Mary Renault tells a wonderfully dashing tale of the classic Hero Theseus, who was said to have lived shortly before the time of the Trojan War. Although the book is very appealing to me the author did not follow the classic legends in several aspects. This can be a good technique and does bring newness to the story, however some departures changed the very fabric of the tale. In Renault's story many details are added that give the tale much more flavor. Finally, all told Mary Renault wrote a very believable tale of Theseus, and may have even done a better job than the ancients in bringing the story to life.

Mary Renault departed from the classic story of Theseus in the following ways. Theseus, in the classic legend was the cousin of Hercules and was built very much like him, Renault writes him as a smaller man with wit to make up for his size, and not a cousin of Hercules. Theseus does ponder on Hercules several times in the story, like he is a long dead hero. This is also misleading because Theseus and Hercules lived at the same time; they were in fact friends. In Euripides when Hercules is driven mad and kills his family, he is consoled

Mary Renault tells such a sweeping tale of the classic Hero Theseus, that I am sure even Euripides wound have approved of it. Although the book did not follow the classic legends in several aspects, this can be forgiven in most respects do to the excellent craftsmanship of the writer. Some departures changed the very fabric of the tale, and in these few examples, such as the changing of the sail, I have to argue that the story should not have been changed. In Renault's story the many details that have been added give the tale much more style and content in most instances. Mary Renault wrote a remarkably believable tale of ancient Athenian Hero, and in many ways did a better job than the ancients in bringing the story to life for masses.

The wonderful amount of detail that Renault adds to the story is amazing indeed. The way she wove in little details from the originals in a believable manner made the story much more fun and added an ancient flavor that I think would have been difficult to achieve otherwise. The little episodes with the string, for example, paralleling the legend in which Theseus carried the twine into the inescapable labyrinth to give him a means to leave after killing the Minota

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Approximate Word count = 813
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)