The Minotaur is an iconic half-man, half-bull character in Greek mythology. The offspring of King Minos' wife Pasiphae and a beautiful bull, the beast was beloved by its mother and hidden away by Minos in a labyrinth built by the magician Daedalus, where it fed on young men and women.
Fast Facts: The Minotaur, Monster of Greek Mythology
Alternate Names: Minotaurus, Asterios or Asterion
Culture/Country: Greece, pre-Minoan Crete
Realms and Powers: The Labyrinth
Family: Son of Pasiphae (immortal daughter of Helios), and a beautiful divine bull
The story of the Minotaur is ancient Cretan, a tale of jealousy and bestial*ty, of divine hunger and human sacrifice. The Minotaur is one of the tales of the hero Theseus, who was saved from the monster by means of a ball of yarn; it is also a tale of Daedalus, the magician. The story harbors three references to bulls, which is a subject of academic curiosity.
Depending on what source you use, the Minotaur was a monster with a human body and a bull's head or a bull's body with a human head. The classical form, human body and bull's head, is most often found illustrated on Greek vases and later works of art.
Read MoreThe Centaur: Half Human, Half Horse of Greek MythologyBy K. Kris Hirst
Minos was one of three sons of Zeus and Europa. When he eventually left her, Zeus married her off to Asterios, the king of Crete. When Asterios died, Zeus' three sons battled for the throne of Crete, and Minos won. To prove he was worthy of the rule of Crete, he made a deal with Poseidon, the king of the sea. If Poseidon would give him a beautiful bull each year, Minos would sacrifice the bull and the people of Greece would know he was the rightful king of Crete.
But one year, Poseidon sent Minos such a beautiful bull that Minos couldn't bear to kill him, so he substituted a bull from his own herd. In a rage, Poseidon made Minos' wife Pasiphae, the daughter of the sun god Helios, develop a great passion for the beautiful bull.
Desperate to consummate her ardor, Pasiphae asked for help from Daedalus (Daidalos), a famous Athenian sorcerer and scientist who was hiding out on Crete. Daedalus built her a wooden cow covered with cowhide and instructed her to take the cow near the bull and hide inside it. The child born of Pasiphae's passion was Asterion or Asterios, more famously known as the Minotaur.
Keeping the Minotaur
The Minotaur was monstrous, so Minos had Daedalus build an enormous maze called the Labyrinth to keep him hidden away. After Minos went to war with the Athenians he forced them to send seven youths and seven maidens each year (or once every nine years) to be led into the Labyrinth where the Minotaur would tear them to pieces and eat them.
Theseus was the son of Aegeus, the king of Athens (or perhaps a son of Poseidon), and he either volunteered, was chosen by lot, or was chosen by Minos to be among the third set of young people sent to the Minotaur. Theseus promised his father that if he survived a battle with the Minotaur, he would change the sails of his ship from black to white on the return trip. Theseus sailed to Crete, where he met Ariadne, one of Minos' daughters, and she and Daedalus found a way to get Theseus back out of the Labyrinth: he would bring a ball of yarn, tie one end to the door of the great maze and, once he had killed the Minotaur, he would follow the thread back to the door. For her help, Theseus promised to marry her.
Death of the Minotaur
Theseus did kill the Minotaur, and he led Ariadne and the other youths and maidens out and down to the harbor where the ship was waiting. On the way home, they stopped at Naxos, where Theseus abandoned Ariadne, because a) he was in love with somebody else; or b) he was a heartless jerk; or c) Dionysos wanted Ariadne as his wife, and Athena or Hermes appeared to Theseus in a dream to let him know; or d) Dionysus carried her away while Theseus slept.
And of course, Theseus failed to change the sails of his ship, and when his father Ageus glimpsed the black sails, he threw himself off the Acropolis—or into the sea, which was named in his honor, the Aegean.
The Minotaur in Modern Culture
The Minotaur is one of the most evocative of Greek myths, and in modern culture, the story has been told by painters (such as Picasso, who illustrated himself as the Minotaur); poets (Ted Hughes, Jorge Luis Borges, Dante); and filmmakers (Jonathan English's "Minotaur" and Christopher Nolan's "Inception"). It is a symbol of unconscious impulses, a creature that can see in the dark but is blinded by natural light, the result of unnatural passions and erotic fantasies.
Minotaur, in Greek mythology, a fabulous monster of Crete that had the body of a man and the head of a bull. It was the offspring of Pasiphae, the wife of Minos, and a snow-white bull sent to Minos by the god Poseidon
Poseidon
Poseidon, in ancient Greek religion, god of the sea (and of water generally), earthquakes, and horses. He is distinguished from Pontus, the personification of the sea and the oldest Greek divinity of the waters.
In ancient Greek mythology, the Minotaur was a half-human, half-bull monster formally named Asterion. This creature was the adopted son of King Minos of Crete, a product of a curse placed on his wife by the gods for Minos' hubris.
According to A.B. Cook, Minos and Minotaur were different forms of the same personage, representing the sun-god of the Cretans, who depicted the sun as a bull.
Centaurs may best be explained as the creation of a folktale in which wild inhabitants of the mountains and savage spirits of the forests were combined in half-human, half-animal form.
The word Minotaur is a compound word consisting of the ancient Greek name "Μίνως" or "Minos" and the noun "ταύρος" or "bull." Thus, the word Minotaur comes to mean "bull of Minos." While, the Minotaur's birth name, Asterion, in ancient Greek "ἀστέριον" means "starry one" which suggests an association with the bull ...
Although the Minotaur lived on human flesh, according to Greek mythology he was not born evil. His mother raised him with watchful and tender care, and it was only as he grew older that he became a threat to Greek society.
She told Theseus to tie one end of the string to the entrance of the labyrinth, so he could find his way back out of the maze easily after slaying the beast. After killing the Minotaur with the sword, Theseus used the string to retrace his steps on the way out.
Minotaur, in Greek mythology, a fabulous monster of Crete that had the body of a man and the head of a bull. It was the offspring of Pasiphae, the wife of Minos, and a snow-white bull sent to Minos by the god Poseidon for sacrifice.
The Minotaur has the head of a bull and body of a man. Born in Crete, the Minotaur is the monstrous son of queen Pasiphae, and a bull delivered from Zeus. King Minos was ashamed and had the Minotaur kept in the Labyrinth.
Meet Perseus, a demigod of Greek mythology who was famous for killing Medusa by cutting off her head, which he displays in one hand. Medusa had live, hissing snakes for hair, and anyone who looked at her face instantly turned to stone.
The Minotaur is an iconic half-man, half-bull character in Greek mythology. The offspring of King Minos' wife Pasiphae and a beautiful bull, the beast was beloved by its mother and hidden away by Minos in a labyrinth built by the magician Daedalus, where it fed on young men and women.
Powers/Abilities: The Minotaur possesses an uncertain amount of superhuman strength (likely enhanced human) and possibly enhanced durability and olfactory senses. It is a savage, unintelligent creature, with hard, sharp horns on its head.
There were no female Minotaurs in Greek Mythology. There was only one Minotaur in Greek Mythology, and he was male. His name was Asterion, son of Queen Pasiphaë of Crete and a white bull given from Poseidon to King Minos.
In traditional Greek mythology, when King Minos of Crete failed to sacrifice a bull to Poseidon, the god caused his wife to lust after the animal. By it, she conceived the Minotaur, a monster with a bull's head and a man's body, which was confined in a labyrinth.
The centaurs were half-horse and half-human creatures who were depicted in Greek mythology. They were often connected with the Lapiths, a group of people whom they fought in the large battle called the centauromachy and from whom they were descended.
When Minos offended Poseidon, the sea god cursed Pasiphae with a mad passion for a white bull. With the help of Daedalus, who built a wooden cow in which she could disguise herself, Pasiphae mated with the creature and then gave birth to the fearsome Minotaur.
The Minotaur (which means “Minos' bull”) was the son of Pasiphaë, the wife of Minos (the king of Crete), and a large and handsome bull. Minos had asked Poseidon for a magnificent bull to sacrifice to him and the god obliged, sending a handsome bull from the sea.
Deep inside the Labyrinth on the island of Crete lived a Minotaur, a monster half man, half bull. Imprisoned there by his stepfather, King Minos of Crete, he dined on human flesh supplied by the city of Athens. Every nine years, Minos commanded Athens to send 14 youths in tribute.
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