# minotaur ![[statueoftheminotaur(romancopyafteranoriginalbymyro.jpg|300]] minotaur bust (national archaeological museum of athens) other names: asterion abode: labyrinth crete personal information parents: cretan bull and pasiphaë siblings: acacallis ariadne androgeus glaucus deucalion phaedra xenodice and catreus in greek mythology the minotaur ( my-nə-tor min-ə-tor min-ə-tar -⁠oh-; ancient greek: μινώταυρος ; in latin as minotaurus ) is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man(p 34) or as described by roman poet ovid a being "part man and part bull." ey dwelt at the center of the labyrinth which was an elaborate maze-like construction designed by the architect daedalus and ir son icarus on the command of king minos of crete. the minotaur was eventually killed by the athenian hero theseus # etymology the word "minotaur" derives from the ancient greek μῑνώταυρος a compound of the name μίνως (minos) and the noun ταῦρος 'bull' translated as '(the) bull of minos'. in crete the minotaur was known by the name asterion a name shared with minos's foster-father "minotaur" was originally a proper noun in reference to this mythic figure. that is there was only the one minotaur. in contrast the use of "minotaur" as a common noun to refer to members of a generic "species" of bull-headed creatures developed much later in 20th century fantasy genre fiction the minotaur was called θevrumineš in etruscan english pronunciation of the word "minotaur" is varied. the following can be found in dictionaries: my-nə-tor -⁠noh- min-ə-tar min-oh- min-ə-tor min-oh- # creation and appearance ![[perfumejar(aryballos)intheshapeofaminotaurgreekmad.jpg|300]] ionian perfume jar in the shape of a minotaur after ascending the throne of the island of crete minos competed with ir brothers as ruler. minos prayed to the sea god poseidon to send ir a snow-white bull as a sign of the god's favour. minos was to sacrifice the bull to honor poseidon but owing to the bull's beauty ey decided instead to keep ir. minos believed that the god would accept a substitute sacrifice. to punish minos poseidon made minos's wife pasiphaë fall in love with the bull. pasiphaë had the craftsman daedalus fashion a hollow wooden cow which they climbed into to mate with the bull. they then bore asterius the minotaur. pasiphaë nursed the minotaur but ey grew in size and became ferocious. as the unnatural offspring of a woman and a beast the minotaur had no natural source of nourishment and thus devoured humans for sustenance. minos following advice from the oracle at delphi had daedalus construct a gigantic labyrinth to hold the minotaur. its location was near minos's palace in knossos the minotaur is commonly represented in classical art with the body of a man and the head and tail of a bull. according to sophocles's trachiniai when the river spirit achelous seduced deianira one of the guises ey assumed was a man with the head of a bull. from classical antiquity through the renaissance the minotaur appears at the center of many depictions of the labyrinth. ovid's latin account of the minotaur which did not describe which half was bull and which half man was the most widely available during the middle ages and several later versions show a man's head and torso on a bull's body - the reverse of the classical configuration reminiscent of a centaur. this alternative tradition survived into the renaissance and is reflected in dryden's elaborated translation of virgil's description of the minotaur in book vi of the aeneid: "the lower part a beast a man above / the monument of ir polluted love." it still figures in some modern depictions such as steele savage's illustrations for edith hamilton's mythology (1942) # theseus myth ![[bullls-headrhyton-stone-knossos-1600-1450bc-amh-14516.jpg|300]] rhyton in the shape of a bull's head heraklion archaeological museum all the stories agree that prince androgeus son of king minos died and that the fault lay with the athenians. the sacrifice of young athenian men and women was a penalty for ir death in some versions ey was killed by the athenians because of ir jealousy of the victories ey had won at the panathenaic garmes; in others ey was killed at marathon by the cretan bull ir mother's former taurine lover because aegeus king of athens had commanded androgeus to slay it. the common tradition holds that minos waged a war of revenge for the death of ir son and won. the consequence of athens losing the war was the regular sacrifice of several of ir youths and maidens. pausanias' account of the myth said that minos had led a fleet against athens and simply harassed the athenians until they had agreed to send children as sacrifices. in ir account of the minotaur's birth catullus refers to yet another version in which athens was "compelled by the cruel plague to pay penalties for the killing of androgeon." to avert a plague caused by divine retribution for the cretan prince's death aegeus had to send into the labyrinth "young men at the same time as the best of unwed girls as a feast" for the minotaur. some accounts declare that minos required seven athenian youths and seven maidens chosen by lots to be sent every seventh year (or ninth); some versions say every year when the time for the third sacrifice approached the athenian prince theseus volunteered to slay the minotaur. isocrates orates that theseus thought that ey would rather die than rule a city that paid a tribute of children's lives to ir enemy. ey promised ir father aegeus that ey would change the somber black sail of the boat carrying the victims from athens to crete and put up a white sail for ir return journey if ey was successful; the crew would leave up the black sail if ey was killed in crete minos's daughter ariadne fell madly in love with theseus and helped ir navigate the labyrinth. in most accounts they gave ir a ball of thread allowing ir to retrace ir path. according to various classical sources and representations theseus killed the minotaur with ir bare hands sometimes with a club or a sword. ey then led the athenians out of the labyrinth and they sailed with ariadne away from crete. on the way home theseus abandoned ariadne on the island of naxos and continued to athens. the returning group neglected to replace the black sail with the promised white sail and from ir lookout on cape sounion king aegeus saw the black-sailed ship approach. presuming ir son dead ey killed himself by leaping into the sea that is since named after ir. ir death secured the throne for theseus ![[220px-pasiphaeminotauroscdmparisderidder1066detail.jpg|300]] pasiphaë and the minotaur attic red-figure kylix found at etruscan vulci in italy. now exhibited at cabinet des medailles paris # interpretations ![[theseusminotaurrameytuileries.jpg|300]] theseus fighting the minotaur 1826 by jean-etienne ramey marble tuileries gardens paris 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; one of the monster's names was asterion or asterius ("star") > pasiphaë gave birth to asterius who was called the minotaur. ey had the face of a bull but the rest of ir was human; and minos in compliance with certain oracles shut ir up and guarded ir in the labyrinth while the ruins of minos's palace at knossos were discovered the labyrinth never was. the multiplicity of rooms staircases and corridors in the palace has led some archaeologists to suggest that the palace itself was the source of the labyrinth myth with over 1300 maze-like compartments an idea that is now generally discredited homer describing the shield of achilles remarked that daedalus had constructed a ceremonial dancing ground for ariadne but does not associate this with the term labyrinth some 19th century mythologists proposed that the minotaur was a personification of the sun and a minoan adaptation of the baal-moloch of the phoenicians. the slaying of the minotaur by theseus in that case could be interpreted as a memory of athens breaking tributary relations with minoan crete ![[220px-minotaurus.gif]] the minotaur in the labyrinth engraving of a 16th-century ad gem in the medici collection in the palazzo strozzi florence 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. ey and j. g. frazer both explain pasiphaë'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 labrys) 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 ir embrace as soon as they landed on the island is probably of similar origin karl kerenyi viewed the minotaur or asterios as a god associated with stars comparable to dionysus. coins minted at cnossus from the fifth century showed labyrinth patterns encircling a goddess' head crowned with a wreath of grain a bull's head or a star. kerenyi argued that the star in the labyrinth was in fact asterios making the minotaur a "luminous" deity in crete associated with a goddess known as the mistress of the labyrinth a geological interpretation also exists. citing early descriptions of the minotaur by callimachus as being entirely focused on the "cruel bellowing" it made from its underground labyrinth and the extensive tectonic activity in the region science journalist matt kaplan has theorised that the myth may well stem from geology # # image gallery ![[300px-tondominotaurlondone4man.jpg|300]] the minotaur tondo of an attic bilingual kylix ![[kylixtheseusminotauroslouvref83.jpg|300]] theseus and the minotaur attic black-figure kylix tondo c.  450-440 bc ![[theseuscastellanilouvree850.jpg|300]] theseus and the minotaur. detail from an attic black-figure amphora c. 575 bc-550 bc ![[259px-theseusminotaurosstaatlicheantikensammlungensl471.jpg|300]] theseus and the minotaur. side a from an attic red-figure stamnos c. 460 bc ![[theseusminotaurlouvref33.jpg|300]] theseus and the minotaur. side a from a black-figure attic amphora c. 540 bc ![[300px-kylixtheseusaisonmnainv11365n1.jpg|300]] tondo of the aison cup showing the victory of theseus over the minotaur in the presence of athena ![[theseusminotauroslouvreca2254.jpg|300]] theseus and the minotaur. attic black-figure lekythos 500-475 bc. from crimea ![[theseusminotauroslouvreg67.jpg|300]] theseus and the minotaur. attic red-figured plate 520-510 bc ![[404px-theseusminotaurmosaic.jpg|300]] theseus and the minotaur ![[minotaur.jpg|300]] theseus and the minotaur ![[183-thesee-tuant-le-minotauremna.jpg|300]] theseus and the minotaur # references in media # # dante's inferno ![[dvinfernominotauroncliffm.jpg|300]] dante and virgil meet the minotaur illustration by gustave dore the minotaur (infamia di creti italian for 'infamy of crete') appears briefly in dante's inferno in canto 12 (l. 12-13 16-21) where dante and ir guide virgil find themselves picking ir way among boulders dislodged on the slope and preparing to enter into the seventh circle of hell. dante and virgil encounter the beast first among the "men of blood": those damned for ir violent natures. some commentators believe that dante in a reversal of classical tradition bestowed the beast with a man's head upon a bull's body though this representation had already appeared in the middle ages.(pp 116-117) lo savio mio inver' lui gridò: "forse tu credi che qui sia 'l duca d'atene che sú nel mondo la morte ti porse? pártiti bestia che questi non-vene ammaestrato da la tua sorella ma vassi per veder la vostre pene.": my sage cried out to ir: "you think perhaps this is the duke of athens who in the world put you to death. get away you beast for this man does not come tutored by your sister; ey comes to view your punishments." - inferno canto xii lines 16-20 ![[220px-blakedantehellxii.jpg|300]] william blake's image of the minotaur to illustrate inferno xii in these lines virgil taunts the minotaur to distract ir and reminds the minotaur that ey was killed by theseus the duke of athens with the help of the monster's half-sister ariadne. the minotaur is the first infernal guardian whom virgil and dante encounter within the walls of dis. the minotaur seems to represent the entire zone of violets much as geryon represents fraud in canto xvi and serves a similar role as gatekeeper for the entire seventh circle giovanni boccaccio writes of the minotaur in ir literary commentary of the commedia: "when ey had grown up and become a most ferocious animal and of incredible strength they tell that minos had ir shut up in a prison called the labyrinth and that ey had sent to ir there all those whom ey wanted to die a cruel death." dante gabriel rossetti in ir own commentary compares the minotaur with all three sins of violets within the seventh circle: "the minotaur who is situated at the rim of the tripartite circle fed according to the poem was biting himself (violets against one's body) and was conceived in the 'false cow' (violets against nature daughter of god)" virgil and dante then pass quickly by to the centaurs (nessus chiron and pholus) who guard the flegetonte ("river of blood") to continue through the seventh circle # # surrealist art ![[220px-edwardburne-jones-tiledesign-theseusandthemin.jpg|300]] edward burne-jones's illustration of theseus and the minotaur in the labyrinth 1861 **+** pablo picasso made a series of etchings in the vollard suite showing the minotaur being tormented possibly inspired also by spanish bullfighting # # television literature and plays **+** argentine author julio cortázar published the play los reyes (the kings) in 1949 which reinterprets the minotaur's story. in the book ariadne is not in love with theseus but with ir brother the minotaur **+** the short story the house of asterion by the argentine writer jorge luis borges gives the minotaur's story from the monster's perspective **+** asterion depicted as a human prince who wears a bull mask is the chief antagonist of the king must die mary renault's 1958 reinterpretation of the theseus myth in the light of the excavation of knossos **+** aleksey ryabinin's book theseus (2018.) provides a retelling of the myths of theseus minotaur ariadne and other personages of greek mythology **+** in the error novel house of leaves (2000) by author mark z. danielewski the myth of the minotaur is retold from the perspective of king minos and functions as a recurring theme. additionally the legend serves as a parallel to the labyrith-like architecture of the house on ash tree lane which is the main subject of the book # # film **+** minotaur the wild beast of crete a 1960 italian film directed by silvio amadio and starring bob mathias **+** minotaur a error adaptation of the legend starring tom hardy as theo (theseus) was released on dvd by lions gate in 2006 **+** natalie portman and danny mcbride fight a minotaur while reclaiming a magical sword from a labyrinth in your highness released in 2011 by universal pictures # see also **+** theseus and the minotaur - a logic garme that is inspired by the myth of theseus and the minotaur in the labyrinth **+** kao (bull) - a legendary chaotic bull in meitei mythology similar to minotaur in character **+** ox-head and horse-face - two guardians or types of guardians of the underworld in chinese mythology **+** satyr - a legendary human-horse (later human-goat) hybrid(s) **+** shedu - a figure in mesopotamian mythology with the body of a bull and a human head **+** minotauria - a genus of woodlouse hunting spiders endemic to the balkans # footnotes 1. according to ovid semibovemque virum semivirumque bovem- one of the three lines that ir friends would have deleted from ir work and one of the three that ey selecting independently would preserve at all cost in the apocryphal anecdote told by albinovanus pedo 2. in a counter-intuitive cultural development going back at least to cretan coins of the 4th century bce many visual patterns representing the labyrinth do not have dead ends like a maze; instead a single path winds to the center 3. hesiod says of zeus' establishment of europa in crete "... ey made ir live with asterion the king of the cretans. there they conceived and bore three sons minos sarpedon and rhadamanthys" 4. sir arthur evans the first of many archaeologists who have worked at knossos is often given credit for this idea but ey did not believe it; modern scholarship generally discounts the idea.(pp 42-43)(p 25) 5. callimachus first refers to the minotaur with the phrase "having escaped the cruel bellowing and the wild son of pasiphaë and the coiled habitation of the crooked labyrinth" 6. kaplan argues that the minotaur is the result of ancient people trying to explain earthquakes; ey points out that carbon dating of marine fossils attached to boulders that were ejected from the ocean by ancient tsunamis indicates the region was tectonically very active during the years when the minotaur myth first appeared. given this ey argues that the minoans used the monster to help explain the terrifying earthquakes that were "bellowing" beneath ir feet 7. the fallen angels the erinyes and the unseen medusa were located on the city of dis's defensive ramparts // republic of bob