Every nine years, Minos, who had defeated Athens in a war,
demanded seven young men and seven young women
to be fed to the Minotaur, a monstrous creature, half man and half bull,
that lived in the Labyrinth, a huge and devilishly complicated maze.
The third time the tribute had to be paid, Theseus voluntarily
took the place of one the male sacrifices, intending to kill the Minotaur
and stop this madness. Ariadne, Minos’ daughter, fell in love with Theseus
the moment she saw him, and secretly gave him a ball of string.
He was to tie one end to the door post of the labyrinth and unwind
the string as he went deeper inside, so that he would be able to easily
find his way back out. He found and killed the Minotaur and managed
to escape from Crete with the other young Athenians, as well as Ariadne
and her little sister Phaidra.

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