Minotaur (2006)

Susan Westerby: Old Morna's Voice

Quotes 

• [first lines] 

  Old Morna's Voice : Many stories have been recorded of the ancient times. Behind even the greatest myths there is a history now long forgotten. In the age of gods and spirits the known world was ruled by a dark empire from their island palace of Minos. They worshipped the bull, the most powerful of all gods. The tablets recount that as the empire grew their hedonism and greed knew no bounds. The people longed for more than stone deities. They demanded a living god. In response, sickened minds indulged in the forbidden arts and decreed the queen should offer herself to the bull to create the perfect being, a unification of god and man. For 13 months the creature grew inside her... pure, precious, every care bestowed. To ensure safe passage into our world it was cut from the queen's belly. Suckled on the blood of its own mother, the newborn was presented to the people. The palace hailed their creation and the power of the empire strengthened. But as the beast grew, so did its hunger. In revenge for the murder of a royal prince a grave tax was placed upon my village, Thena, in the northern territories. Every three years, eight youths would be taken to the palace by royal soldiers, lowered into the labyrinth... and sacrificed to the beast.

• [last lines] 

  Old Morna's Voice : So the reign of the bull god was over and the empire of a thousand years faded into legend. As a girl, I did not speak out of mourning for the village, but now, at the end of my life, the world has changed forever and my words will preserve how that came to be. The world would never forget the shepherd who killed a god.