Review - The Lusty Adventures of Theseus by Arthur Griffin

Have you ever considered how much the versions of Greek Myths that we know today must have been sanitized, modified or otherwise changed over the years? The bulk of the legends evolved over 3,000 years ago, and certainly changed much over the course of the centuries. The stories as we know them today are still full of bad behavior: rape, incest, and many other sorts of human fallibility. How much bawdier might the “original” stories have been in their own time?

“The Lusty Adventures of Theseus” re-imagines the Theseus legend as a sexual adventure that truly lives up to its title. For those who need a refresher, Theseus was the illegitimate sone of Aegeus, the king of Athens, the result of a one-night-stand between the king and his mother. Theseus is raised by his mother in the provinces, unaware of his royal lineage until he comes of age. He sets of to Athens to claim his birthright, but finds that the great king is not the kind of leader those from the provinces thought he was.

Aegeus’ greatest failing, in Theseus’ eyes, is the tribute that must be sent to Minoa (Crete) as part of a bargain struck to end a war with the Minoans, which the Athenians were losing. Each year, Athens was required to send seven boys and seven maidens to Minoa, where they were fed to the Minotaur, a half human-half bull living in the labyrinth beneath the Minoan king’s palace. Determined to end the barbarous cycle, Theseus insists that he be one of the boys sent in the next tribute, so he can defeat the Minotaur and return home victorious as the kind of king the people really need.

This book takes the essential points and characters of the Theseus legend and weaves them into a story that is as much erotica as it is adventure. In this version, the young prince uses sex more often than his super-human strength to win the day. As in the classic Greek myths, the story is full of encounters with gods, demi-gods, nymphs, centaurs, and assorted other mythical creatures. At the center of it all is Theseus and his companion Pirithous, who in this version Theseus meets on his way to Athens. The two young men have similar appetites for sex and adventure, and so become lovers with a very strong connection to each other, while still enjoying the company of other men, often together.

In spite of the fantastical creatures and events around them, Theseus and Pirithous are nonetheless realistic enough for you to like them as characters, and definitely root for them as they face the perils of their adventures. This is fun, well-written escapism that’s bound to please a lot of readers.

“The Lusty Adventures of Theseus” is available from Amazon.