Discover with us the legend of the Minotaur. Know all his most famous appearances, origins, and his most famous confrontations.
Who was the Minotaur?
The Minotaur was one of the most famous and frightening monsters in ancient Greek mythology, usually portrayed with the body of a man and the head of a bull. Born from the unnatural union of Pasiphas and the Cretan Bull, the Minotaur resided in the center of the Labyrinth, specifically designed to hide him from view at the request of Pasiphas’ husband, Minos. With the help of his daughter, Ariadne, Theseus, the greatest Athenian hero, finally succeeded in slaying the Minotaur.
The birth of the Minotaur
Born part man and part bull, the Minotaur was ultimately the result of Minos’ arrogance, Poseidon’s anger and Pasiphae’s lust.
Poseidon and Minos
The story of the Minotaur begins with the death of Asterius (or Asterion), the sacred king of Crete. As he had no children from his marriage to Europa, Minos one of Europa’s sons with Zeus and a stepson of Asterion. Assumed the right to the throne, declaring to his rivals that this was the supposed will of the gods. To prove it, he prayed to Poseidon to send him a bull from the sea, which he promised to solemnly sacrifice to him afterwards. Poseidon did his part, and Minos won the crown.
Pasiphae and the Cretan bull
However, the all-white, virile and powerful bull was too beautiful to be sacrificed and Minos decided to sacrifice a different one instead. Poseidon, angered by nature, was so enraged that he made Minos’ wife Pasiphae fall in love with his gift, the Cretan Bull.
Unable to resist temptation, Pasiphae convinced Daedalus to make her a hollow wooden cow, in which she hid until the Cretan bull finally mated with her. The Minotaur, named Asterius at birth (after his grandfather) was the anomalous offspring of this unnatural union.
The labyrinth and the fourteen Athenians
The Minotaur was consigned to the depths of Daedalus’ labyrinth, where he was fed with the flesh of the young Athenians.
The labyrinth
Needless to say, Minos was horrified to see the offspring of Pasiphas and, shortly after the birth of the Minotaur, to cover his misfortune, he ordered Daedalus to build a structure so elaborate that it would not only make it impossible for the monster to leave it, but also make it difficult for anyone entering it to find their way out. Daedalus devised a plan for a vast subway labyrinth of corridors and passageways that we now know as the Labyrinth.
The Minotaur’s Meal
Soon after, the center of the labyrinth became the dark abode of the Minotaur. There, the monster was regularly fed with human flesh, specifically that of fourteen young Athenian nobles. These were sent as sacrifices by the city of Athens to Minos every year (or every nine years, according to some) as a reward for the death of his son, Androgeus, whom the Athenians had once killed out of jealousy for beating them at the Panathenaic Games.
The death of the Minotaur
Theseus, the founding hero of Athens, was not one to turn a blind eye to the sufferings of his fellow citizens. So, when the time came for the third sacrifice, he volunteered to go to Crete. Fortunately for him, Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, fell in love with him and decided to help him as far as she knew.
She begged Daedalus to tell her the secret of the labyrinth, until, finally, the master craftsman relented. Ariadne advised Theseus to give him a ball of thread, which the hero used to navigate inside the structure, comforted by the fact that he could always find his way out.
Finally, in the center of the labyrinth, Theseus encountered the Minotaur and, after a long and exhausting struggle, either with his bare hands or with a club; he finally managed to subdue the vicious monster. Both Crete and Athens were liberated.
