The Minotaur.

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

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, and had conquered or dominate all lands around him. Athens was one of the conquered cities, and it had to pay a tribute of 100 young men and women every year. 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 if he wants to go out of the labyrinth, he has to take a ball of thread and unroll it while going inside the maze. After killing the monster, he should roll the thread again, returning alive to the daylight.

Theseus follows Ariadne's advice point by point. He kills the Minotaur, and then he comes back outside the labyrinth. When Ariadne is going to embrace and kiss him, Thesesus rebuffs 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?