Theseus. Put his name in a search engine and read the story...I don't want to spoil it for you.

Theseus Wont tell you yet

Theseus: "Some time after this war, king Aegeus consulted with the oracle at Delphi on another problem: although he had been married twice, he had no children. She gave him a wineskin, and told him not to open it before he got home, or he would die one day of grief - an oracle which was difficult to interpret. On his way back to Athens, he spent a night enjoying the hospitality of his friend, king Pittheus of Troezen. Pittheus's daughter, Aethra, was betrothed to Bellerophon, but he had been banished to Caria in disgrace, and she had little hope of his return. Feeling pity for her enforced virginity, and somewhat influenced by the wineskin that Aegeus had imprudently opened, he sent his equally drunk friend to Aethra's bed; in the middle of the night, she was also visited by Poseidon. In the morning, when Aegeus awoke next to her, he told her that, if a son were born to her, she should raise him without divulging his paternity, in case the sons of Pallas should attempt to murder the boy as a blow to the royal house of Athens. When a son was duly born, Aethra named him Theseus and, although she was uncertain of his exact paternity, she raised him as she had been instructed. When he was old enough, she took him to a large rock, to see if he could lift it. He was able to do so, and underneath it he found a sword and a pair of sandals left there for him by Aegeus. He took these items, and set off for Athens." "Minos's tribute came due, and as the ship approached, the seven youths and seven maidens had to prepare to leave. Theseus was so touched by the spectacle of grief that this preparation aroused that he volunteered to lead the group himself, promising the families of the others who would go with him that he would bring them all back alive. Naturally, Aegeus was not eager to allow his recently discovered son and heir to depart on so dangerous a task, but Theseus insisted, promising to hoist a white sail upon his return, rather than the usual black one, to signal his father that he was returning safely. The ship left for Crete with Theseus and thirteen other Athenians aboard - two of the "maidens" were actually feminine-looking young men who could pass for girls when they dressed the part. When they arrived in port, Minos himself came down to see them, and threw his signet ring into the harbor, challenging Theseus to prove that he was the son of Poseidon by retrieving it. This task Theseus accomplished, aided by dolphins and Neriads. As Theseus emerged from the water, Minos's daughter, Ariadne, who had accompanied her father to see the arrival of the ship, fell instantly in love with him. She determined to help him, and enlisted the aid of the ubiquitous Daedalus, who came up with the idea of using a ball of string to trace the way into, and back out of, the Minotaur's lair. Theseus kills the Minotaur as Ariadne looks on Armed with a sword supplied by Ariadne, Theseus entered the Labyrinth, worked his way to the very center, and found and killed the Minotaur. When he emerged, dripping with blood, Ariadne embraced him. The others had managed to escape from their prison - the youths disguised as women had killed the guards in the women's quarters - and they all met in a rendevous." Source and further information: http://www.travel-to-crete.com/page.php?page_id=442 Further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minotaur I don't want to diminish the courage of Theseus, but the idea was that he could first use Ariadne's thread to find his way *into* the labyrinth, so he was not absolutely exhausted as he found the Minotaur.