In The Tanglewood Tales, the Greek heroes’ journeys force them to confront great dangers, from monsters and giants to witches and corrupt kings. These stories depict the protagonists as compassionate people who use violence only to dispense justice, contrasting their actions with the needless cruelty of the myths’ villains.

The first tale, “The Minotaur,” demonstrates this dynamic in Theseus’s conflicts with Medea and King Minos. As a young man, Theseus embraces his inheritance of sandals, a sword, and a hilt, knowing that accepting these gifts means accepting the onus of using them responsibly. Armed with his sword, Theseus uses this deadly weapon only to protect others and defend himself. For instance, he travels by road to Athens, killing monsters and magicians that prey on the local people there. He even slays a pig to help the local farmers and feed their families. When he takes his place as a prince, he again volunteers to fight a monster, this time the feared Minotaur. The story portrays Theseus as a capable warrior who often uses violence to overcome challenges, but depicts his violence as justified and righteous because he directs it only toward cruel monsters, thieves, and wild animals.

In contrast, the story’s villains use violence to attain or defend their power and satisfy their own selfish ambitions. For example, Medea is eager to poison Theseus so that her own son can ascend to the throne instead. Her attempt to kill him via poisoned wine is an evil, corrupt plot from which only she and her son would benefit. Hawthorne condemns this “wicked enchantress” for manipulating the king into serving Theseus the poisoned wine: “Medea smiled; but, for all her smiling face, she meant nothing less than to poison the poor innocent Theseus, before his father’s eyes” (5). Similarly, King Minos demands 14 Athenian children for sacrifice to the Minotaur each year. This cruelty allows Minos to continually punish Athens, his old enemy, and retain his intimidating position of power as the king of Crete. Hawthorne narrates how this “stern and pitiless king” would greet the Athenian children: “One after another, King Minos called these pale, frightened youths and sobbing maidens to his footstool, gave them each a poke in the ribs with his sceptre (to try whether they were in good flesh or no) and dismissed them with a nod to his guards” (11). Minos’s callous cruelty toward innocents reveals that he’s as monstrous as the Minotaur he keeps, and makes his actions a foil for Theseus’s righteous violence.