The Hunger Games is a tale of what humans could possibly become in the future, if they failed to learn from their past history, choosing instead, to repeat it. There is a reinforcement of a culture of the Roman Empire, in particular, the Roman Gladiators. Being a Roman Gladiator is almost comparable to being a professional football sport player of today, in the sense that it was a sport of competition, as are the adolescents in the Hunger Games. In this futuristic science fiction book, young “gladiators”, or tributes, are volunteered to fight to the death representing their district, as did the Roman Gladiators from our history. Just as each tribute, gladiators were volunteered, or forced to fight and live that lifestyle until death. Each tribute, was volunteered to go and fight to the death; this reliving of a culture from hundreds of years shows the connection between the story Hunger Games, and the culture of the Roman Empire.

In the story, there are 12 districts in the totalitarian government that once was the United States, of which two youths, otherwise known as a tribute, fight as gladiators once did until there is only one victor. This totalitarian regime has a strong resemblance to “The Myth of Theseus”, who was the son of both Aegeus, king of Athens, and of the god Poseidan, who both slept with his mother in the same night. The king of Crete, after defeating the Athenians in war, demanded that the Athenians send an annual tribute of seven of their handsomest youths and seven of their most beautiful maidens to Crete, where they were to be eaten by the Minotaur in the Labyrinth. Theseus, being against this practice of cruelty, volunteered himself as a tribute, as did the main character of the Hunger Games. In doing so, he traveled to through the Labyrinth and killed the Minotaur, saving the Athenians from having to sacrifice their youth. He