This myth is truly amazing. No wonder that the Greeks have little competition in mythology (My other favorite is Norse). If you are like me, you are probably only familiar with the hero going into the labyrinth with his string to hunt the monster. That was all I heard of this story. However, I stumbled across it yesterday while researching something else. Reading the myth in full left me flabbergasted by its relevancy to current headlines. This is why. The myth tells of a King who asked for support from the chief deity in Greek mythology (Poseidon). He pledged to sacrifice the best bull Poseidon could produce if the god gave him his support to achieve his political goals. Everything happened according to plan except that the King, once crowned, spared the gifted bull from Poseidon because it was so impressive. He sacrificed a lesser bull instead. Poseidon knew the switcheroo was made and cursed the King’s wife to fall in love/lust with the gifted bull. Things get a little weird with the wife hiding in a fake cow body waiting to be bred by the bull. A creepy offspring occurs as a result of the union of bull and woman. Bada bing, the Minotaur is produced. He is a monster that nobody wants around for obvious reasons. Hungry for human flesh, a lot of killing ensues. What is to be done? The answer was to design and excavate an elaborate labyrinth under the king’s palace from which the monster can’t escape. Also, it is decided that the best of Greek youth will be fed to the monster on an annual basis. These poor sons and daughters of the kingdom are put into the labyrinth where escape is impossible. People become tired of this arrangement and call for the monster to be destroyed. Heroes try and fail. The labyrinth is too confusing to navigate. The monster knows it much better. Yet, a new young hero takes the challenge and uses, interestingly enough, a spool of string to mark his path into the labyrinth. He kills the beast and returns to the surface.
See any parallels to the Deep State? I do. Somewhere back in the history of our Republic, a politician (possibly a President) made a deal with a very powerful and vengeful force. The deal to sacrifice our Republic was reneged upon and a monster creature was thus created by seducing at least parts of the population. Subsequent politicians wanted to hide this monster in a labyrinth where nobody could see it. The original treasonous action would be hidden away even though they did not make the agreement. Lies built upon lies. Soon all politicians became part of the conspiracy. Citizens could only wonder what was going on beneath their Republic. Clearly, something had gone wrong but the labyrinth of distorted history was too difficult to maneuver. The monster thrives in this darkness of ignorance. Whenever a hero descends into its depths, treasonous collaborators ensure it fails. For me the original treasonous act to the Republic is the monster itself and the labyrinth is the cover up. Fortunately, a spool of string is tracing its way into the dark and confusing tunnels of history. Of course, the new hero is called a conspiracist. The deeper they go in search of the monster, the more they are attacked above ground. A hero never quits. We have our conspiracy string. Lets descend into the labyrinth and kill the beast.