The King Must Die / The Bull from the Sea

In two remarkable historical novels, Mary Renault fashions from the myth of Theseus a convincingly flawed hero and weaves a thrillingly plausible account of the Labyrinth and the infamous Minotaur.
The King Must Die follows the young Theseus as he discovers that his true father is the King of Athens, and volunteers to join the annual tribute of Athenian girls and youths sacrificed to a bull-worshipping cult on the island of Crete. Trapped in the labyrinthine palace of King Minos, Theseus enlists the help of high priestess Ariadne in a daring plan to free his people.
The Bull From the Sea begins after Theseus's triumphal return to Athens. He is now king, but his confidence will be shaken by a life-changing encounter with the queen of the Amazons, the birth of a son who will insist on choosing his own path, and the tragic results of his wife's treachery.
Renault's deep knowledge of the Greek world, her sure grasp of psychology and genius for inspired speculation bring the distant world of the legendary past enthrallingly to life.

Mary Renault (Author)
Mary Renault (1905-1983) was the author of more than a dozen novels. She was born in London, educated at Oxford and trained as a nurse. After World War II she and her life partner, Julie Mullard, settled in South Africa and travelled widely in Africa and Greece. This was when she began writing her historical novels, including The Last of the Wine (1956), The King Must Die (1958) and The Persian Boy (1972), and a biography of Alexander the Great, The Nature of Alexander (1974).

Daniel Mendelsohn (Introducer)
Daniel Mendelsohn is an internationally bestselling author, critic, essayist and translator. His books include Rings: A Tale of Exile, Narrative and Fate (2020), An Odyssey: A Father, a Son and an Epic (2017) and The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million (2006), which won the National Books Critics Circle Award and the Prix Médicis in France. He teaches at Bard College and is Editor-at-Large at The New York Review of Books.

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