Customer Reviews

King Must Die

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Mary Renault's great historical novel of Theseus begins when he is a young man in Troizen, a well-bred youth who has never known his father's identity. When, with the help of the gods, he succeeds in lifting a stone to reclaim his father's sword, Theseus discovers that he is the son of Aigeus, King of Athens. On his way to Athens to meet him, Theseus arrives in Eleusis, where after wrestling the king in a fight to the death, he finds himself, unexpectedly, the King of Eleusis. Later, in Athens, when fourteen young men and women are chosen by lot to become bull-dancers in Crete, fulfilling a tribute demanded by the King of Crete, Theseus listens to his god and joins the group, never knowing if he will survive to return to his father.

Renault tells the story of Theseus as if Theseus were a real person, not a mythical character, using history, archaeology, and a deep understanding of the cultures of the period to place Theseus in a realistic context. Her descriptions of the lifting of the stone, the wrestling match in Eleusis, Theseus's arrival at the palace in Athens, and especially his experiences in becoming a bull dancer bring the period vibrantly to life in ways consistent with the historical record. Theseus's devotion to the god Poseidon, to whom he prays throughout his journey, reflects his appreciation of his own smallness in relation to the gods, and his honoring of the gods unique to the kingdoms he visits show how the Greek religion gradually incorporated increasing numbers of gods and goddesses to explain the increasingly complex mysteries of life faced by Greek citizens.

Renault never fails to treat Theseus, his religion and culture, and the traditions of the countries in which he travels with the dignity they would have inspired in their own period. She never patronizes either her characters or her readers, writing with elegance and a fine appreciation for the details of daily life, the art of the period, and the pantheon of gods thought to control men's destinies. Whether Theseus was a real man whose strength and reputation grew to mythical proportions, as Renault illustrates, or whether he was, in fact, a mythical character whom she places in a realistic context in ancient Greece is less important than the fact that she creates a plausible life for this monumental character. Few, if any, other authors are so successful in recreating an entire era, its people, its beliefs, and its culture. Mary Whipple

Those readers who were upset at Mary Renault "tampering" with the accepted myth of Theseus should realize that her interest is not mythology but history. As a historical novelist, Renault has no peer. She researched her subjects thoroughly and evoked the time and place so accurately that her books seem to spring into life. She was less interested in Theseus as a mythological figure than as a historical figure, and her rendering of Theseus as a lightweight, fast on his feet, quick and active, seems absolutely correct. Renault is probably correct in believing that the myth of the minotaur in the labyrinth derived from the actual bull dancers of ancient Crete, who were for the most part captive slaves from the subject territories ruled by Crete three thousand years ago, and her depiction of the bull court, and the team Theseus trained to dance with the bulls, realizing that they would either all survive together or they would all die together, is more compelling than any labyrinth story we are already familiar with. In "The King Must Die", Theseus becomes a very human figure we can relate to and empathize with, rather than a stiff mythological figure more god than man. This is Renault's genius -- she brings ancient civilizations so vividly to life that we feel we are right there in the middle of the action. "The King Must Die" is one of her best.

I first read this book about 30 years ago and I have reread it several times since then. I generally don't reread books, so for me to do so as many times as I have with this one says a lot for the book. Before I read this, I was mildly familiar with the Theseus legend. After reading this book, I became extremely interested in the legend, particularly in the true-life palace at Knossos. The book gives some excellent background in the religions of the old matriarchal societies in which, each year, the king was sacrificed to the earth mother to ensure good crops for the next year. The theories on the bull dance which are based upon the findings at the palace of Knossos are excellently done. And the connection with Theseus belief that he is descended from the god Poseidon and so many things coinciding either with earthquake or something to do with the ocean prove that Mary Renault never left out any parts of her story when considering events that would take place. The research done for this book is great, and if you're like me it will lead you to do further research on your own. I recommend that you purchase this book and also its sequel The Bull from the Sea. You won't be going wrong!

How many people picked up "The King Must Die" and put it back thinking it was another hackneyed palace-plot historical novel? The title has the unfortunate punch of a spy novel. But for those who've read it . . . again and again, "The King Must Die" is the best of Mary Renault's novels of ancient Greece, and the best account of the Theseus myth.

Extensive research and exquisite talent combine in recreating Bronze Age Greece, down to the women's spangled skirts and the atmosphere in the smaller Greek cities. Theseus himself springs forward from the first page, a boy of reckless courage and pride whose belief that he is the son of a god is coupled with an intuition of coming earthquakes. When his parentage is revealed to be human, Theseus sets off to find his father--and Renault takes us deep into ancient spirituality and the forms of king and queenship.

From the first we understand that Theseus' people believed not in the divine right of kings, but the divinely-ordained duties of kings; the title is taken from the concept that a king might be called at any time to lay down his life for his people, or else lose his right to rule. The society Theseus moves in has not yet moved completely away from matriarchies, but is not entirely patriarchal either. Women hold power and no matter who the woman is, she is a presence, from Aithra (Theseus' mother) to Ariadne (the princess of Krete).

Nor are all the men chauvinistic boors, a fatal flaw in more than a few recent historical novels (at least those seeking to show the ancient world from a woman's point of view). From Theseus' grandfather Pittheus to Minos of Crete, the men of "The King Must Die" are by turns honorable, lust-driven, wise and attuned to the demands of the societies they live in. They are all flawed--there are no stainless heroes here, only fully-rounded characters with complex natures and needs. The only flat villain is Asterion, Minos' heir, but through Renault's power of description he has a strong presence for what time he appears in the book.

The style is perfect. Renault wastes no words, and every scene fits together seamlessly. Characters, even the flat ones, evoke response from the reader; the narrative voice never veers into anachronisms, nor loses that sense that Theseus is there at your shoulder, telling you his story. Descriptions are rich without being overwritten, something most authors fail to do today.

If you've never read one of Mary Renault's historical novels, "The King Must Die" is an excellent one to start with.

Mary Renault's historical fiction is, perhaps, the best ever written, and this book is the cream of the crop. The storytelling is brilliant, and the writing itself is exquisite, almost poetry in places.

Here is the story of Theseus as it might have actually taken place-his boyhood in a provincial Greek town, his quest to find his father in Athens, his rise to princehood, his enslavement to the Cretans, and his fiery life among the bull dancers in The Labyrinth, Knossos, the seat of King Minos. Theseus's story is a pre-Iliad legend. This is the story of the man who may have been Achilles' hero.

Renault milks the legend and the historical material for every scrap of cohesive storyline and fills in the gaps with superb insight and truly clever inventions. Her Theseus is a meticulously rendered flesh and blood human being, and the whole culture of ancient Greece comes gloriously to life under her pen. You will want to go to Knossos after you read this book and see the bull dances painted there on the old walls. This is a story that gets into your blood, under your skin.

Renault also brings out the cultural struggle between notions of sky gods and earth gods. Theseus believes himself to be the son of Pseidon and is bound by honor and traits of character to the sky gods. He has a smoldering feud with the goddess who would become Aphrodite and all she stood for and a deep love of the goddess who would become Athena and all she stood for. No conclusively supernatural events enter Renault's tail. She leaves possibilities open, but primarily uses ideas of religion to show the struggles going on in the culture and in the mind of her protagonist. She also brings out the full horror of the maenads, the female cult of Dianesis so savage that the Romans later banned them. Everything that is best and worst about ancient Greece finds some representation in this story, which is in fact only the first half of Theseus's life. Renault finishes her tail in The Bull From the Sea, which is an equally stunning, though much sadder, performance.

This is the first Mary Renault novel I've read, but if all of them are this good, I've got many days of great reading to anticipate. From the first page I was hooked into this riveting story, in which the combination of youthful pride and spiritual responsibility lift the boy Theseus into the role of king and culture hero. One of this books greatest pleasures is watching the way his restless curiosity turns the institutions which seek to victimize him upside down. Theseus can't seem to help landing on his feet, but the circumstances drawn around his victories are consistantly plausable, so much so that I was carried through this book on a wave of amazed admiration at the resiliancy of his character. The characters surrounding him were also excellently drawn. It's been a long time since I've read a book in which I cared so viscerally whether the characters lived or died. At each crisis of the story I was propelled on with a sense of anxious dread, fearing someone would come to harm, but unable to stop reading because I just had to know. I finished this book with all my expectations of it exceeded. I can't reccommend it highly enough. Five stars are too few.

After having had this book in my library for years, I finally picked it up and began to read. And, then, I didn't stop. Excluding the short breaks that are necessities in life, I consumed The King Must Die in one enchanted reading. Renault's effort here ranks with the best of historical fiction as it grabs it's reader and does not let go.

Theseus, the child of a Peloponnesian priestess and an absent Athenian king, sets out to find his lot in life, overcoming obstacles through sheer perservence, exuberance, and derring-do. His courage is palpable, his conviction invincible, as he navigates the customs, conflicts, and contradictions of ancient Greece and it's surroundings. Renault tells a masterful and utterly absorbing story and I look eagerly forward to the the ultimate book in the series, The Bull from the Sea. If you delight in historical fiction, this is a treasure you shouldn't ignore.

This tale of Theseus and ancient Crete has been one of my favorite books since I first read it at age ten (I'm now 30). Clearly, those who have given this novel a negative review are uninformed "readers" with no background in classical mythology or history. They remind me of the person who asked me for Homer's last name when I was trying to locate Lattimore's translation of the Illiad. Renault writes with a real storyteller's skill, something all too rare today, and brings the story of Theseus's conquest of Crete to life. A truly wonderful book!

As a general rule, I don't care much for the genre of historical fiction. It just doesn't appeal to me. I cannot tell you though, how glad I am I was talked into reading this book. Mary Renault's works are not just for history buffs, they are fascinating stories in their own rights, and "The King Must Die" is by far my favorite of the lot. Renault has a unique talant for looking at the myths and beliefs of ancient greece and revealing the facts behind them. Obviously "The King Must Die" is not an exact history, but as she tells the story of King Theseus it's like looking through a window to another era. The traditional myth of Theseus tells of his devotion to Posiden, the maze of the minotaur, and Areadne who leads Theseus through the minotaurs maze with a ball of string. It's really amazing how you can read this book, and view things with a split mind. To our modern mind the gutteral voice of Posieden issueing from a water filled cavern doesn't seem all that mystical (especially to anyone who's seen and heard things like the yellowstone park geysers), but to a young greek boy who's religion is filled with the gods and goddesses, there is no explanation beyond the anger of the bull-god.
Renault delves into some of the most interesting rituals the world has ever known including the bull-dancers of crete. It's kind of like the roman gladiator, but instead of man to man combat, teams of young boys and girls offered as payment to the cretes would take on the most ferocious bulls to be found and turn it into an acrobatic display that included swinging from the horns of the bull. Teams were sponsored by rich patrons, and the best of them were elevated to celebrity status. Renault also talks about the Meneads, who had rituals that involved the drinking of blood (indeed, if you ever wondered why Theseus married Hypolitia instead of Areadne, this book will provide an answer), as well as the ancient tradition of sactificing Kings in times of drought or hardship. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend any of Renault's books, but if you're looking for a starting point, start here. Its interesting, semi-educational, and just a lot of fun to read.

Although on the surface this book is about Theseus and the legend of his life prior to becoming King of Athens, the book is much more fundamentally an adventure tale featuring all of the most desirable male adolescent fantasies. If you read it as the latter, you will be thrilled. If you read it as historical fiction, you will be disappointed because the potential to develop the historical side is clearly subordinated to the adventure tale.

The classical story about Theseus features his slaying of the Minotaur. In this book, by contrast, the central theme is Theseus fulfilling his fate, as decreed by the gods. The primary backdrop is the conflict between "the old religion" of Mother Dia and "the new religion" of the Sky Gods (all sired by Zeus). Theseus brings about a reconciliation between the two sets of beliefs by honoring both, while rejecting the practice of routinely sacrificing the king (Kerkyon) as a fertility offering.

The book has enough material in it to be four books. The first story is about Theseus as a young man growing up with his mother, Aithra, without knowing who is father is in the household of his grandfather in Troizen. The second story starts with his finding that he is the son of the King of Athens and continues through his becoming King of Eleusis. The third story starts with leaving Eleusis to meet his father, King Aigeus, and continues through writing his name on the lot that selects him as a bull dancer slave as tribute for the Cretans. The fourth story begins with his leaving Athens for Crete through his return. Although each of these stories is exciting and interesting, the fourth one is the best.

Bull leaping entailed running toward and grasping the two horns of a live Cretan bull and performing gymnastic feats, like one does today by vaulting using a pommel horse. Naturally, it was a lot more dangerous than vaulting is. Theseus revels in the danger and excitement. He also feels committed to keeping his fellow slaves from Athens alive, in a team that he has named the Cranes, for a dance that they do in the bull ring.

Some of the many adventure themes that will resonate with young male readers include being specially selected by the gods for an exalted purpose, being the unknown son of a king, being sought out by powerful and beautiful women, unlimited sexual access, being a popular hero with other males, successful conquests of animals, leading successful battles with men, and being invincible in all endeavors. I cannot remember a book with so many of these themes packed into one.

Placing the book in these ancient times gives you a fresh perspective on our own world. What are the proper roles for men and women in society? How should they relate to one another? What is the role of piety? What is the purpose of life? How can we contribute to one another? If you ask and answer these questions after you finish, you will have gotten much benefit from the book as well as much pleasure from the adventure tales in it.

Take the bull by the horns to accomplish more!