Years passed by. Every spring when the roses began to bloom seven youths and seven maidens were put on board of a black-sailed s
hip and sent to Crete to pay the tribute which King Minos required. In every house in Athens there was sorrow and dread, and the people lifted up their hands to Athena on the hilltop and cried out, "How long, O Queen of the Air, how long shall this thing be?" In the meanwhile the little child at Troezen on the other side of the sea had grown to be a man. His name, Theseus, was in everybody's mouth, for he had done great deeds of daring; and at last he had come to Athens to find his father, King Aegeus, who had never heard whether he was alive or dead; and when the youth had made himself known, the king had welcomed him to his home and all the people were glad because so noble a prince had come to dwell among them and, in time, to rule over their city.
–“The Cruel Tribute,”
James Baldwin
Why does the author allow years to pass between the making of the treaty with King Minos and the return of Aegeus’s son, Theseus? Check all that apply.
to emphasize how terrible the situation is
to prove that Aegeus is courageous
to make readers curious about Theseus’s role in the plot
to allow Theseus to grow and mature
to cause readers to lose interest
the reason they do this is because when you are reading the story you dont want a 500 or 600 page book with 3/4 being about how he grew up the author thought it irrelivant
