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AnonymousTheseus
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | BCEA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Justice and Revenge
One of the moral questions posed by “The Cruel Tribute” is that of which actions are done in the name of justice and which are carried out in the name of revenge. The first action that prompts this question is the act of King Minos demanding the tributes. In recompense for the death of his son, Minos demands that “[e]very year when the springtime comes and the roses begin to bloom, you shall choose seven of your noblest youths and seven of your fairest maidens, and shall send them to me in a ship which your king shall provide” (196). To King Minos, this can be perceived as justice. He lost what is dearest to him, his son, and demands repayment from Athens in the city’s loss of children. Since he holds all of Athens responsible, he sees this as justice. To the people of Athens, however, this is a cruel act of revenge.
When the time comes for the yearly tribute, the people of Athens return to their homes, and “in every street the doors of the houses were shut and no man went in or out, but every one sat silent with pale cheeks, and wondered whose lot it would be to be chosen this year” (198). The people live in fear of Minos and his demanded tribute. For them, this system is not just; even if it were, they hoped they would not be the ones to pay the price for justice to be served.
The second action that raises the question of justice and revenge is Theseus’s entering the Labyrinth as a tribute with the intention of killing the Minotaur. When he learns that tributes are being paid to Crete, he becomes offended and states, “Athens shall not pay tribute to Crete. I myself will go with these youths and maidens, and I will slay the monster Minotaur, and defy King Minos himself upon his throne” (198-99). Theseus sees that it is unjust for Athens to be paying tribute to Crete and works to right the wrong as he sees it. The people of Crete may agree with Theseus, as they see the tributes walking through the streets and acknowledge that it’s “a pity that such brave young men should be food for the Minotaur” (201). However, Minos sees it as an act of revenge; in his mind, “[t]he nobler, the better […] and yet none of them can compare with your lost brother Androgeos” (201). Minos remembers Androgeos as the most noble of all youths; thus, he believes no noble tribute of Athens can measure up to the nobility of his lost son. For him, robbing Crete of its tributes would be an act of vengeance.
Sacrifice and Morality
The elite of Athens are faced with a choice: Do what is asked and send young individuals to their deaths in Crete, or stand against a powerful opponent. There is no resolution to this scenario without death. If they agree to King Minos’s terms, 14 young people will die every time the required tribute comes due. However, if they do not agree, they will be faced with a war that they are not sure they can win. Either way, people will die. The leaders must determine which choice will be best for the majority, and they decide that “it is better that a few should perish than the whole city be destroyed” (197). They choose to protect the lives of not only Athenian soldiers but also of the city’s noncombatants who would have died, Athenian women who would have been sent into slavery in Crete if they were captured, and Athenian land and heritage that would have been lost by the deaths of more children. Every year Athens endured, yet in “every house in Athens there was sorrow and dread” (197).
Likewise, Aegeus is faced with this difficult choice. Theseus returned home to him and is volunteering to go as a tribute to bring justice to Athens by freeing it from the hands of Crete. Theseus proposes a way to reverse the previous decision without causing a full-scale war. To do so, Aegeus must again be willing to lose the son he already gave up once. Nobody has ever returned from the Labyrinth, and nobody has survived the Minotaur. Aegeus wants to maintain the status quo: “Now, say no more […] it is better that a few should die even thus than that all should be destroyed” (198). Theseus convinces his father that the sacrifice is worth the risk. He bluntly acknowledges, “How can I do otherwise than go?” (199); the tribute system began because Minos believed Aegeus had no son of his own to sacrifice. Theseus has the skills and ability to protect Athens, so he believes he must go. He chooses to risk sacrificing himself for the needs of the many, placing others’ needs before his own desires.
Courage in the Face of Adversity
Courage is often described as the act of doing what is right even when it is not easy. In “The Cruel Tribute,” two characters display acts of courage. First, Theseus delves into the Labyrinth to face down the Minotaur and protect his people. He did not have to do this and could have chosen to stay in Athens with his father. However, when the lots were being cast and 13 tributes had been selected, Theseus stepped forward and declared: “Let no more balls be drawn. I will be the seventh youth to pay this tribute. Now let us go aboard the black ship and be off” (200). He put himself in danger for the sake of his people. When the day came to face the Minotaur, he stood in protection of those who came with him. Theseus positioned himself so that “he drew his sword and stood in the narrow way before them” (204), between the other tributes and the Minotaur. When facing the Minotaur, Theseus “ran forward to meet the beast” (205), rather than letting the Minotaur determine how the fight began. Theseus displayed courage, defeated the Minotaur, and returned home to rule as king of Athens.
A second character who displayed courage, making Theseus’s victory possible, was Ariadne. In an act of love, she “lay plans for setting him free. At the earliest peep of day she arose, and while everybody else was asleep, she ran out of the palace and hurried to the prison” (202). She defies the will of her father and actively works to free the tributes who are slated to die at the hands of the Minotaur. In return, Theseus shows his gratitude by promising to take her away with him. However, Ariadne made her plans before she knew he would rescue her. She acted in the way that she did because she believed it was moral, and she didn’t want to see Theseus die needlessly. In her final act of courage in this story, Ariadne meets Theseus as he and the other Athenians leave the Labyrinth. She leaves her home, her family, and everything that she knows for the person whom she just saved, stepping into the unknown and facing an unstable future without hesitation.
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