The Bull from the Sea
First US edition
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| Author | Mary Renault |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical novel |
| Publisher |
Pantheon Books (US) Longmans (UK) |
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Publication date
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1962 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 352 (Vintage paperback edition) |
| ISBN | (Vintage paperback edition) |
| OCLC | 47771741 |
| 823/0912 21 | |
| LC Class | PR6035.E55 B85 2001 |
| Preceded by | The King Must Die |
The Bull from the Sea is the sequel to Mary Renault's The King Must Die. It continues the story of the mythological hero Theseus after his return from Crete.
The story is a retelling of the life of mythological hero Theseus after his return from the Minoan palace of Knossos. The novel follows his later quests, his friendship with Pirithoos, and his liaison with Hippolyta and marriage to Phaedra.
Theseus returns to Athens along with the other Athenian bull-leapers. His father, Aigeus, has committed suicide, which leaves the kingdom to the young Theseus. He soon meets Pirithoos, the rebellious pirate king of the Lapiths, and the two go on several adventures. Pirithoos talks Theseus out of going to Crete to meet his bride-to-be, Phaedra, and instead the two journey to Euxine, home of the Amazons. There, Theseus falls in love with Hippolyta the leader of the Amazons, and after defeating her in single combat, takes her home to Athens with him. She is beautiful, athletic, and honorable, sharing the same physical fearlessness and pride in 'kingship' that Theseus has. Hippolyta becomes closer and more important to Theseus than has any other woman or person in his life. Hippolyta bears Theseus a son, Hippolytus, and continues to fight and hunt alongside him. The people of Athens generally fail to understand the equal and reciprocal relationship that Theseus has with Hippolyta because they see her as a foreign barbarian who does not adopt the traditional female role and because they fear the return of Goddess worship. Theseus, doing what is strategically best for his kingdom, eventually and reluctantly decides to marry the Cretan princess Phaedra. Hippolyta advises him to make this marriage, regarding him as her king as well as her partner and lover. Phaedra bears him a son, Akamas, but continues living in Crete. When the Scythians (allied with the Amazons) attack Athens with massive and almost overwhelming forces, Hippolyta helps defend the Acropolis. At the climax of the battle, Theseus hears the call of the god to give his life for his people and he goes willingly to the sacrifice, fighting at the front of his army without his shield with the thought that the tide will be turned and his people saved. However, at the last moment, Hippolyta unexpectedly leaps in front of Theseus, taking the arrow meant for him. She dies in his arms. Theseus, enraged, goes on to win the battle for his people but his life is spared. However, in addition to losing the greatest love of his life, he has also lost some of the divine inspiration that previously guided him to be the best king that he could be, feeling that he was called to make the sacrifice but that Hippolyta took that from him. "The King had been called and the King had died". He reflects on the irony of the fact that Hippolyta, notwithstanding her understanding of the king's duty to sacrifice himself for his people, at the end chose to save him due to her love for him as a man rather than her duty to him as king.
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Wikipedia