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Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Atlas Coeus Crius Cronus Demeter Dionysus Gaia Hades Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hestia Hyperion Iapetus Mnemosyne Oceanus Phobos Phoebe Poseidon Prometheus Rhea Tethys Themis Uranus Zeus
Bacchus Ceres Diana Juno Jupiter Mars Mercury Minerva Neptune Pluto Venus Vesta Vulcan
Amun Anubis Aten Atum Babi Bastet Bes Geb Hapi hathor heqet Horus Isis Khepri Khnum Khonsu Maat Nephthys Nut Osiris Ptah Ra Seshat Seth Shu Sobek Thoth
Alfheim Baldur Freya Freyr Frigg Heimdallr Helheim Idun Jotunheim Loki Nerthus Njord Odin Thor Tyr
Aengus Arawn Badb Brigid Cailleach Ceridwen Cernunnos Cu Chulainn Dagda Danu Gwydion Herne the Hunter Lugh Medb Morrigan Neit Nuada Taliesin Taranis
Chalchiuhtlicue Coatlicue Huitzilopochtli Mictlantecuhtli Mixcoatl Ometeotl Quetzalcoatl Tezcatlipoca Tlaloc Tonatiuh Xipe Totec Xochiquetzal Xolotl
Amaterasu Ame no Uzume Benzaiten Bishamonten Daikokuten Ebisu Fujin Fukurokuju Inari Izanagi Kagutsuchi Raijin Susanoo Tsukuyomi
Caishen Cangjie Dragon King Eight Immortals Erlang Shen Fuxi Guanyin Hou Yi Huxian Jade Emperor King Yama Leizi Lu-ban Mazu Nezha Nuwa Pangu Shennong Sun Wukong Xiwangmu Yue Lao Zhong Kui
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  4. Minotaur

Minotaur

The Minotaur (Μινώταυρος) was a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man. The Minotaur or Asterius (its name at birth) was the son of the Cretan Bull and Pasiphaë (Pasiphae), the wife of King Minos of Crete.

Minos confined the Minotaur in the Labyrinth. To punish Aegeus for the death of his son, Minos required seven Athenian youth and seven maidens as tribute and sacrifices to the monster, every seven years.

Minotaur

Minotaur
George Frederick Watts
Oil on canvas, 1877-1886
Tate Gallery, London

The Athenian hero Theseus, aided by Ariadne the daughter of Minos, was able to leave the Labyrinth after killing the Minotaur. See Theseus.

The geographer Pausanias reported one of the many scenes of Bathycles' carving on the Spartan throne, mentioning that Theseus had captured the Minotaur alive and bound it in fetters. Apart from this one reference, all other sources said that Theseus killed the Minotaur, not captured the creature.

Related Information

Name

Minotaur, Μινώταυρος – "Bull of Minos".
Minotaur, Asterius, Asterios.

Related Articles

Cretan Bull, Theseus, Minos, Pasiphaë, Poseidon.

Jimmy Joe Timeless Myths

By Jimmy Joe

Mythical Creatures:

  • • Satyrs
  • • Myrmidons
  • • Dragon-teeth Men (Sparti)
  • • Earthborn Kings
  • • Argus Panoptes
  • • Geryon
  • • Graeae
  • • Keres
  • • Pegasus
  • • Arion
  • • Xanthus and Balius
  • • Ocyrrhoe
  • • Laelaps and the Teumessian Vixen
  • • Maera
  • • Cretan Bull
  • • Golden Fleece
  • • Calydonian Boar
  • • Crommyonian Sow
  • • Erymanthian Boar
  • • Nemean Lion
  • • Eagle (Aquila)
  • • Typhon
  • • Ceto
  • • Cetus
  • • Echidna
  • • Python
  • • Ladon
  • • Delphyne
  • • Campe
  • • Hydra
  • • Scylla
  • • Sphinx
  • • Chimaera
  • • Griffin (Gryphon)
  • • Cerberus
  • • Orthus
  • • Minotaur
  • • Gorgons
  • • Lamia
  • • Empusae
  • • Sirens
  • • Harpies
  • • Stymphalian Birds
  • • Caucasian Eagle
  • • Phoenix
Pasiphaë and the Minotaur

Pasiphaë and the Minotaur

Minos married Pasiphaë (Πασιφάη), the daughter of the sun-god Helios and the Oceanid Perse . Minos was the father of four sons, Androgeus, Catreus , Deucalion and Glaucus , and four daughters, Acacallis (Acalle), Xenodice, Ariadne (Ἀριάδνη) and Ph...

September 22nd, 2002 • Jimmy Joe
Cretan Bull

Cretan Bull

Minos , the king of Crete, prayed to Poseidon to send him a bull so he could honour and sacrifice to the sea god. Poseidon answered the king's prayer by sending a beautiful, white bull from the sea. However, Minos broke his word to the god, refusi...

June 1st, 2000 • Jimmy Joe
Theseus

Theseus

Theseus, or Θησεύς, was the greatest hero from Athens. In many aspects he was like his more famous cousin Heracles , strong and extremely brave. Yet his courage and strength were matched with wisdom and compassion. Early Adventures War of the Lapi...

May 22nd, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Seventh Labour (Cretan Bull)

Seventh Labour (Cretan Bull)

For the seventh labour, Heracles needed to fetch the Cretan Bull , the bull that belonged to Minos , king of Crete. This bull was sacred to Poseidon, and had the ability to walk and even run on the surface of the sea. When Minos gained the bull fr...

April 9th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Daedalus

Daedalus

Talus Daedalus and Icarus Death of Minos Talus Daedalus (Daidalos or Δαίδαλος) was originally an Athenian master craftsman and inventor. Daedalus was the son of Eupalamus and the great grandson of King Erechtheus of Athens. Daedalus was also broth...

September 22nd, 2002 • Jimmy Joe
Aegeus and Theseus

Aegeus and Theseus

Some writers said that Aegeus (Αἐγεύς) was the son of Pandion II, the exiled king of Athens, and Pylia, daughter of Pylas, but the usual tales said that Aegeus was only Pandion's adopted son. This version said that Aegeus was actually the son of S...

January 13th, 2001 • Jimmy Joe
Minoan Crete

Minoan Crete

Early Crete Minos Crete in Decline Genealogy: House of Crete Early Crete Genealogy: House of Crete Minos In Greek mythology, Minos (Μίνως) was the greatest king in Crete, with a great empire and the most formidable navy. His empire included the is...

September 22nd, 2002 • Jimmy Joe
Minos and his Brothers

Minos and his Brothers

Minos (Μίνως) was a son of the god Zeus and Europa , the daughter of King Agenor of Sidon. Minos was also the brother of Rhadamanthys (´Ραδάμανθυν) and Sarpedon (Σαρπηδών). His step-father was Asterius, who was king of Crete. Zeus had brought Euro...

September 22nd, 2002 • Jimmy Joe
Calydonian Boar

Calydonian Boar

The Calydonian Boar was sent by Artemis to punish King Oeneus for failing to honour her in sacrifice. The giant, wild boar caused widespread damage and death to the rural region around Calydon. Oeneus asked for heroes in Greece to hunt down the bo...

June 1st, 2000 • Jimmy Joe
Calydonian Boar Hunt

Calydonian Boar Hunt

The Calydonian Boar Hunt was the most famous of all myths about hunting. This is because many of the famous Greek heroes took part in it, although Heracles (Heracles) was noticeably absent in this adventure. The Calydonian Boar Hunt was actually a...

May 12th, 2001 • Jimmy Joe

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