The King Must Die

I was supposed to read this before I stated 7th grade. Wild. The first fifth in Trozien is not as eventful as the three middle fifths. I thought the last fifth limped.

As a 7th grader upfront there’s a lot more openness about sex, but when it moves to Crete this becomes a morality play. Also reinforces the notion that men can sleep with who ever but girls must be chaste at least towards men. Crete is ready to fall and their lives are wasted because they don’t fervently believe in the gods like Thesesus.

Besides tipping the scales in favor of organized religion it also romanticizes noble leadership. I think these themes are at odds with our times. Like this is how the patriarchy was established. Eleusis and other places worship Dia and women lead. Theseus changes that.

I thought the narrative was mediocre, it’s like reading Tolkien. Having first person first hand takes away the threat of death, which is almost constant, from actually happening.

There’s a certain brand of Christianity that explains all the miracles as misinterpreted or exaggerated real world events like earthquakes or people who look dead but aren’t. So doing that with this legend seems less impressive.

The middle part is most interesting. I should have read this before 7th grade, but better late than never.

I had actually read this book years ago, but I really only remembered snapshots from it, so as I listened this time, at first I thought that it was the wrong book. I did not remember the actual connections between the various snapshots that I had. Hearing the whole book together and being able to re-place the remembered scenes in order and importance was very enlightening. I remember having really enjoyed the book, but the only part that left a lasting impression on me was the very end.
I find the representation of the religions and vast relevance thereof to the characters far more powerful that I observe Christianity or Islam, or even Judaism in the current modern lives. Our current knowledge of nature and the scientific basis really doesn't leave appropriate room for the mythology of current religion, but that ancient religion was mythology was highly appropriate. As an atheist, I can appreciate the good done by belief in gods in ancient Roman times despite the fact that our knowledge now leaves only room for imagination.
This book traces the whole life of a king with five (I think) separate stages, each of them unique and complete, although they all complement each other. And the main character executes SOME horrendous activities, but they are all consistent with his beliefs and personality.

A 1958 episodic historical novel, the first half of a pair, that is an attempt to tell the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur in some realistic way. I recommend that you go to the back of the book and read the legend first, since some key points in the story are described very briefly, and sometimes with an odd sentence or two, as if the author assumed that the reader would know the myth well. Ultimately, I think attempts to explain religious myths as a distortion of a real event are unconvincing.

The author wrote two brief passages that seem to foreshadow Christianity. These are very short, but distracting, since the reader is trying to immerse himself in the time with all of its cultural peculiarities, and Christianity was a long way off in 1600 BCE. It is like the author is winking at you.

I liked the comment on p. 150 of this edition, "I learned...how much easier it is to move the many than the few." Έμαθα πόσο εύκολο είναι να μετακινήσετε το πολλοί από τους λίγους.[?, Google translate doesn't do linear A or B]