Minotaur love with Theseus and helped him navigate the labyrinth. In most accounts she gave him a ball of thread, allowing him to retrace his path. Theseus killed the Minotaur with the sword of Aegeus and led the other Athenians back out of the labyrinth. On the way home, Theseus abandoned Ariadne on the island of Naxos and continued. He neglected, however, to put up the white sail. King Aegeus, from his lookout on Cape Sounion, saw the black-sailed ship approach and, presuming his son dead, committed suicide by throwing himself into the sea that is since named after him. This
The Minotaur (opera) recounts the circumstances surrounding the birth of her half-brother, the Minotaur: her mother's union with a white bull from the sea, which was either sent by Poseidon, or was the sea god himself in disguise. "Scene 5: The Labyrinth" The Innocents reach the heart of the labyrinth. The Minotaur is taunted by the chorus for his monstrous form and inability to speak. His first victim, a young woman, appears and the Minotaur gores and rapes her. Keres feed upon the body and sing of destruction. "Scene 6: The Minotaur Dreams" The Minotaur acquires the power of speech in his dreams.