dust clouds or a summer shower." says Theseus, the Athenian hero and

narrator of The king Must Die by Mary Renault, about the kingdom of

Athens as he looks over it from is father's palace. Theseus has a stronger

love for Athens then anything else, including the gods. Soon after he

discovers the beauty of Athens, he is sent to Crete to be a bull dancer: a kind

of "sacrifice" for the decadent "goddess on earth" Ariadne. When they meet

they quickly fall in love despite her passionate, blood thirsty personality.

When the Cretan civilization is overturned by war, he takes Ariadne and the

cranes,( his bull dancing team ), and they go to a nearby island called Naxos.

While they are there, Ariadne takes part in a celebration and ends up

with him. He makes this decision because Ariadne will never respect the

She grew up in the Matriarchal culture where the women are the rulers,

without communicating or being in touch with the gods. He makes the hard

Living as the "goddess on earth" for so long has molded her into,

When she follows the others to the top of the mountain in pursuit of the king

even carry her when she leaves the palace!

Some common words found in the essay are:
Athens Ariadne, Mary Renault, Athens Theseus, Naxos Ariadne, Theseus Ariadne, Theseus Athenian, goddess earth, touch gods, matriarchal culture, gods stopped,
Approximate Word count = 583
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)