Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Myth-O-Mania Book Five

Ratings Explanation

Violence:  Theseus battles Sinis, a troll.  Sinis is catapulted through the air to his death.  Theseus then battles Sciron, a giant.  Sciron kicks mortals to their death from a cliff into the sea, where they are caught in the jaws of a turtle.  Sciron belly-flops off the cliff onto the turle’s back.  The turtle swims Sciron out to sea, to his death.  Procrustes is a mortal and a murderer.  He runs a hotel and insists on tucking his guests to sleep.  He declares “Our beds are just the right size for You!”  He ties his guests to the bed and wields an ax to make them fit on the beds.  If the guests are too short, he stretches them and then chops them up.  Procrustes proclaims that he got such a bang out of murdering that after a while he quit wrestling so he could whack full time.  Procrustes is snapped to death in a collapsible bed.  A trap door springs open and the bed disappears into the black hole, with a faint splash.  Queen Medea tries to poison Theseus with wolfs bane.  She does not want Theseus to usurp her son’s position as the next King of Athens.  Theseus vows to kill the Minotaur.  He and thirteen Athenian youths are sent as a tribute to the Minotaur.  The tributes are not eaten by the Minotaur.  They are new wrestling partners for the Minotaur to train with.  Theseus forgets to take down the black sails as he returns to Athens.  King Aegeus jumps to his death when he sees the black sails.

Sexual Content: “Zeus was into building a dynasty, which means he married dozens of beautiful goddesses, nymphs, and mortals so he could have hundreds of good-looking gods, goddesses, and heroes as descendants.”  Aethra and Poseiden spent a few wild evenings together in Troezen and then they married.  King Aegeus came through town and Aethra began to flirt with the king.  Aethra jilted Poseidon for King Aegus.  Unbeknownst to them, Theseus is really Poseidon’s son, and not King Aegeus’s son.

Adult Themes: Pre-marital sex – Poseidon and Aethra.  Aethra then commits adultery with King Aegeus, while still married to Poseidon.

Synopsis

Zeus’s version of the myths is completely wrong.  Greek Mythology is finally set straight by Hades, King of the Underworld, as he reveals the true story.

Hades, King of the Underworld, is asked by his older brother, Poseidon, to keep an eye on his son, Theseus.   Theseus is extremely forgetful.  Theseus and Hades travel from Troezen to Athens.  Theseus encounters and defeats three bullies on his “road trip” to Athens. When Theseus arrives in Athens, Queen Medea tries to poison him.  Theseus then travels to Crete to battle Asterius, the Minotaur.  He finds the minotaur does not want fresh meat to eat, he wants fresh meat to wrestle.  Unfortunately, Theseus forgets to change the ship’s sails from black to white on his return to Athens.  When King Aegeus sees the black sails he commits suicide, thinking Theseus has been slain by the Minotaur.

My 4th grader insisted I read and post this book.  He LOVED it!  This is an entertaining read, although more violent than I would prefer.  I thought Procrustes’s use of the ax was intense for a 4th grade level book.

©2009 The Literate Mother