Question

read the passage from \cruel tribute.\

ow then,\ said minos, \you shall hear my decree. athens has robbed me of my dearest treasure, a treasure that can never be restored to me; so, in return, i require from athens, as tribute, that possession which is the dearest and most precious to her people; and it shall be destroyed cruelly as my son was destroyed.\
\the condition is hard,\ said the elders, \but it is just. what is the tribute which you require?\
\has the king a son?\ asked minos.
the face of king aegeus lost all its color and he trembled as he thought of a little child then with its mother at troezen, on the other side of the saronic sea. but the elders knew nothing about that child, and they answered:
\alas, no! he has no son; but he has fifty nephews who are eating up his substance and longing for the time to
by placing this passage at the beginning of the story, the author builds suspense for the arrival of
options:
ariadne
one nephew
theseus
the minotaur

Explanation:

The passage shows King Minos demanding a cruel tribute from Athens in revenge for his son's death. He hints at targeting the most precious possession of Athens' people, and the lead-up points to the Minotaur, the monstrous creature at the center of the "Cruel Tribute" myth, whose arrival is the suspenseful, terrible event the setup builds toward.

Answer:

the Minotaur