Minotaur, also known as Minotaurus

These sources and notes support the main Minotaur Profile Page

Notes:

1. According to the authors, Minotaur was born from the union of Pasiphae and the bull sent by Poseidon. The reason behind this unnatural union was king Minos' refusal to sacrifice the gifted bull back to the God of the Sea and instead sacrifice ordinary bull. It was a custom for Minos to sacrifice the fairest of bulls to Poseidon annualy, but one year a bull of extraordinary beauty emerged and Minos sacrificed another in the herd. This angered Poseidon who made the bull savage and enchanted Pasiphae to have a passion for it(Diodorus Siculus). Alternatively, Pasiphae failed to honor Aphrodite with offerings for several years, which angered the goddess and made her cast a spell on Pasiphae to fall in an unnatural love with the bull(Hyginus). Daedalus helped Pasiphae facilitating this unnatural passion as he builds wooden cow for her to hide inside and mate with the bull(Apollodorus, Diodorus Siculus). The result of this "crafty mating" as Virgil called it, was Asterius(Apollodorus) who was called the Minotaur.

2. The authors seem to agree, that the Minotaur was a hybrid between a human and a bull, highlighting unnatural and bizarre union. Minotaur had a face of a bull but body of a human(Apollodorus). Similarily it had the upper part is bull-like and the lower part is human(Diodorus Siculus). It was a hybrid that reflects a monstrous union(Ovid), it was emphasized as "mingled form" and hybrid birth of monstrous shape(Plutarch).

3. Minos imprisoned Daedalus after finding out about the affair and, after consulting with the oracles, instructed him to build a maze with undiscoverable exit in which the Minotaur was confined and hidden from the world. It was called the labyrinth, a chamber or a passage-way with tangled windings that prevented anyone unfamilliar from finding way out(Apollodorus, Diodorus Siculus, Ovid). It was also called "a maze inextricable" impossible to escape from(Virgil). The labyrinth was located in the Knossos region which was the capital of Crete(Pausanias). The labyrinth had a symbolic meaning of complex path of life itself.

4. After the war in which Minoans had won over Athenians, king Minos decreed that every year they have to send seven youths and seven maidens to be sacrificed to the minotaur in the labyrinth(Apollodorus). Alternatively it was every nine years that Athenians and Minoans had agreed on(Diodorus Siculus, Plutarch), after Athenians have appeased king Minos who then ended the war and their misery(Plutarch). It is said that these victims were destroyed by the Minotaur in the Labyrinth, or else wandered about at their own will and, being unable to find an exit, perished there.

5. In one of these offerings, greek hero Theseus arrived to Crete to complete his deeds(Diodorus Siculus). He was welcomed by Ariadne, daughter of Minos, who found the hero attractive and helped him by revealing the way out of labyrinth(Diodorus Siculus). The hero considered this victory the most noteworthy of his achievements, not so much because the Minotaur was the toughest opponent, but because his success in unravelling the difficult Maze and in escaping unnoticed along with Ariadne(Pausanias). Pausanias hints that it was divine providence that brought Theseus and his company back in safety.

APOLLODORUS, LIBRARY, Book 3, translated by J. G. FRAZER

[3.1.3] Minos wished to reign over Crete, but his claim was opposed. So he alleged that he had received the kingdom from the gods, and in proof of it he said that whatever he prayed for would be done. And in sacrificing to Poseidon he prayed that a bull might appear from the depths, promising to sacrifice it when it appeared. Poseidon did send him up a fine bull, and Minos obtained the kingdom, but he sent the bull to the herds and sacrificed another.

[3.1.4] But angry at him for not sacrificing the bull, Poseidon made the animal savage, and contrived that Pasiphae should conceive a passion for it. In her love for the bull she found an accomplice in Daedalus, an architect, who had been banished from Athens for murder. He constructed a wooden cow on wheels, took it, hollowed it out in the inside, sewed it up in the hide of a cow which he had skinned, and set it in the meadow in which the bull used to graze. Then he introduced Pasiphae into it; and the bull came and coupled with it, as if it were a real cow. And she gave birth to Asterius, who was called the Minotaur. He had the face of a bull, but the rest of him was human; and Minos, in compliance with certain oracles, shut him up and guarded him in the Labyrinth. Now the Labyrinth which Daedalus constructed was a chamber “that with its tangled windings perplexed the outward way.

[3.15.8] they(Athenians) inquired of the oracle how they could be delivered; and the god answered them that they should give Minos whatever satisfaction he might choose. So they sent to Minos and left it to him to claim satisfaction. And Minos ordered them to send seven youths and the same number of damsels without weapons to be fodder for the Minotaur. Now the Minotaur was confined in a labyrinth, in which he who entered could not find his way out; for many a winding turn shut off the secret outward way. The labyrinth was constructed by Daedalus...the Athenians every year sent seven youths and as many damsels to be fodder for the Minotaur.

DIODORUS SICULUS, LIBRARY OF HISTORY, Book 4, translated by C. H. OLDFATHER

[4.60.1] It remains for us now to speak of the Minotaur which was slain by Theseus, in order that we may complete our account of the deeds of Theseus.

[4.61.3] The Athenians obeyed the order of the god, and Minos commanded them that they should give seven youths and as many maidens every nine years to the Minotaur for him to devour, for as long a time as the monster should live. And when the Athenians gave them the inhabitants of Attica were ride of their evils and Minos ceased warring on Athens. At the expiration of nine years Minos came again to Attica accompanied by a great fleet and demanded and received the fourteen young people.

[4.61.4] Now Theseus was one of those who were to set forth, and Aegeus made the agreement with the captain of the vessel that, if Theseus should overcome the Minotaur, they should sail back with their sails white, but if he died, they should be black, just as they had been accustomed to do on the previous occasion. When they had landed in Crete, Ariadnê, the daughter of Minos, became enamoured of Theseus, who was unusually handsome, and Theseus, after conversing with her and securing her assistance, both slew the Minotaur and got safely away, since he had learned from her the way out of the labyrinth.

[4.77.1] Afterwards Daedalus made his escape out of Attica to Crete, where, being admired because of the fame of his art, he became a friend of Minos who was king there. Now according to the myth which has been handed down to us Pasiphaë, the wife of Minos, became enamoured of the bull, and Daedalus, by fashioning a contrivance in the shape of a cow, assisted Pasiphaê to gratify her passion.

[4.77.2] In explanation of this the myths offer the following account: Before this time it had been the custom of Minos annually to dedicate to Poseidon the fairest bull born in his herds and to sacrifice it to the god; but at the time in question there was born a bull of extraordinary beauty and he sacrificed another from among those which were inferior, whereupon Poseidon, becoming angry at Minos, caused his wife Pasiphaê to become enamoured of the bull.

[4.77.3] And by means of the ingenuity of Daedalus Pasiphaê had intercourse with the bull and gave birth to the Minotaur, famed in the myth. This creature, they say, was of double form, the upper parts of the body as far as the shoulders being those of a bull and the remaining parts those of a man.

[4.77.4] As a place in which to keep this monstrous thing Daedalus, the story goes, built a labyrinth, the passage-ways of which were so winding that those unfamiliar with them had difficulty in making their way out; in this labyrinth the Minotaur was maintained and here it devoured the seven youths and seven maidens which were sent to it from Athens, as we have already related.

HYGINUS, FABULAE, translated by MARY GRANT

Fable [38] - LABORS OF THESEUS:...He killed the Minotaur in the town of Cnossus.

Fable [40] - PASIPHAE: Pasiphae, daughter of Sol and wife of Minos, for several years did not make offerings to the goddess Venus. Because of this Venus inspired in her an unnatural love for a bull [corrupt]. At the time when Daedalus came there as an exile, he asked her to help him. For her he made a wooden heifer, and put in it the hide of a real heifer, and in this she lay with the bull. From this intercourse she bore the Minotaur, with bull's head but human body. Then Daedalus made for the Minotaur a labyrinth with an undiscoverable exit in which it was confined. When Minos found out the affair he cast Daedalus into prison, but Pasiphae freed him from his chains. And so Daedalus made wings and fitted them to himself and to his son Icarus, and they flew away from that place. Icarus flew too high, and when the wax was melted by the sun, fell into the sea which was named Icarian for him. Daedalus flew on to King Cocalus in the island of Sicily. Others say that after Theseus killed the Minotaur he brought Daedalus back to Athens, his own country.

Fable [41] - MINOS: When Minos, son of Jove and Europa, fought with the Athenians, his son Androgeus was killed in the fight. After he conquered the Athenians their revenues became his; he decreed, moreover, that each year they should send seven of their children as food for the Minotaur. After Theseus had come from Troezene, and had learned what a calamity afflicted the state, of his own accord he promised to go against the Minotaur. When his father sent him off, he charged him to have white sails for his ships if he came back as victor; those who were sent to the Minotaur journeyed with black sails.

Fable [42] - THESEUS AND THE MINOTAUR: When Theseus came to Crete, Ariadne, Minos' daughter, loved him so much that she betrayed her brother and saved the stranger, or she showed Theseus the way out of the Labyrinth. When Theseus had entered and killed the Minotaur, by Ariadne's advise he got out by unwinding the thread. Ariadne, because she had been loyal to him, he took away, intending to marry her.

OVID, METAMORPHOSES, Book 8, translated by BROOKES MORE

[152] King Minos, when he reached the land of Crete and left his ships, remembered he had made a vow to Jupiter, and offered up a hundred bulls.—The splendid spoils of war adorned his palace.—Now the infamous reproach of Crete had grown, till it exposed the double-natured shame. So, Minos, moved to cover his disgrace, resolved to hide the monster in a prison, and he built with intricate design, by Daedalus contrived, an architect of wonderful ability, and famous. This he planned of mazey wanderings that deceived the eyes, and labyrinthic passages involved. so sports the clear Maeander, in the fields of Phrygia winding doubtful; back and forth it meets itself, until the wandering stream fatigued, impedes its wearied waters' flow; from source to sea, from sea to source involved. So Daedalus contrived innumerous paths, and windings vague, so intricate that he, the architect, hardly could retrace his steps.

[169] In this the Minotaur was long concealed, and there devoured Athenian victims sent three seasons, nine years each, till Theseus, son of Aegeus, slew him and retraced his way, finding the path by Ariadne's thread. Without delay the victor fled from Crete, together with the loving maid, and sailed for Dia Isle of Naxos, where he left the maid forlorn, abandoned. Her, in time, lamenting and deserted, Bacchus found and for his love immortalized her name. He set in the dark heavens the bright crown that rested on her brows. Through the soft air it whirled, while all the sparkling jewels changed to flashing fires, assuming in the sky between the Serpent-holder and the Kneeler the well-known shape of Ariadne's Crown.

PAUSANIAS, DESCRIPTION OF GREECE, Book 1, translated by W. H. S. JONES

[1.27.9] ...And so the Cretans say that this bull was sent by Poseidon to their land because, although Minos was lord of the Greek Sea, he did not worship Poseidon more than any other god.

[1.27.10] They say that this bull crossed from Crete to the Peloponnesus, and came to be one of what are called the Twelve Labours of Heracles. When he was let loose on the Argive plain he fled through the isthmus of Corinth, into the land of Attica as far as the Attic parish of Marathon, killing all he met, including Androgeos, son of Minos. Minos sailed against Athens with a fleet, not believing that the Athenians were innocent of the death of Androgeos, and sorely harassed them until it was agreed that he should take seven maidens and seven boys for the Minotaur that was said to dwell in the Labyrinth at Cnossus. But the bull at Marathon Theseus is said to have driven afterwards to the Acropolis and to have sacrificed to the goddess; the offering commemorating this deed was dedicated by the parish of Marathon.

PAUSANIAS, DESCRIPTION OF GREECE, Book 2, translated by W. H. S. JONES

[2.31.1] In the market-place of Troezen is a temple of Artemis Saviour, with images of the goddess. It was said that the temple was founded and the name Saviour given by Theseus when he returned from Crete after overcoming Asterion the son of Minos. This victory he considered the most noteworthy of his achievements, not so much, in my opinion, because Asterion was the bravest of those killed by Theseus, but because his success in unravelling the difficult Maze and in escaping unnoticed after the exploit made credible the saying that it was divine providence that brought Theseus and his company back in safety.

PLUTARCH, LIFE OF THESEUS, translated by B. PERRIN

15. Not long afterwards there came from Crete for the third time the collectors of the tribute. Now as to this tribute, most writers agree that because Androgeos was thought to have been treacherously killed within the confines of Attica, not only did Minos harass the inhabitants of that country greatly in war, but Heaven also laid it waste, for barrenness and pestilence smote it sorely, and its rivers dried up; also that when their god assured them in his commands that if they appeased Minos and became reconciled to him, the wrath of Heaven would abate and there would be an end of their miseries, they sent heralds and made their supplication and entered into an agreement to send him every nine years a tribute of seven youths and as many maidens. And the most dramatic version of the story declares that these young men and women, on being brought to Crete, were destroyed by the Minotaur in the Labyrinth, or else wandered about at their own will and, being unable to find an exit, perished there; and that the Minotaur, as Euripides says, was a mingled form and hybrid birth of monstrous shape, and that two different natures, man and bull, were joined in him.

VIRGIL, AENEID, Book 6, translated by H. R. FAIRCLOUGH

[24] Opposite, rising from the sea, the Cretan land faces this; here is the cruel love of the bull, Pasiphaë craftily mated, and the mongrel breed of the Minotaur, a hybrid offspring, record of a monstrous love; there that house of toil, a maze inextricable;