aved lives. All of their life energy was returned and they were able to safely make it home. Though Kara had sacrificed her life to help Jen, the dark crystal healed her wounds and Jen and Kara were united. In short, he restored the good kingdom, helped the slaves obtain their freedom, and he got the girl. As previously stated, Jen can be compared to one of the Greek heroes. Jen is most like Theseus. Theseus' quest is to kill the minotaur and stop the killing of fourteen youths from Athens every nine years. In killing the minotaur, Theseus restores the good kingdom and everyone is happy. In Jen's case, he must defeat evil. Both Theseus and Jen must overcome puzzles and obstacles which hinder their ability to complete their quests. Also, Theseus and Jen manage to save many people from death. Theseus keeps the fourteen youth sacrifices from being killed by the minotaur and Jen keeps the podlings from spending the rest of their lives wasting away as slaves to the Skeksis. Though Theseus and Jen are aided in their quests, each of them completes their quest on their own. Theseus kills the minotaur without help from anyone or a heavenly deity guiding him, and Jen repairs the crystal without a force guiding his hand. A final similarity between Theseus and Jen is that both heroes deserve their rewards. Theseus becomes king of Athens and Jen is able to share his life with Kara. Heroes come in all shapes, sizes, and strengths. Some heroes prove their worth through intelligence, while others use their brawn. Jen is a very special hero in that he uses his intelligence and follows his heart to complete his quest. Though he may be small, he is capable of almost anything. A true hero follows their heart and puts everything they can into their duty, such as Jen did in his quest to repair the dark crystal....
