Download Theseus and the Minotaur: The History of One of Greek Mythology's Most Famous Legends AudioBook Free

Countless civilizations attended and gone over the span of time, but affinity for mythology is one of the fantastic constants. Folks have approached misconceptions from countless sides, some denigrating and self-righteous, others earnest and open-minded, but there is something mystical and universal in all misconceptions that speaks to the reader across the years, regardless of what they know of historiography or "universities of thought". The simple truth is that all of the stories stay in a murky, anachronistic background so entangled that wanting to unravel it can mean everything or almost nothing. Among the reasons for this is actually the age of most misconceptions, especially those from historic times (the name Theseus can be traced back as far as 1450 BCE, for example). Another is the utter level of possible versions there may be of a given myth. A lot of mythological tales span centuries, so it is likely that nothing like an "original version" of Theseus and the Minotaur will ever be known. In fact, even if the story could be traced all the way again, the "original" is likely to be so far removed from the much loved modern-day version that it could not be used as canon in any case. Nor, it needs to be said, can a version of the storyline be isolated that could have been read at a particular point in time, including the Classical Period, since most of the sources for tales like Theseus are either fragmentary or come even later.

Category: Classics