Hamilton And Brulfinch Differences

Myths have been a source of entertainment and life lessons for centuries. Since myths are typically passed on, they are frequently altered and certain parts become more emphasized than others depending on who retold the myth. The retelling of the story of Theseus by two authors named Bulfinch and Hamilton is an interesting comparison of how different the myth can be when read from two sources. Although, in both versions of Theseus, the plot is almost identical, there are a few differences that change the reader’s idea of the text. These dissimilarities include the portrayal of Theseus’ character, his abandonment of his lover, and how he killed the Minotaur. The significance of these differences is that myths are often applied to reality and these differences can influence people’s behavior based on what they learn from the myths. The emphasis on Theseus’ prideful character is extremely noticeable

However, Bulfinch’s version gave a more precise explanation that he had a dream in which Minerva told him to stop at the island of Naxos and abandon her. However, Hamilton’s version was unsure of what had happened so he provided us with two possibilities. The first one was that he abandoned her while she was asleep and sailed away, and the second is that Ariadne was seasick and he wanted her to heal while he remained busy in the ship then a storm occurred causing Theseus to return to sea without her. This detail is relevant to the theme of the myth because if he did abandon her on purpose with no reasonable explanation in Hamilton’s version, that would make him a terrible person yet he continues to get rewarded in the myth. Although Hamilton did provide us with two probabilities, while reading Hamilton’s version. the reader might get the idea that good things happen to bad people and one’s morals cannot interrupt their