Source: Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 4.0.
Reflecting on the Myth of the Minotaur
Relevant topics: The following are some of the themes that could be considered under this proposed activity
Learning
Facing difficulties
Simple solutions to complex problems
Cunning
Taboos
Fears
Courage
Collaboration
Giving and receiving help
Work proposals
Basic reading material: Click here to go to the Legend of the Minotaur
Questions for reflection in small groups, followed by a plenary discussion:
Why is the Minotaur a monster?
What is monstrous about a being who is only partly human?
What monstrous things might we conceal in our own lives? How do we do it? Why?
What is a labyrinth like? What might its symbolic meaning be?
Why would Theseus, being a hero, accept the help that Ariadne offers him?
What might Ariadne’s thread mean for us today?
Other alternatives with a playful character
Three groups are formed. One analyses the story from Ariadne’s perspective, another from Theseus’s, and another from the Minotaur’s.
The groups then share their points of view in order to reach a general conclusion.
Could Theseus have failed? What interpretation would we make?
Each group designs a labyrinth and then passes it to another group to solve. The groups then reflect on the simultaneous experience of constructing a labyrinth and solving one. What did each process call upon? How did they manage it?