Mysteries of vernacular Clue Jessica Oreck

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mysteries of vernacular clue something

that serves to guide in the solution of

a mystery or crime before the

popularization of detective fiction clue

was just as frequently spelled clue and

both spellings historically meant a ball

of yarn or thread but the current

definition developed from Greek

mythology

Theseus king of Athens was to be

sacrificed to the Minotaur a half-man

half-bull that lived in an almost

impossible labyrinth in order to survive

Theseus would have to locate and kill

them in a tour and then find his way

back out of the labyrinth

luckily Theseus had a lover Ariadne who

gave him exactly what he needed to

escape the maze a clue or ball of string

when Theseus entered the labyrinth he

laid down the string as he went and

after killing the Minotaur wounded up as

he returned following its certain path

out of the maze from Chaucer’s times

allusions to this clue to a maze

had been linked with various methods of

problem solving

so that by the 17th century all

associations with a ball of string had

been forgotten and the word clue now

solely means guide to a solution mystery

solved

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