen, but he defies the Gods' decree and claims his inheritance - the throne of Athens. His friends are the young men and maidens, slaves of the Gods, chosen for death in the Bull Dance. His fabled enemy is the monstrous, half-man, half-bull, Minotaur, devourer of sacrificial human flesh. In her classic re-creation of a myth so powerful that its impact has survived down the centuries, Mary Renault has brought to life the world of ancient Greece. For here is the true Atlantis legend, with its culmination in the terrible, fateful destruction of the great Labyrinth, the palace of the house of Minos.

From the Publisher
Bringing Greek mythology vividly to life, The King Must Die and its sequel, The Bull from the Sea, tell the amazing adventures of Theseus, famous for slaying the Minotaur, defeating the Amazons and rescuing Persephone from the underworld.

About the Author
Mary Renault was educated at Clifton High School, Bristol and St Hugh's College, Oxford. Having completed nursing training in 1937, she then wrote her first novel Promise of Love. Her next three novels were written during off-time duty whilst serving in the war. In 1948 she went to live in South Africa but travelled widely. It was her trip to Greece and her visits to Corinth, Samos, Crete, Delos, Aegina and other islands, as well as to Athens, Sounion and Marathon, that resulted in her brilliant historical reconstructions of Ancient Greece. Mary Renault died in 1983.

Customer Reviews

The early life of Theseus
Renault is a magical writer with an almost unique ability to immerse her readers in the glittering alien culture of the ancient world.
Here she takes the early life of Theseus, boy heir to the King of Athens and creates a powerful narrative of his coming of age. She knows her ancient sources, not just the classical Greek myths but also the pre-classical Minoan civilisation and carries us with her without faltering.
Theseus joins the band of Athenian youths paid as tribute to Minos, the King of Crete, and then saves them from early death at the hands of the Minotaur (here an illegitimate son of Minos, rather than the monstrous man-bull of myth). He meets Ariadne, daughter of Minos and with her help eventually escapes with his companions back to Athens, en route abandoning her on Naxos.
The book ends with the death of his father due to Theseus' own unthinking oversight so that he himself reaches manhood and ascends to the kingship.
Like Renault's other novels set in ancient Greece, this is a beautifully written and haunting tale of love, duty and growing up, set in an alien culture that both comes alive and is made effortlessly comprehensible through Renault's superb mediation.
If you loved this, read The Bull from the Sea, the 2nd part of Theseus' life.

"The law is: The King Must Die."
Mary Renault's great historical novel of Theseus begins when he is a young man in Troizen, a well-bred youth who has never known his father's identity. When, with the help of the gods, he succeeds in lifting a stone to reclaim his father's sword, Theseus discovers that he is the son of Aigeus, King of Athens. On his way to Athens to meet him, Theseus arrives in Eleusis, where after wrestling the king in a fight to the death, he finds himself, unexpectedly, the King of Eleusis. Later, in Athens, when fourteen young men and women are chosen by lot to become bull-dancers in Crete, fulfilling a tribute demanded by the King of Crete, Theseus listens to his god and joins the group, never knowing if he will survive to return to his father.

Renault tells the story of Theseus as if Theseus were a real person, not a mythical character, using history, archaeology, and a deep understanding of the cultures of the period to place Theseus in a realistic context. Her descriptions of the lifting of the stone, the wrestling match in Eleusis, Theseus's arrival at the palace in Athens, and especially his experiences in becoming a bull dancer bring the period vibrantly to life in ways consistent with the historical record. Theseus's devotion to the god Poseidon, to whom he prays throughout his journey, reflects his appreciation of his own smallness in relation to the gods, and his honoring of the gods unique to the kingdoms he visits show how the Greek religion gradually incorporated increasing numbers of gods and goddesses to explain the increasingly complex mysteries of life faced by Greek citizens.

Renault never fails to treat Theseus, his religion and culture, and the traditions of the countries in which he travels with the dignity they would have inspired in their own period. She never patronizes either her characters or her readers, writing with elegance and a fine appreciation for the details of daily life, the art of the period, and the pantheon of gods thought to control men's destinies. Whether Theseus was a real man whose strength and reputation grew to mythical proportions, as Renault illustrates, or whether he was, in fact, a mythical character whom she places in a realistic context in ancient Greece is less important than the fact that she creates a plausible life for this monumental character. Few, if any, other authors are so successful in recreating an entire era, its people, its beliefs, and its culture. Mary Whipple

Take The Bull by the Horns
Although on the surface this book is about Theseus and the legend of his life prior to becoming King of Athens, the book is much more fundamentally an adventure tale featuring all of the most desirable male adolescent fantasies. If you read it as the latter, you will be thrilled. If you read it as historical fiction, you will be disappointed because the potential to develop the historical side is clearly subordinated to the adventure tale.

The classical story about Theseus features his slaying of the Minotaur. In this book, by contrast, the central theme is Theseus fulfilling his fate, as decreed by the gods. The primary backdrop is the conflict between "the old religion" of Mother Dia and "the new religion" of the Sky Gods (all sired by Zeus). Theseus brings about a reconciliation between the two sets of beliefs by honoring both, while rejecting the practice of routinely sacrificing the king (Kerkyon) as a fertility offering.

The book has enough material in it to be four books. The first story is about Theseus as a young man growing up with his mother, Aithra, without knowing who is father is in the household of his grandfather in Troizen. The second story starts with his finding that he is the son of the King of Athens and continues through his becoming King of Eleusis. The third story starts with leaving Eleusis to meet his father, King Aigeus, and continues through writing his name on the lot that selects him as a bull dancer slave as tribute for the Cretans. The fourth story begins with his leaving Athens for Crete through his return. Although each of these stories is exciting and interesting, the fourth one is the best.

Bull leaping entailed running toward and grasping the two horns of a live Cretan bull and performing gymnastic feats, like one does today by vaulting using a pommel horse. Naturally, it was a lot more dangerous than vaulting is. Theseus revels in the danger and excitement. He also feels committed to keeping his fellow slaves from Athens alive, in a team that he has named the Cranes, for a dance that they do in the bull ring.

Some of the many adventure themes that will resonate with young male readers include being specially selected by the gods for an exalted purpose, being the unknown son of a king, being sought out by powerful and beautiful women, unlimited sexual access, being a popular hero with other males, successful conquests of animals, leading successful battles with men, and being invincible in all endeavors. I cannot remember a book with so many of these themes packed into one.

Placing the book in these ancient times gives you a fresh perspective on our own world. What are the proper roles for men and women in society? How should they relate to one another? What is the role of piety? What is the purpose of life? How can we contribute to one another? If you ask and answer these questions after you finish, you will have gotten much benefit from the book as well as much pleasure from the adventure tales in it.

Take the bull by the horns to accomplish more!