and joins him to assault the bandit strongholds in the Isthmus. He dies of a wound received in battle. The Corinthian: The best bull-dancer in Crete—until he lays down his life in the ring for a comrade soon after the Cranes arrive. Theseus idolises him because he is such a consummate bull-dancer. Chryse, Helike, Melantho, Thebe, Nephele, Rhene, Pylia: The seven female Cranes. Iros, Hippon, Menesthes, Telamon, Phormion: The five male Cranes (apart from Theseus and Amyntor). Lukos: a Cretan officer who commands a detachment of African warriors in the service of King Minos. Sent to collect the tribute of fourteen youths and maidens from Athens, Lukos serves as an example of the polished and sophisticated courtiers of the Labyrinth in contrast to the crude but energetic values of mainland Greece. Kerkyon: The 20-year-old, strongly built year-king of Eleusis. The name 'Kerkyon' is given to all year-kings: his real name is not given. Theseus kills him in a wrestling match. Thalestris: A skilled Amazonian bull-dancer and valiant warrior. Simo: A small boy who mocks Theseus's fatherlessness in Troizen. Phaedra: Theseus' later wife; now a child, she idolises him as a handsome bull dancer. Analysis The book was lauded by critics, with Renault's believable historical setting being particularly well-received. Removing the fantastical elements of monsters and the appearances of gods, Renault constructed an archaeologically and anthropologically plausible story that might have developed into the myth. However, other critics have viewed Renault's depiction of ancient Crete as based on flawed theories and taking significant imaginative liberties. Adaptations and references The King Must Die and The Bull from the Sea were adapted into an 11-part BBC Radio 4 serial, entitled The King Must Die, broadcast from June through August 1983. Poul Anderson's novel The Dancer from Atlantis covers the same period, but from a pro-Cretan point of view - Theseus being the book's villain, a barbarian pirate and cruel destroyer of Cretan civilisation. In one passage the protagonist - a time traveller from the 20th Century who had read and liked Renault's book - reflects on how different the actual Theseus is from the way she depicted him. In Richard Adams's book Watership Down, the 25th chapter (entitled "The Raid") begins with this epigraph quoted from Renault's book: "He went consenting, or else he was no king... It was no man's place to say to him, 'It is time to make the offering.'"