The King Must Die | Themes

The King Must Die Themes

The Desire for Power

Throughout the story the reader will see the struggle for power played out. Theseus begins the story wanting power of strength and physical stature to prove that he is the son of Poseidon. He doesn't want to be the son of Poseidon so that he can be powerful. It seems that he more wants to have a father figure and to not be looked at as a fatherless child.

The other characters in the book that have a desire for power are much more prominent. Theseus encounters the city of Eleusis with Persephone, queen of the Eleusians. She desires power and when Theseus attempts to change the customs of her people so that men are no longer servants to women, she tries to have him killed twice. Once by her brother and then by Theseus' own father.

There are men that want Theseus' father's kingdom but the reader doesn't...
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