Revival Of The Ancient World

Revival Of The Ancient World

Marshall Brown
24 August 2011
3rd Period
Revival of the Ancient World
Mary Renault, the author of The King Must Die, metaphorically brings the ancient world to life for readers with credibility and new meaning. She successfully achieves this effect through her usage of themes, historically accurate information, and modifications to the legend. However, she has a reasonable explanation for her differences between the context of the novel and the events that historically occurred. Because Renault portrays Theseus as a real human being, not a mythological character, she can use a deep comprehension of the cultures from the time period to place Theseus in a realistic circumstance, one which reaches to renew the reader spiritually and emotionally. Her use of themes, historically correct information, and changes to the legend all contribute to the overall goal that Renault had in mind: for the reader to experience a sense of renewal from reading the novel. Whether it is spiritually or emotionally, the realistic events portrayed in this novel certainly give the reader a sense of inspiration or redirection in a positive way and cause the reader to feel as if he or she is in the middle of the action.
Firstly, The King Must Die mainly consists of three themes: sacrifice, maturation, and the son’s search for his father. The most significant theme in Renault’s novel is sacrifice, specifically the king’s sacrifice to the gods. Ancient Greeks believed that man must give up his life for the gods and his society. However, if the king did not sacrifice himself, then the gods would become angry and punish the citizens. Also, the king must die willingly, without regret. It is the duty of the king to be in charge for a specific length of time, get everything he wants, and then be killed as a sacrifice to the gods. A few examples of sacrifices come from the King Horse; Kerkyon, the yearly King of Eleusis; and Minos, the King of Crete. The King Horse, for example, who was a...