How a Ball of Thread Gave Us the Word "Clue"

Those who delight in language will find no greater joy than diving into the etymology of a word or saying to see what treasures might unravel. When it comes to the word “clue,” there’s a lot to discover. These days, of course, “clue” crops up everywhere, from the long-running and hugely popular board game of the same name to detective shows such as Sherlock and crime fiction, which remains one of the most successful genres of literature. But where does the word come from?A Word With a Tangled HistoryOur first point of call is the Old English language. Clue derives from the word “clew” as used by Shakespeare in his play All’s Well That Ends Well, which was first published in 1623. Clew referred to a ball of string or thread. So how do we get from a ball of string to a helpful piece of evidence? Well, we have to journey even further back in time to ancient Greece and the myth of King Minos and the Cretan Bull. The Monster, the Maze, and the MinotaurTheseus slays the Minotaur on an ancient Attic black-figure neck amphora. | Fine Art/GettyImagesAs the myth tells, Minos was King of Crete, but he was, apparently, a little insecure. He prayed to the god Poseidon to send him a sign that he was indeed fit to be king. In answer, Poseidon gifted Minos a magnificent white bull, on condition that said bull would be sacrificed in Poseidon's honor. Minos, unwisely, decided he'd rather keep the bull, and sacrificed another in its place. Understandably annoyed, Poseidon cursed Minos' wife, Pasiphaë, to fall in love with the white bull. Pasiphaë and the bull produced a child, the half-man, half-bull Minotaur. The white Cretan bull subsequently went on a rampage throughout the land.Enter Heracles (often referred to as Hercules) and his seven labors, as set by the gods. Heracles was given the task of capturing the Cretan bull, which he duly accomplished. The bull was sent to Eurystheus; however, it broke free and hot-footed (hooved?) it to Marathon near Athens. Fast forward a little, and Androgeus, son of King Minos and Pasiphaë, enters the games held by the King of Athens. Androgeus wins all of the events, but the Cretan bull breaks free from its pen and tramples Androgeus to death. In retribution, King Minos conquers Athens and commands the architect Daedalus to build an underground labyrinth, in which he houses the Minotaur. Minos then decrees that, every nine years, seven Athenian men and seven Athenian women must be sent to the labyrinth, where they will die at the hands of the beast.The Thread That Solved a MysteryAriadne giving thread to Theseus to leave the labyrinth, by Pelagius Palagi (1775-1860). | DEA / BARDAZZI/GettyImagesWhen the Athenian, Theseus, is chosen to be sacrificed, King Minos' daughter, Ariadne, takes pity on him and offers him thread, which Theseus takes with him into the labyrinth. Theseus cleverly ties one end of the string to the door to the labyrinth. After killing the Minotaur, he successfully finds his way back out by following the thread. Thread becomes clew which becomes clue. A satisfying linguistic tale from start to finish.More Like This: