The King Must Die

King Pittheus explains to the young Theseus the concept of moira. Theseus searches for the place of his moira, the area where he is destined to live out his days. He finds it in Athens, but it becomes clear that there is more for him to do then he ever would have dreamed. Life and death are moira, a notion that allows Theseus to maintain perspective. He does not fear for his life, because he knows that as long as he lives it well, whenever he dies it will be according to his moira, just as all that he will have done will have also been his moira. It is an all-encompassing notion that describes both existence and our role in it.

Theseus thinks about why he used to get excited when seeing Amazon girls in the Bull Court. Later on, he marries an Amazon, and she bears him a son, but their relationship is tragic. He points out that we cannot tell where the future will take us, and that if we could, we would be like gods, because we could guide our lives. Theseus does not wish that he could have known what would happen, for that knowledge would not have made his life easier. He merely says that what makes us different from the gods is that our lives are full of surprises. Sometimes we would not want to go through with them if we could tell what was going to happen, but it is our destiny to do so.

Theseus describes the pottery that he sees while visiting some of the Cretan nobles. He has realized that the nobles have become bored with life because life no longer challenges them. Their well-being is assured, and as a result, they spend all of their time searching for innovation. Cretans are the best potters in the world, but they are sick of their pottery. Theseus learns that the Cretan nobles are too removed from what really matters in life. They represent a warning to those who would accumulate wealth and property to the point where they think everything is assured. At that point, life no longer consists of the constant attempt to stave off death but rather must be defined by some other endeavor. Newness is what these nobles live for.

Theseus and the bull-dancers are free, but they fight because they want to kill Asterion. Theseus had been a slave, and Asterion injured Thesus's pride along with everything else. As far as Theseus is concerned, if anything is worth a battle, it is an insult to one's honor. Some things require vengeance, and although Theseus does not generally risk lives without cause, in this case everyone else is willing to risk their lives to avenge their honor. A life, it seems, can be worth losing; it is honor that cannot be lost. Theseus lives his life by that code.

Theseus, in his old age, reflects on life. He sees that there is no escape from the fate that is set before us, and since we cannot escape fate, we should not question it. Theseus comes to a sad view of human life in the end. He realizes that life is sad by definition, because we all are doomed to die. Only the gods live forever, and so man's time is necessarily bittersweet. He feels that we would do better not to question but to attempt to enjoy it while we can.