Theseus and the Minotaur (transcript)

This is the transcript for Theseus and the Minotaur

(In a dark room, the camera pans onto an old-looking book.)

Narrator: For thousands of years, there have been great sagas of brave heroes who battle hideous monsters for untold rewards. Of journeys into the unknown. These stories are told over thousands of years.

(The book flips open and the scene changes to the marketplace of Crete. Citizens are going about their business)

Narrator: In ancient times, the island of Crete was ruled over by the noble King Minos.

(Suddenly, everything grinds to a halt. The citizens bow down as King Minos, a portly, brown-haired, bearded man in a blue and white robe and a gold crown, is carried through the streets on a sedan chair by his guards)

Guard: (to a man who is still standing) Bow down before your King!

(Terrified, the man does so. Minos laughs as the guards proceed)

Minos: Ah, I love the sound of grovelling subjects in the morning.

(The scene changes to reveal the Athens marketplace. People who are going about their daily routine scatter as two of Minos' guards approach)

Narrator: The lands around Minos' kingdom feared his power, no more so than the Athenians. After the death of the king's son, the people of Athens lived in fear of the wrath of Minos.

(The king's son, a young, blond man is ambushed by a pair of other men armed with knives. His limp hand drops to the ground. The scene then changes to reveal the Labyrinth)

Narrator: To prevent war being waged on Athens, the king placed an ultimatum. Every seven years, fourteen men and women would be taken to Crete and trapped inside a giant maze called the Labyrinth. There, lived an evil monster called the Minotaur. It had a man's body, a bull's head and a lion's fangs. Minos kept it for one evil purpose: for innocent prisoners to meet their death.

(The Minotaur steps out of the shadows roaring. He charges and off-camera, the screams of a prisoner are heard as the Minotaur mauls him to death. King Minos sits on his throne, listening on emotionless. His daughter, Ariadne, a young, barefoot, dark-haired girl in a pink crop top and skirt and a necklace, recoils in horror)

Ariadne: Dad, please. This has to stop.

Minos: Ariadne, in case you haven't noticed, I have to do this.

Ariadne: But why?

Minos: Because my son, your brother, was killed by the Athenians. Now, they will pay the price!

Ariadne: But, dad, that was years ago! Can't you just put the past behind you?