The story of Theseus and the Minotaur is one of the most fascinating in Greek mythology. It is a story where man and beast break borders and create the unknown. The story begins when Poseidon, a mighty Greek god, gives a beautiful bull to the king of Crete. Expecting the bull to be sacrificed in the name of Poseidon, the king was infatuated by the beauty of the bull and kept it for himself. Enraged, Poseidon punishes the king by making the king’s wife fall madly in love with the bull. In result, the Minotaur was created: A half man, half bull cannibal. Mortified and disgusted, instead of killing this creature, the king created a labyrinth and locked up the Minotaur. Every nine years, to feed the Minotaur, the king would order Athens to choose seven boys and seven girls to be sent to the labyrinth. Because of the complicated architecture of the labyrinth, the youths would be helplessly lost until the Minotaur would find them and devour them. Why did Athens agree to do this? Why is the Minotaur so intimidating? Athens and the King of Crete could have treated the Minotaur as an individual, but instead they were captivated by fear. Although the Minotaur has many human features, we categorize him as a beast because we fear him: his abnormality, inscrutability and forbidden nature.

The Minotaur, aside from being too big and a carnivore, was thrown into a never-ending maze mainly because of shame and chagrin. The Minotaur was never seen; only the king, the queen as well as the cycles of fourteen youths who never lived to tell the tale, have laid eyes on this monster. If this is the case, then why do the people of Athens believe that the Minotaur exists? The Minotaur scandal propagated and evidently, it’s alluring—yet alien—story caught many of the people’s attention. Not only were the people of Athens attracted to mystery, they were affected by it as well because they allowed themselves to feed this mystery with their curiosity by surrounding the unknown with their own fear while building anxiety and paranoia. Since the Minotaur scandal was a widespread story, the people of Athens were affected as a community. Even the king of Athens believed in the Minotaur and when the leader of a society believes, agrees, or disagrees with something, the community as a whole is convinced, especially when the community itself is fragile and/or uncertain. The people need reassurance and when an authority figure speaks out; they are comforted and feel secured. In Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the littluns believe that there is a ‘beastie’ amongst the island, however, the two most powerful boys, Ralph and Jack, disagree and assure them that there is nothing to worry about and that “fear can’t hurt [them] any more than a dream [and] there [is nothing] to be afraid of on [the] island” (90). Although the littluns are confident in their assertion, after listening to Ralph and Jack’s guidance, they reconsider. However, later on in the story, Jack and even Ralph and Piggy—the two most rational boys of the group—believe that the beastie does exist and the group becomes engrossed into hunting for this ‘beastie’ and ultimately shifting more into savagery. Similar to the boys of Lord of the Flies, when the king of Athens believed the daunting presence of the Minotaur, they agree to the King of Crete’s proposition of sending fourteen innocent children every nine years to the labyrinth as a meal for the Minotaur: The people of Athens’ as well as the boys from Lord of the Flies’ own fear had driven them to immorality.

In society, we must be able to become a part of community to build and assimilate understanding and acceptance towards each other. Without tolerance, we are incapable of having a positive and healthy community. However, it is impossible to accept something that we have not even seen or met before. Humans are all linked together; it is how the world grows. We use our five senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste) to observe what is around us, and then we absorb this information, learn and share with others. If people are isolated, it is impossible to mature. The Minotaur was always trapped in the labyrinth away from society: he was never taught how to act and he was never around civilization. Because of being quarantined, the Minotaur was never able to learn how to interact and learn the essence of human structure. Also, since the Minotaur was locked up, we immediately think of beasts and savagery. In our society, when someone breaks the law, he is punished and goes to jail. Being isolated by force symbolizes something wrong and corrupted. The fear created by the people of Athens builds because of this assumption. However, it was not only the Minotaur that was blocked off, but it was also Athens that was blocked off from learning about the Minotaur and how his nature works as well. Both sides lack understanding, so instead, fear takes over and we become biased and convinced.

The Minotaur is a symbol of sin. Because he was the offspring of an immoral act by the King, and the Queen and a bull, it is to be believed that he is the offspring of evil. His birth defect shows his aberration and he is a symbol of all things that are forbidden. His forbidden nature generates fear for societies such as Athens because when civilization is introduced to savagery, they are frightened due to the startling contrast. The story of his abnormality scared the Greek people because they have scarcely encountered irregularity in their perfect society where everyone is generally the same. It is no longer within their control and they do not know how to handle unnatural situations such as the Minotaur. Although the King is responsible for his ‘son’ (the Minotaur), he himself is humiliated that his son is not normal and decides to ban his son from society by caging him in the Labyrinth. Like Lord of the Flies, Piggy is immediately targeted and restricted from certain duties by Jack, his hunters and even Ralph because it is obvious that Piggy is different from the other boys. Piggy is fat while the other boys are fit; he wears specs and does not swim due to his asthma. Although he has many ideas that could potentially lead them to healthy survival, the boys ignore Piggy and ultimately turn savage and kill him. The King could have accepted the Minotaur as he is and although the Minotaur is intimidating in size and wildness, society could have influenced the Minotaur to fit into the social order. Also, by accepting the Minotaur, Athens as well as Crete could have been liberal, and learn something from the Minotaur’s abnormality. The Minotaur as well as Piggy had the potential to be the key to growth of society and communication, however, their communities decided to dehumanize them instead. Being different does not mean being wrong; it is the people who are different that break away from routine that discover great things that improve our society and education; however it is the principles of the community which decides to accept these changes or not.

While the Minotaur is abnormal and unnatural, it is possible to assume that his abnormality is a form of evil, ultimately meaning that he himself is evil as well. The Minotaur was born to be seen as evil. The Minotaur is a carnivore; he eats other men while he himself is half man. If we were to see men eating men in our society, we would immediately imprison them or perhaps vanish them from our society because we consider them as monsters and beasts. However, the Minotaur was born this way. He was not influenced by evil and did not turn evil; however, he is ultimately a representation of evil and death. It is natural for Athens to become frightened by the Minotaur and it is understandable why the King would lock him up. Since the Minotaur symbolizes evil, he is ultimately considered as a threat to polluting a competent society. In Lord of the Flies, when the boys believe that there is a ‘beastie’, their immediate reaction is to destroy it. However, in the novel, Jack and his hunters believe that in order to avoid this evil, they must sacrifice to it and please the ‘beastie’, little do they know, they have become so obsessed into finding this ‘beastie’ that they do not realize that they have become beasts themselves. Since the Minotaur is considered like a ‘beastie’, Athens agreed to sacrifice 14 youths every nine years. It is perhaps to please the Minotaur, so the Minotaur as well as the King would not distress them. It seems like society will do anything to avoid evil—even if to avoid it is to perform evil acts. The irony of this situation shows how their society, both in LOTF and in Greek mythology worked. This irony is also present in our own society as well. We send soldiers to fight and kill in order to protect our own people and to show patriotism. We are willing to do anything to believe that we are civilized; what we do not realize is that in order to achieve civilization, there are times where we must perform savagery.

Fear of the Minotaur is inevitable. He is a cannibal, therefore being a sign of evil, he is a savage, and he exudes forbidden nature. It is clear that he is everything people do not want. The Minotaur was what triggered vulnerability and xenophobic tendencies towards the Greek people, causing them to use their imaginations with a paranoid mind. The Greek people made their own assumptions and pushed their own personal fears onto the Minotaur, thus creating a more frightening, powerful version of the beast. The Greek people were all linked together. Their thoughts diffused amongst each other and soon they were manipulated by what they have created themselves. In conclusion to Lord of the Flies, we realize that the “beastie” the boy’s were searching for throughout the whole novel was ultimately themselves. In this Greek myth, the beast was not only the Minotaur, but it was themselves as well. Their own fear—both in Lord of the Flies and Theseus and the Minotaur—caused them to perform the absurd. They sacrificed their own people because of the Minotaur and the ‘Beastie’. But it is not the beasts that they fear and are sacrificing to; it is the beast they have created themselves—their fear within.