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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