Theseus, Ariadne, and the young tributes defeat a more animalistic Minotaur in a 7th century BCE representation
[…] In the seventh century we find a clear, albeit unusual, representation on a Tenian-Boiotian relief pithos of about 650 B.C. now in Basel (BS 617). Here the Minotaur has the reverse of his usual form, with the body of a bull and the head (unfortunately missing, but there is long hair) of a man; there are also traces of a horn. Since he has no hands, he naturally holds no weapon; Theseus for his part approaches the monster with a stone in his raised hand, and he is followed by three women and two men in the same position with raised stones. All appear to be holding on to a thread with their other hand; it runs horizon- tally across the four figures on the upper band of the scene, then drops down to Theseus and the remaining (female) figure on the lower band. This last figure, though directly behind Theseus, seems to be in the same attitude as the others, but possibly she is nonetheless Ariadne. Alternatively, the last figure in the sequence (far left on the upper band) might be so interpreted, with Ariadne here guarding the entrance or holding the end of the thread. In any event, aside from the maverick Minotaur we have also an early illustration of the (logical enough) idea that the other young men and women were sent into the Labyrinth at the same time as Theseus, and aided in the fight. […]
Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic sources by Timothy Gantz, pg 266.
In the visual arts, the thread already appears in the earliest known representation of the encounter between Theseus and the Minotaur, on the neck of a Cycladic relief pithos of ca. 650 b.c. in Basel (Fig. 4). Here Theseus and five companions, two boys and three girls, confront a monster that is part quadruped, part human. Theseus and his companions hold rocks in one raised hand and a thread in the other hand. Like mountaineers on a sheer ice wall, whose means of survival is the rope linking them together, the Athenian boys and girls cling to the thread, which will ensure their escape from the Labyrinth if they defeat the monster with their stones. The representation on the pithos indicates that, in the 7th century, the Minotaur was already to be found in the dark and disorienting Labyrinth, from which there was to be no escape, and that Ariadne’s thread was the key to survival in the maze.
Bild, Mythos, and Ritual Choral Dance in Theseus’s Cretan Adventure on the François Vase by Guy Hedreen, pg 495.
Theseus and the Athenian children in the Labyrinth. Cycladic relief pithos, ca. 650 b.c. Basel, Antikenmuseum und Sammlung Ludwig, BS 617 (Kä 601). Photo courtesy Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig. Photo A. F. Voegelin.
I admit I liked this idea more than the idea of Theseus being the only one to physically do anything, with the tributes usually being in another part of the labyrinth and Ariadne not being in the labyrinth at all. I like the idea of Ariadne and the tributes being there, actively helping to kill the Minotaur. Maybe because I love teamwork in stories lol. It also makes it seem less like a victory for Theseus against a monster and more like an Athenian victory against the Cretan's oppression. The potential for Ariadne to have been there at the Minotaur's death and, in fact, to be actively collaborating in it is intriguing as well. Although, to be frank, I prefer the usual depiction of the bipedal Minotaur rather than the quadrupedal Minotaur. Anyway, the fact that this source is so old (7th century BCE) makes me wonder how much this myth has changed over the years…
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