Why did Theseus kill the Minotaur?

Answer 1

The stories differ. In some, Theseus killed the Minotaur with his fists and battered the monster to death, as he had no other weapons. In another, Theseus kills the Minotaur with the sword of Aegeus.

Answer 2

To examine why Theseus slayed the Minotaur of Greek Mythology, we must first gather some background details.

Firstly, the Cretan-Athenian conflict. King Minos of Crete waged successful war over the Athenians. As the Athenians were losing quite drastically and couldn't afford to continue attempting to fight, a deal was struck that, at nine-year intervals, seven Athenian boys and seven Athenian girls were to be sent to Crete to be devoured by the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull monster that lived in the Labyrinth that was created by Daedalus.

The tales differ and in some versions, Minos' eldest son Androgeus, set sail for Athens to take part in the Pan-Athenian games, which were held there every four years. Being strong and skilful, he did very well, winning some events outright. He soon became a crowd favourite much to the resentment of the Pallantides, and they assassinated him, incurring the wrath of Minos. When King Minos had heard of what befell his son, he ordered the Cretan fleet to set sail for Athens. Minos asked Aegeus for his son's assassins, and if they were to be handed to him, the town would be spared. However, not knowing who the assassins were, King Aegeus surrendered the whole town to Minos' mercy. His retribution was that, at the end of every Great Year (seven solar years), the seven most courageous youths and the seven most beautiful maidens were to board a boat and be sent as tribute to Crete, never to be seen again.

In any case, Theseus (son of Aegeus and Prince of Athens) once volunteered to go as the seventh son of Athens and slay the monster. He set off with a black sail, promising to his father, Aegeus, that if successful he would return with a white sail. Like the others, Theseus was stripped of his weapons when they sailed. On his arrival in Crete, Ariadne, King Minos' daughter, fell in love with Theseus and, on the advice of Daedalus, gave him a ball of thread or clue, so he could find his way out of the Labyrinth. That night, Ariadne escorted Theseus to the Labyrinth, and Theseus promised that if he returned from the Labyrinth he would take Ariadne with him. As soon as Theseus entered the Labyrinth, he tied one end of the ball of string to the door post and brandished his sword which he had kept hidden from the guards inside his tunic. Theseus followed Daedalus' instructions given to Ariadne; go forwards, always down and never left or right. Theseus came to the heart of the Labyrinth and also upon the sleeping Minotaur. The beast awoke and a tremendous fight then occurred. Theseus overpowered the Minotaur with his strength and stabbed the beast in the throat with his sword (according to one scholium on Pindar's Fifth Nemean Ode, Theseus strangled it).

After decapitating the beast, Theseus used the string to escape the Labyrinth and managed to escape with all of the young Athenians and Ariadne as well as her younger sister Phaedra. Then he and the rest of the crew fell asleep on the beach. Athena woke Theseus and told him to leave early that morning. Athena told Theseus to leave Ariadne and Phaedra on the beach. Stricken with distress, Theseus forgot to put up the white sails instead of the black ones, so the king committed suicide, in some versions throwing himself off a cliff and into the sea. Dionysus later saw Ariadne crying out for Theseus and took pity on her and married her.

That was perhaps a little too much background but it was necessary. Essentially, Theseus killed the Minotaur to cease the seven/nine yearly tradition of feeding fourteen Athenian children to the Minotaur. To a lesser extent, he also killed the Minotaur for his own survival and so he could return to his love and his father.

Answer 3

The entire saga of Theseus was basically Athenian Propaganda. Theseus is considered the legendary founder of Athens, even though the city already existed and his father had already been king. Athens had been suffering under the yoke of Minoan oppression and once they were able to free themselves, they used stories like Theseus' to show Athens' dominance over their foes.

Answer 4

For any of a number of reasons, the Athenians killed Minos' son, Androgeus. In revenge, Minos brought war to Athens and won, commanding that the Athenians send 14 youths; 7 male, 7 female, to Minos as a tribute every ninth year. In turn, those young people were sent into the Labyrinth to serve as food for the Minotaur. When the year of the third sacrifice came, Theseus, the son of the king, volunteered for the tribute, indicating that it was his intent to kill the monster. This would prevent further tributes from being necessary, and free Athens from the yoke of Minoan Crete.

Answer 5

Theseus had a sword to kill the Minotaur with. He used Ariadne's ball of thread to find his way back out of the maze afterwards.

Answer 6

Theseus killed the Minotaur in the Labyrinth in Crete.

Answer 7

you are looking for what he did after killing the minotaur he slept

Answer 8

Theseus slain Creon because Theseus had intercorse with Creon's wife

Answer 9

Theseus killed the Minotaur in the centre of the labyrinth which was in Crete