Minotaur

This article is about the mythological monster. For articles about the movie and rocket see Minotaur (disambiguation)

In Greek mythology, the Minotaur (Greek: Μινόταυρος) was a creature that was part man and part bull. It dwelt in the Labyrinth, which was an elaborate maze constructed by King Minos of Crete and designed by the architect Daedalus to hold the Minotaur. The Minotaur was eventually killed by Theseus.

"Minotaur" is Greek for "Bull of Minos". The bull was also known as Asterius or Asterion, a name shared with Minos's foster father.

The story

Before Minos became king, he asked the Greek god Poseidon for a sign, to assure him that he, and not his brother, was to receive the throne. Poseidon agreed to send a white bull on condition Minos would sacrifice the bull back to the god. Indeed, a bull of unmatched beauty came out of the sea. King Minos, after seeing it, found it so beautiful that he instead sacrificed another bull, hoping that Poseidon would not notice. Poseidon was very angry when he realized what had been done so he caused Minos's wife, Pasiphae, to be overcome with a fit of madness in which she fell in love with the bull. Pasiphae went to Daedalus for assistance, and Daedalus devised a way for her to satisfy her passions. He constructed a hollow wooden cow covered with cowhide for Pasiphae to hide in and allow the bull to mount her. The result of this union was the Minotaur. In some accounts, the white bull went on to become the Cretan Bull captured by Heracles (also known as Hercules) for one of his labours.

The Minotaur had the body of a man and the head and tail of a bull. It was a fierce creature, and Minos, after getting advice from the Oracle at Delphi, had Daedalus construct a gigantic labyrinth to hold the Minotaur. It was located under Minos' palace in Knossos. Now it happened that Androgeus, son of Minos, had been killed by the Athenians, who were jealous of the victories he had won at the Panathenaic festival. To avenge the death of his son, Minos waged war and won. He then demanded that seven Athenian youths and seven maidens be sent every ninth year (some accounts say every year) to be devoured by the Minotaur. When the third sacrifice came round, Theseus volunteered to go to slay the monster. He promised to his father, Aegeus, that he would put up a white sail on his journey back home if he was successful. Ariadne, Minos' daughter, fell in love with Theseus and helped him get out of the maze by giving him a ball of thread, allowing him to retrace his path. Theseus killed the Minotaur (with a magical sword Ariadne had given him) and led the other Athenians back out the labyrinth. (Plutarch, Theseus, 15—19; Diod. Sic. i. I6, iv. 61; Apollodorus iii. 1,15). However Theseus forgot to put up the white sails, so his father started crying and fell into the sea. Then it became known as the Aegean Sea.

Minos, angry that Theseus was able to escape, imprisoned Daedalus and his son Icarus in the labyrinth. They were able to escape by building wings for themselves, but Icarus died during the escape as he flew too high and the wax which held the feathers in the wing melted as it was closer to the Sun.

Sometimes the Minotaur is represented as a bull with a human torso and head, like a bull version of the Centaur.

Interpretations

The contest between Theseus and the Minotaur was frequently represented in Greek art. A Knossian didrachm exhibits on one side the labyrinth, on the other the Minotaur surrounded by a semicircle of small balls, probably intended for stars; it is to be noted that one of the monster's names was Asterius.

The ruins of Minos' palace at Knossos have been found, but the labyrinth has not. The enormous number of rooms, staircases and corridors in the palace has led archaeologists to believe that the palace itself was the source of the labyrinth myth.

Some modern mythologists regard the Minotaur as a solar personification and a Greek adaptation of the Baal-Moloch of the Phoenicians. The slaying of the Minotaur by Theseus in that case indicates the abolition of such sacrifice by the advance of Greek civilization.

According to A. B. Cook, Minos and Minotaur are only different forms of the same personage, representing the sun-god Zeus of the Cretans, who depicted the sun as a bull. He and J. G. Frazer both explain Pasiphae's union with the bull as a sacred ceremony, at which the queen of Knossos was wedded to a bull-formed god, just as the wife of the Tyrant in Athens was wedded to Dionysus. E. Pottier, who does not dispute the historical personality of Minos, in view of the story of Phalaris considers it probable that in Crete (where a bull-cult may have existed by the side of that of the double axe) victims were tortured by being shut up in the belly of a red-hot brazen bull. The story of Talos, the Cretan man of brass, who heated himself red-hot and clasped strangers in his embrace as soon as they landed on the island, is probably of similar origin.

A historical explanation of the myth refers to the time when Crete was the main political and cultural potency in the mediterranean sea. As the fledging Athens (and probably other continental Greek cities) was under tribute to Crete, it can be assumed that such tribute included young men and women for sacrifice. This ceremony was performed by a priest disguised with a bull head or mask, thus explaining the imagery of the Minotaur. It may also be that this priest was son to Minos. Once continental Greece was free from Crete's dominance, the myth of the Minotaur worked to distance the forming religion conciousness from the island's beliefs.

Cultural appearances

Minotaurs appear in fantasy and historical fiction far less frequently than other mythological beings such as centaurs.

Fiction

Jorge Luis Borges's short story "La casa de Asterión (The House of Asterion)" features a story from the minotaur's perspective.
In the Divine Comedy Dante and Virgil confront "the infamy of Crete" at the entrance to the seventh circle of Hell.
In Mary Renault's The King Must Die minotaurs are merely men wearing bull's head masks.
The second part of David Gemmell's The Lion of Macedon historic fantasy, The Dark Prince, features a sympathetic minotaur.
Thomas Burnett Swann's Minotaur Trilogy depicts the last two survivors of an ancient race of intelligent minotaurs dwelling in the forests of ancient Crete alongside other mythological creatures.
The minotaur plays a pivotal role in Mark Z. Danielewski's book House of Leaves, although it is never directly seen.
Steven Sherrill's 2000 novel The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break has the minotaur working as a cook in North Carolina where he lives in a trailer.
Minotaurs frequently appear in the Chronicles of Narnia.
The 8th Xanth book, Crewel Lye features a race of "cow-boys" and "cow-girls" who are humans with the heads of cattle.
The Minotaur is mentioned in Jeffrey Eugenides's Middlesex as the play that sparked the simultaneous fertilization of two main characters.
The Minotaur is one of the main (though for the most part, unseen) antagonists in the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde. He is introduced as being a Hannibal Lecter-esque serial killer, imprisoned in an unpublished fantasy novel rather than a Labyrinth.
Michael Ende uses both the Minotaur and its labyrinth as starting and closing points in his book "The mirror in the mirror".

Illustrated Fiction

In Wonder Woman a minotaur works at the Themysciran Embassy as a chef.

Visual Art

The Minotaur appears in many works by Pablo Picasso, particularly in the 1930s. Some of these show raping and killing, but in other pictures the Minotaur is showen as a lover rather than a monster, appearing to be in a consensual relationship with a woman.
The Minotaur is a recurring character in Stanley Donwood's artwork.

Music

The Artist Minotaur plays the leading role of the murderer in David Bowie's album 1.OUTSIDE.

The Incredible String Band recorded a song entitled, "The Minotaur's Song" on the album "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter."

Television

The minotaur appears in two episodes of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.
Minotaurs appear on three different, although seemingly unrelated occasions in Doctor Who.
In the anime Melody of Oblivion, Horu the monster is depicted in many ways that implies that he is, in fact, the minotaur.
In Class of the Titans, Cronus has a scientist create clones of the Minotaur from the bones of the original one, only for them to escape into the city's subway tunnels.
In Power Rangers: Mystic Force, the Green Ranger's symbol is a Minotaur.

Film

Three minotaurs appeared in Monkeybone.
The 2005 film Minotaur loosely followed the original stories, taking many liberties.
In Federico Fellini's movie Satyricon, minotaurs are men wearing bull's head masks.
Terry Gilliam's movie Time Bandits features a minotaur.
Takashi Miike's 2003 film Gozu features a Minotaur-like character ('Gozu' literally means 'cow head' in Japanese).
Minotaurs appear in the movie version of The Chronicles of Narnia.

Video Games

The game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete takes place in the labyrinth, but the minotaur is never seen.
Minotaurs are frequently bosses in the Castlevania video game series.
Minotaur-like enemies appeared as a pair of bosses in the computer game Heretic.
Minotaurs are also commonly-encountered enemies in the Playstation 2 game God of War.
Minotaurs are available as myth units in Age of Mythology Also, Kamos is a pirate Minotaur and an enemy.
Minotaurs appear as The Brothers in Final Fantasy VIII.
In the online game Shadowbane players are able to assume the role of a minotaur.
The first colossus which must be slain in Shadow of the Colossus is a representation of a Minotaur.
In the Final Fantasy XI expansion pack Chains of Promathia, one of the earliest boss monsters is a minotaur.
In the popular PC series, Heroes of Might and Magic, Minotaurs and Minotaur Kings are powerful creatures that heroes can use in their army.
Minotaur-like enemies make several appearances in Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo (computer game).
Minotaurs appear throughout Vagrant Story as mini-bosses.
A Minotaur occurs as a boss in Spartan: Total Warrior.
A segment of the game King's Quest VI involves escaping from the Labyrinth and defeating the Minotaur.
Minotaurs are featured in the game Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Role Playing Games

As a race of monsters rather than a unique creature minotaurs feature in some fantasy role-playing games.

Minotaurs are featured in Dungeons & Dragons.
In Warhammer Fantasy Battles Minotaurs are part of the Beasts of Chaos Army.
The card game Magic: The Gathering features minotaurs as being both savage (the Hurloon minotaurs) and tribal yet somewhat cultured (the Talruum).
World of Warcraft features Minotaurs as the tribal bovine humanoids known as the Tauren.
Guild Wars contains Minotaurs as a strong enemy race in many different locations with many different breeds.