For years I overlooked Mary Renault’s The King Must Die, a historical novel published in 1958, based on the myth of Theseus. You could find crinkled mass market paperbacks in every used bookstore and crisp new editions in new bookstores. Despite my love of Greek literature, the cover art put me off. I had no idea what the book was about, but the art sent a message: Not for Me.
Here’s some old cover art: on the first American hardcover edition (above), a figure balances on the back of a bull. Who knew what was going on with that? On the cover of a 1970s Bantam paperback, an incomprehensible tiny bull is positioned in front of a giant head with a helmet and a rather small tower – at least I think it’s a tower.
Here’s why I finally read it.
Everyman’s Library has published a beautiful hardcover edition of The King Must Die and the sequel, The Bull from the Sea. It has two appendices by Mary Renault, a three-page summary of the myth of Theseus and a fascinating Author’s Note that examines the myth from a scholarly perspective and explains her complex interpretation.
All right, if they’re billing this as a classic, it’s for me.
This was exactly the kind of reading I needed after the holiday. I fell into the story, spellbound. Renault writes beautifully, the plot is exceptionally clever and well-wrought, and her interpretation of the myth is a masterwork of imagination and scholarship.
Those of you who love myth need not fear being bored by history, because the gods and religion are so intertwined in the ancient world that Theseus communicates mystically with Poseidon, the god to whom he is dedicated, and who is perhaps his father – though he learns in his teens that his actual father is the King of Athens, who is also connected to Poseidon.
The bulk of the story revolves around Theseus’s adventures in Crete. Yes, that is where the labyrinth is – but the Minotaur is not at the center of the labyrinth – he is a particularly nasty human being. No, Theseus follows a thread through the labyrinth of the palace to the quarters of Ariadne, a priestess and the king’s daughter, known as “the Goddess,” who has fallen in love with him.
In Athens his father, King Aigeus, tries to prevent his participation in a gruesome lottery. Every year King Minos of Crete demands seven boys and girls chosen in a lottery as hostages from Athens. They will become bull dancers who dance and perform gymnastics on and around a real bull. No bull dancer has survived more than a year. Theseus gallantly insists that his name be submitted with this companions’. Of course he is chosen, and his leadership and courage unite the team.
It is a brilliant book, a fantastic “yarn,” the thread in the labyrinth! Actually, it is a classic. I look forward to reading more Renault.
Treat yourself to this magnificent novel during the hectic Christmas season, even if it’s not hectic.
I read something by Mary Renault when I was a teenager and loved it. I’ve had The Bull from the Sea on my shelf for years. so was planning to read it one day. But when I finally picked it up, I realised it was a sequel and I haven’t found the first book yet.
As for books I haven’t read because of the cover, I’m longing to read The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. I was convinced they’d have published an edition with a cover I liked by now, but apparently not.
Yes, it would be impossible to follow The Bull from the Sea without The King Must Die. There’s a lot of good cover art, but sometimes you just look at it and say, Why?
I’ve loved Mary Renault’s work for many, many years, although it’s been an eon or two since I actually read any of it. Although I already had two rather worn hard back editions of Bull From the Sea & King Must Die, I couldn’t resist adding to my already overstuffed shelves this new Everyman’s edition as well! (well, it does have Daniel Mendelsohn’s intro! Any excuse, any excuse!) One of my favorites from Renault’s novels is Last of the Wine, a work of historical fiction set in Athens during the Peloponnesian War (the narrator is a student of Socrates & friend of Xenophon). Her books about Alexander the Great (Fire from Heaven & The Persian Boy) are also very good (I didn’t like the third, Funeral Games, quite as much) although I suspect her views of Alexander/history may be a bit suspect these days to those who know more than I. It’s nice to know you were wowed by The King Must Die, as I’ve avoided re-reading it for several decades, afraid that its magic may have faded! Some nice winter-like afternoon (we don’t quite have winter in west central Florida) I may treat myself to a re-read.
I loved The King Must Die. One of the best retold myth/historical novels ever. And so much better than the retold myths that tempt me at the library! I keep checking out a novel called “Medea,” which I never get around to, and now that I have Renault I don’t need to read it. The snow has melted here, so maybe our state is becoming Florida!