Hora (or Chora, Χώρα), on the island of Naxos. Theseus abandoned Ariadne on the island, and she was taken to wife by Dionysius. Her wedding crown was set in the heavens (the corona borealis). © tango7174, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Introduction
King Minos of Crete reneged on a promise to sacrifice a white bull to Poseidon, and it went mad. Heracles captured it, but that was not the end of the story...
THE white bull of King Minos sired a dreadful half-man, half-bull called the Minotaur, which was at length confined in the Labyrinth, an ingenious maze.
Every year, at Minos’s command, a ship with a black flag of grief set out from Athens, bearing seven youths and seven maidens for the minotaur to consume in its lair.
Theseus offered himself as one of the seven youths, promising his father that he would soon return, flying a white flag of joy.
With the help of Ariadne, Minos’s daughter, Theseus felt his way to the heart of the maze, laying as he went Ariadne’s fine thread to mark his path, and slew the monster.
But when he came safely to harbour in Athens, he forgot to fly his white flag. His despairing father saw only the black flag, and cast himself into the sea.
Précis
King Minos kept the Minotaur, a monstrous bull, imprisoned in a maze, fat with human sacrifices. Pretending to be one of them, Theseus entered the maze (marking his path with princess Ariadne’s thread) and killed the Minotaur. But he forgot to tell his father he was safe, and the poor man committed suicide in the sea. (56 / 60 words)
King Minos kept the Minotaur, a monstrous bull, imprisoned in a maze, fat with human sacrifices. Pretending to be one of them, Theseus entered the maze (marking his path with princess Ariadne’s thread) and killed the Minotaur. But he forgot to tell his father he was safe, and the poor man committed suicide in the sea.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: because, just, may, must, unless, until, whereas, who.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Maiden. Monster. Safe.
2 Himself. Lay. Only.
3 Come. Promise. Slue.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
vd (8+1)
avid. avoid. evade. ivied. video. vied. void. voodoo.
ovoid.
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