The Minotaur and the Labyrinth – 4th Grade Reading Worksheet (Free Printable)

This free 4th grade reading comprehension worksheet retells the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur with questions about plot, character, and vocabulary.

Reading Passage

Long ago on the island of Crete, King Minos kept a terrible creature called the Minotaur. It had the body of a man and the head of a bull. The Minotaur lived in a labyrinth, a maze so complex that no one who entered could find the way out. Every nine years, Athens had to send young people into the labyrinth as a sacrifice. A brave young prince named Theseus volunteered to go. With help from the princess Ariadne, who gave him a ball of thread to mark his path, Theseus entered the labyrinth, defeated the Minotaur, and followed the thread back to safety.

Questions

  1. What was the Minotaur? (A creature with a man's body and a bull's head / A giant snake / A three-headed dog / A winged horse)
  2. A labyrinth is a type of ___.
  3. Ariadne gave Theseus a sword to defeat the Minotaur.
  4. How did Theseus find his way out of the labyrinth? (He followed a thread back to the entrance / He broke through the walls / A god carried him out / He used a map)
  5. The Minotaur lived on the island of Crete.

About This Worksheet

The myth of the Minotaur is one of the most well-known stories from Greek mythology. This worksheet helps 4th graders practice reading comprehension with a narrative passage that builds vocabulary and inference skills.

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