The King Must Die
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 Cover of the 1988 paperback edition |
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| Author | Mary Renault |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Historical novel |
| Publisher | Vintage |
| Released | 1958 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 352 p. (Vintage edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-394-75104-3 |
| Followed by | The Bull from the Sea |
The King Must Die is a novel by Mary Renault about the life of Theseus, a character in ancient Greek mythology. In the novel, Theseus traces his life from his childhood to his early manhood, specifically the point at which he returns from Crete to Athens. Rather than writing a long retelling of the original myth, the author tries to reconstruct an archeologically possible story that might have developed into the myth—for instance, Theseus is taken to Crete not to be sacrificed to the Minotaur, but to be a bull-leaper as depicted in Minoan art. She molds the character of Theseus into a man who compensates for his smallness by energy and ingenuity, instead of a bronze-age giant as he is often portrayed. Despite this realistic approach, the supernatural plays a role in the story.
Renault wrote a sequel, The Bull from the Sea (1962).
