Theseus and the Minotaur

Long ago, on the sunlit shores of ancient Greece, there lay the powerful city of Athens. Its king, Aegeus, ruled wisely, but his land was overshadowed by a grim tribute demanded by the distant island kingdom of Crete.

Years earlier, King Minos of Crete had waged war against Athens and emerged victorious. As part of the harsh terms of peace, Athens was forced to send seven young men and seven young women every nine years to Crete. There, they would be thrown into a dark, twisting Labyrinth—a maze so complex that none had ever escaped. Within its depths lurked the Minotaur, a fearsome creature with the body of a man and the head of a bull. It fed upon those unfortunate souls who were sent into its domain.

King Minos kept the Labyrinth sealed beneath his great palace at Knossos, and the architect Daedalus—the most brilliant craftsman of his age—had designed it to be inescapable.