- 3 months ago
Jim Henson's The Storyteller S02E01 Theseus and the Minotaur
Category
🦄
CreativityTranscript
00:00Transcription by CastingWords
00:30Transcription by CastingWords
01:00Transcription by CastingWords
01:29Transcription by CastingWords
01:59Transcription by CastingWords
02:29Ten centuries ago, a creature was born, child of a terrible passion, son of a queen, son of a bull.
02:37A creature so monstrous, Minos, king of Crete, had this maze built to hide him.
02:43Every seven years there was a blood tribute paid to Crete.
02:47Every seven years a black-sailed ship came from Athens.
02:51Seven youths in their prime, seven pure maidens were taken as sacrifice, brought here to the labyrinth, where every passage is a promise broken.
03:00Every way out is a way in, and where the Minotaur's savage appetite for human flesh could be dealt with in the dark.
03:09But there was one person who came and went at will in the beast's domain.
03:16Ariadne, daughter of Minos, the king, every day she visited the creature, cared for it, pitied it, down in the dark, shut away with its secrets.
03:31Shhh...
03:33Shhh...
03:34It's me. I'm here.
03:38Come close. Come here.
03:40She knew the heart was human, no matter what the face.
03:44Come close.
03:46No matter what she saw.
03:48No matter what she heard.
03:50The cries of the victims, the pitiful cries, awful, awful, awful, awful.
04:01Many leagues away from Crete, a bull was being sacrificed, watched by a mother and her son, Theseus.
04:10She had never told him who his father was, bound by a promise made seventeen years before.
04:16Now, Theseus was growing up, and she knew that soon he would leave her, just as his father had done before him.
04:27Why do you weep? At the bull's death?
04:31No.
04:33No.
04:34Then what?
04:37I was thinking of the pine forest, of a rock, and the high ground in the forest.
04:46When you can move the rock, you will find out who your father is.
05:00I cannot!
05:01Then wait one summer!
05:02Why are you happy?
05:04Because when you can move the rock, you will leave me.
05:07Never!
05:09I promise!
05:12But Theseus couldn't wait another summer.
05:14He was there, morning after morning, straining at the rock, tearing his muscles, until one day, the dawn still damp in his hair, he felt the rock give.
05:26Then, with one last effort, he heaved it away.
05:45Mother, was my father a great warrior?
05:50Your father is a king.
05:52Your father is Aegeus, king of Athens.
05:58And Theseus heard the story of his birth, and vowed to go to Athens and make himself known to his father.
06:05I will come back.
06:07I promise.
06:09Go to Athens by sea.
06:11Don't risk the coast road.
06:13Danger will find you soon enough.
06:15Did he go by sea?
06:18No, he went by the coast road, plagued by robbers, giants, bandits.
06:24On the long journey, he slew Procrustes, Skyron the Kicker, Cenus the Pinebender, until at last he came to the great fortress of Athens, rising up from the sea.
06:35And with the dust of the journey, still on his skin, he sought audience with Aegeus, his father.
06:47It was seventeen years since Aegeus had left Theseus' mother.
06:51Now his beard was grey, and another woman was by his side.
06:57Medea.
06:59I thank you, Lord, for greeting a stranger.
07:02Word of your great adventures reaches the king.
07:05Slayer of giants, we hear.
07:07Scourge of bandits.
07:09I wish the road between my home and Athens safe for travellers.
07:12Where is that home?
07:14Troisene, in the west.
07:16Troisene?
07:18My Lord is trusting.
07:20I tell him, as his priestess, as mother to his sons, be wary of those who arrive with blood on their hands.
07:25I seek purification from the king.
07:27Of course you do.
07:29What is your name, warrior?
07:31Theseus, Lord.
07:32Your lineage?
07:33Some say my father is of the sea.
07:35Some say he is a great king.
07:37The king is insulted by riddles.
07:39Does he have your allegiance?
07:40I would give my life for him.
07:42I would take life from all who are his enemies.
07:45The king invites you to feast with him this evening.
07:48First, with his blessing, go to the river Cephisos and be purified.
07:52Then you are welcome in Athens.
07:53I don't like her.
07:55She's a witch.
07:56She was a witch.
07:58She was also a mother.
07:59And she knew Theseus.
08:01She knew nothing would stand in his way.
08:03Not love.
08:04Not fear.
08:05Not a promise.
08:07Theseus went to the river Cephisos and washed himself in readiness for the peace.
08:12Medea, wanting the kingdom for her own sons, also made preparation.
08:18Mixing secret herbs and poisonous spices.
08:23Welcome, hero.
08:24My lady.
08:25My lord.
08:27Your sword.
08:28Forgive me, lord.
08:29I wear it in peace.
08:33Drink, friend.
08:34Drink the wine.
08:35No!
08:36Theseus!
08:37My son!
08:38My son!
08:39My son!
08:40Seize her!
08:41Seize the sorceress!
08:42A curse on you, Aegeus of Athens.
08:43A curse on your son.
08:44You will bring each other nothing but pain and sorrow.
08:45Before a year is out, grief will poison you.
08:49Poison you, poison you, poison you, poison you.
08:50Poison you, poison you.
08:51Poison you, poison you.
08:52Spitting out her foul curse.
08:53She vanished and was seen no more.
08:54But is that true?
08:55Did they bring each other nothing but pain and sorrow?
08:56Did they bring each other nothing but pain and sorrow?
08:57Was it terrible?
08:58No, no, no.
08:59At first it was wonderful.
09:02The king, who had rarely smiled, now laughed.
09:05Age dropped from him and Theseus walked the fortress of the Acropolis with a proud
09:08and was seen no more.
09:11But is that true?
09:13Did they bring each other nothing but pain and sorrow?
09:16Was it terrible?
09:17No, no. At first it was wonderful.
09:20The king, who had rarely smiled, now laughed.
09:23Age dropped from him, and Theseus walked the fortress of the Acropolis
09:27with the proud steps of a prince.
09:29No, no. At first it was wonderful.
09:33There's a but coming up.
09:35But?
09:36There was already a curse on Athens,
09:39and the time had come for fourteen more of her sons and daughters
09:42to set sail for Crete,
09:44dressed in the white robes of sacrifice.
09:47Stop!
09:50Take off the robe!
09:51Theseus!
09:52Take off the robe!
09:54Every seven years, Father, stretching into the future,
09:57our sons and our sons' sons,
10:00our wives' daughters and their daughters too.
10:02Not anymore.
10:03Son, don't! I beg you!
10:05What is this minotaur of theirs?
10:08Who has seen it?
10:09I have.
10:10In my dreams I have seen it.
10:12It waits for me.
10:13And I, Theseus, son of Aegeus,
10:16who slew Procrustes and Skyron the kicker
10:19and seen as the pine bender,
10:21I will face the monster and rid Athens of its fear.
10:24Raise your heads, sons and daughters of Athens.
10:29Lift up your hearts.
10:31We will return with the head of the beast on our prow.
10:34Don't return under the black sail.
10:37If you come back safe, hoist a white sail.
10:41Son, do you hear me?
10:43I shall be watching every day from the cliffs.
10:46The white sail, Father.
10:48Have no fear.
10:49I will return.
10:50I promise.
10:51A white sail.
10:53I promise.
10:55And with his promise catching on the wind,
10:58Theseus set sail for Crete.
11:01And at that very moment,
11:03in the heart of the labyrinth,
11:04the minotaur woke from a dream in the dark
11:07and howl.
11:12Shh.
11:13It's all right.
11:16It's a dream.
11:18Shh.
11:20Be here.
11:22I'll tell you about the world outside.
11:25About the light.
11:27About the colour of the sky.
11:30They say the sky's blue, but it's not.
11:33It can be a thousand colours.
11:36Pinks.
11:37Greys.
11:39Colour of gold.
11:41Colour of wine.
11:44But there are people.
11:47Families.
11:50I'm somebody's daughter.
11:53I'm the daughter of a king.
11:55I'm a sister.
11:58You are a son.
12:01You are a brother.
12:02As Ariadne came from the labyrinth,
12:17ran from the monster left with its secrets,
12:20Theseus, son of Aegeus,
12:21sailed into Crete.
12:23And as the children of Athens came before her,
12:26Theseus, the hero,
12:28stood defiant.
12:29And as he saw her,
12:32As she saw him,
12:34The threads of their lives crossed,
12:37Tangled,
12:38Knotted them together.
12:40Kneel, Athenian.
12:44Who am I kneeling to?
12:45Ariadne.
12:47Daughter of King Minos.
12:53If I said, Athenian,
12:54I implore you,
12:55I beg you,
12:57Kneel before me.
12:58Would you do that?
13:00How could I refuse?
13:06Forehead on the ground
13:07As the Egyptians kneel to their kings and queens.
13:13Who are you?
13:16Theseus,
13:17son of Aegeus.
13:19The king's son?
13:21And you go to the Minotaur as sacrifice?
13:24Or did you think you would kill it?
13:26I think I was a fool.
13:28I think so too.
13:29Well, I gave you a civil answer.
13:31Take him away,
13:32so die all enemies of my father.
13:34As the guards lifted him up,
13:36he felt I press something into his hand.
13:39It was a key.
13:40She gave him a key?
13:42My goodness,
13:43this is getting exciting.
13:44Theseus was locked with the others
13:46in the deepest,
13:47darkest dungeon of the palace.
13:49Those that slept
13:50shook with their nightmares.
13:53Those who couldn't sleep
13:54were fixed on their fate.
13:56Death playing over in their minds.
13:58How they would die.
14:00What they would feel.
14:02Whether the pain would be quick or slow.
14:04Zeus, help me.
14:07Athene, help me.
14:14At the far end of the palace,
14:15you will come to a great door marked with gold.
14:17Go through it and enter the labyrinth.
14:19Pay out this ball of twine behind you
14:21as you go to guide you on your return.
14:23Go forwards and always down.
14:25And in the very heart of the maze,
14:27you will find the beast.
14:28Why do you do this for me?
14:29Because the curse on Athens
14:30is also the curse on Crete.
14:34Because of the way you look at me.
14:36How do I look at you?
14:38Like this.
14:41Like this.
14:44Why do you want the Minotaur dead?
14:47It shames my family.
14:49It shames me.
14:52What life does it have in the dark?
14:54It's loveless.
14:55Don't ask more.
14:57Go.
14:58Go and kill the beast.
15:01Promise me one thing.
15:03Promise me if you return,
15:04you'll take me with you.
15:07I promise.
15:10And so Theseus, the hero,
15:11opened the great door to the labyrinth.
15:14He knew immediately the beast could sense him.
15:26But like a brooding black spider,
15:28it could sense the slightest movement
15:30in its massive, intricate web.
15:35Theseus froze.
15:37Could hear his own heartbeat.
15:39Or was it the beast's?
15:41What happened?
15:44No, don't tell me.
15:46No, tell me.
15:47Ugh, this is terrible.
15:49Theseus crept around the next corner.
15:51And the next.
15:53Always forwards.
15:54Always down.
15:56Paying out the thread.
15:58Until...
15:58The power of a bull,
16:06the guile of a man.
16:07It knew every inch of its domain.
16:10Wherever Theseus went,
16:11it knew another way.
16:12Suddenly appearing,
16:14smashing through passages.
16:15Maddened, wild,
16:17famished.
16:18No, no, no, no, no, no.
16:48It lay there on the floor, bleeding to death, and Theseus stood above it with
16:54his sword. And as he watched, its huge jaws moved, and it seemed to him as if
17:01the sounds coming from them were almost human.
17:05Mother, it seemed to say. Mother, father, brother, sister.
17:18No. Don't. Don't kill him. He's my brother.
17:36Please. He's my brother.
17:41Move. Move away. Theseus, son of Aegeus.
17:53He killed it? He killed it.
17:58Oh. Oh, what?
18:00Was it really her brother? It really was.
18:03That's sad.
18:05That's why Ariadne always came here, isn't it? Because she was his sister.
18:09That's right.
18:11Did Theseus have to kill him? Couldn't he have been tamed?
18:16Theseus saw only the beast, saw only the moment when he could hold the horns aloft on the quay
18:22at Athens.
18:23His father's face, the pride, the hero's welcome.
18:27All his life had been for that moment. The birth, the rock, the sword, the labors.
18:32All for that moment when he struck off the head of the minotaur.
18:36Within an hour, he was pulling out of the harbor, firing the Cretan ships, heading out towards the open sea,
18:42the beast's head wrapped in sailcloth.
18:45Did she go with him?
18:48She did go with him. She loved him. From the first moment she'd seen him, she loved him.
18:55But already she saw his heart was growing cold and famous, and she was forced to look on the bloodied sail
19:01which covered her brother's head, and the burning of her father's mighty fleet.
19:06And regret chilled her as she stood and watched Crete recede and fade on the horizon,
19:12knowing she could never go back.
19:17The next night they put in at Naxos, certain of their safety, danced the dance of the crane.
19:24The fourteen Athenians danced the ritual steps of victory, feasted late into the night,
19:30the fires, the wine, the triumph flushing their faces.
19:36And Ariadne watched, paler sin, watched and waited for her new lord to join her,
19:43waited for him to lie with her.
19:47And when the fire had died to its embers, when the wineskins were dry,
19:53when his feet could no longer carry him, Theseus came to her.
19:59And all night he'd promised her anything, everything.
20:05The promise of a man to a woman.
20:09The promise his father had made to his mother.
20:14And broken.
20:15So he married her.
20:18When Ariadne woke, the bed was empty.
20:21The sun beat down on the white sand.
20:24She looked for Theseus, but he was gone.
20:26She ran to the shore, running through the ashes of the feast,
20:29running in the footprints of the dance into the water,
20:32as the ship, with the black sail, carried Theseus to Athens.
20:37Theseus!
20:40Son of Aegeus!
20:41Breaker of Promises!
20:45Betrayer!
20:48But already Theseus's thoughts were elsewhere,
20:51puzzling on the beast's head he kept in the sailcloth,
20:54now folding, now unfolding,
20:56amazed that with each day its features seemed to him more human, more gentle.
21:03That was his sail.
21:04That was the white sail he promised he would hoist it on his return.
21:07I know.
21:08Not wrapped the head in it, he promised his father.
21:11Aegeus had grown old, scanning the distance.
21:14He had grown old, waiting.
21:16And then one day, standing at the edge of the cliffs,
21:20he saw a sail approaching.
21:22He held his breath.
21:24From the altars of my family, you lord me!
21:27My brother's blood on my hands, faithless ones!
21:30His eyes were weak, the sun so blinding.
21:34At first he could not tell if it were white or black.
21:37You carry the beast's forehead with you!
21:40But also my heart!
21:42My heart!
21:43My wretched heart!
21:45Abandoned on this shore!
21:47No way back!
21:48Not forward!
21:49I curse you!
21:50I curse you!
21:51I curse you!
21:52I curse you!
21:53I curse you!
21:54I curse you!
21:55His heart broke and he leapt out into the dazzling light of the day,
22:00into the sea, which ever after bears his name.
22:04I curse your birth!
22:05I curse the love I bore for you!
22:06You gods who watch all things!
22:07Hear my cries!
22:08Mark my tears!
22:09Let the sky fall on him!
22:10The sea swallow him!
22:11The earth drown him!
22:12He abandoned me!
22:13He abandoned me!
22:34Theseus, son of Aegeus, bull slayer, king of Athens.
22:50Many nights he would dream of wandering through the winding corridors of his palace,
22:55looking as he had done once before for a monster to kill.
22:59But in the dream, it was always his mother, or his father, or his wife he killed.
23:07And when he caught his own reflection, he had the monster's face.
23:29The End
23:38The End
23:59You