Go to webpage

IP
The Fire of Theseus
Authors
Jerry Frissen, Francesco Trifogli, Gerald Parel, Antoine Pédron
Book Status
Published in English
Logline
The true story of Theseus and the Minotaur.
Genre
Action Adventure, Epic, Heroic Fantasy, Redemption, Retelling of a Classic, Revenge story, Lone hero
AV Types
Live Action Mini Series, Feature Film
AV Demographics
PG-13, R, TV-14, TV-MA
Characters

 Theseus/Silia: The illegitimate daughter of Aegus, King of Athens. After Aegus orders her mother, Aethra’s death, Theseus is sold into slavery and given the name Silia. Driven by anger and rage, she becomes a fierce fighter in the gladiatorial arena and eventually kills her owner, Master Eleutherios but this act of revenge is not enough for her. She runs away and joins a group of bandits led by Dracon. After Dracon’s death, she becomes their new leader. When she hears Athens has fallen to Crete, she heads to Athens with the intention of killing her father, King Aegus. But she is captured first and forced to fight the feared Minotaur. In facing the man-bull she realizes that the lack of love in her life has turned her into something monstrous. She learns that she must grow beyond being driven purely by revenge.

 Asterius/The Man-bull: Asterius’ mother, Pasiphae (wife to Minos, King of Crete) was kidnapped and raped by barbarians leaving her pregnant. Born deformed, his mother died in childbirth. King Minos sent him away to be raised by priests and told everyone that both his wife and the baby died. Asterius’ sister, Ariadne would visit him often and was the only one to show him kindness. When the priests could no longer control Asterius’ taste for violence, Minos saw an opportunity to turn Asterius into a killing machine to aid his army. After a suspected coup led by his generals, Minos kills the generals and banishes Asterius to Mount Daedalus. Noble youths of Athens are sent there as tribute to feed the man-bull. The youths can try to kill the man-bull/minotaur, but none have succeeded so far. When Asterius faces off with Theseus, he is quickly disarmed when he is shown love.

 Aegus: King of Athens. Enraged by Aethra’s jealousy, he sends his soldiers to kill her and his daughter, Theseus. It is later revealed it was his new queen, Antheia who was responsible for the order. Thrilled to see Theseus alive but takes no responsibility for his actions.

 Minos: King of Crete. He defeats Aegus with the help of his killing machine, the man-bull. Now he requires 14 young Athenian nobles be sent to be devoured by the man-bull every season. But if one of the young Athenians kills the man-bull, Minos will leave Athens in peace. He wants nothing to do with his son, Asterius until he sees how he can use him to win the war, and he banishes him again when he gains too much power.

 Ariadne: Daughter of King Minos, sister of Asterius. She is the only one who cares for Asterius as he is growing up. She tells Theseus the secret to killing the man-bull so that she may put her brother out of his misery.

 Kleon the Aoidos: he is singing the well know tale of Theseus in a tavern when a woman tells him he has the story all wrong. He seeks her out to find out the true story and she (Theseus) tells it to him, acting as our narrator.

 Master Doukas: he’s always wanted to marry Aethra, Theseus’ mother. When Aethra is rebuked by Aegus, she sells Theseus to Doukas. After Aethra is murdered, Doukas tells his men to kill Theseus but they disobey and sell her into slavery instead. Silia (Theseus) later leads the group of bandits to raid Doukas’ estate and kill him.

 Master Eleutherios: Theseus is sold to work in his brothel. When Theseus refuses to sleep with any more clients, Eleutherios sends her to fight in the gladiatorial arena. Theseus gets her revenge when she kills Eleutherios years later.

 Polychronia: a young woman in Eleutherios’ brothel who acts as a mother figure to Theseus, tending to her wounds after her fights in the arena. Theseus says Polychronia is the only person who ever loved her and didn’t expect something in return. Theseus is devastated when Polychronia is murdered by a client.

 Aethra: Aegus’ mistress and Theseus’ mother. She is extremely jealous of Antheia, the new queen.

 Antheia – Aegus’ new queen. She is extremely jealous that Aegus loved Aethra more so she sent his soldiers to kill Aethra and Theseus.

 Dracon – leader of a group of bandits. Theseus joins their group and helps them on many successful raids. Dracon & Theseus have a brief relationship before Dracon is killed during one of their raids.   

Bible
NO
Book Plot/Twist

Everyone thinks they know Theseus, the great Hero of Athens. But what legend has retained is merely a web of lies, a fable to hide the truth—a truth that time was not ready to accept... It's time Her story was told.

When the former Queen of Athens is brutally murdered by the King’s soldiers, their illegitimate daughter is sold into slavery and told that if she had been born male, her fate would have been different. Beaten down both physically and morally, she vows to slay those who’ve doomed her to a life of suffering, including her own father. With the fire of vengeance fueling her, she finds herself battling more than just man and legendary beast, but her own demons… And she may just change the very fate of Athens along the way.  

AV Key Attributes

 Strong female lead, great role for an actor

 Classic story with a twist

 Themes of revenge, survival, love, seeking acceptance

 From bestselling author Jerry Frissen (The Metabaron, Lucha Libre, The Z Word)

 Award winning artist Francesco Trifogli (Mystery in Space, Hinterkind, Le Havre)