Today many of the characters of Greek mythology are still recognisable today, and whilst the names of gods and heroes are often widely known, it is the appearance of mythical creatures that are arguably most widely recognisable. People can describe the centaur, the half man half horse, but even more famous might be the Minotaur.
The story of the Minotaur begins and ends in Crete
Before becoming king, Minos was in an argument with his brothers about who was to be the next ruler. To aid his case, Minos claimed the backing of the gods; and praying to Poseidon, Minos was rewarded, as the god of the sea sent a sign of his approval. |
| Theseus and the Minotaur - H.A.Guerber - PD-life-70 |
This belief was of course badly mistaken. In revenge, Poseidon transposed Minos’ love of the Cretan Bull onto his wife. Minos’ wife, Pasiphae, was cursed to fall in physical love with the bull. Pasiphae had no option other than to give into her unnatural urges, and so Pasiphae asked Daedalus, the legendary inventor and artisan, to assist her.
Daedalus designed and constructed a hollow, wooden cow on wheels. Pasiphae entered it, and the wooden cow was wheeled out onto the meadow where the Cretan Bull grazed. Suffice to say copulation occurred.
After the given time, Pasiphae gave birth to a son who was called Asterion. Asterion means ruler of the stars, a name attributed to the newborn’s grandfather. The child though was no ordinary boy; born as he was with a male body but the head and tail of a bull.
In his early years Asterion was treated as any normal boy, even being nursed by his mother. As time passed Asterion grew and became more ferocious, terrorising the Cretans. It was at this time that Asterion became known as the Minotaur, Minotaur meaning “Bull of Minos”.
Minos, following the advice of the Oracle of Delphi, instructed Daedalus to design a gigantic labyrinth to imprison his son in. The Labyrinth at Knossos was the most complex ever built, an infinite number of passages would cross over each other, whilst there seemed to be no start or end to the maze. It was said that it was so complicated that even Daedalus had trouble getting out of it after he had constructed it.
Thus it was that Asterion spent his delinquent years alone within the giant maze, beneath his father’s palace.
At the same time Minos was in dispute with Athens. Androgeus, another son of Minos, had been killed when a guest of the Athenian court. A war was waged between the two states, a war that the forces of Crete were victorious in.
The Oracle at Delphi proclaimed that a tribute was to be paid to Minos by Athens. The tribute was to be made in the form of human sacrifices. Every nine years, or every year in some variations, seven young men and seven maidens were to be sent to Crete. These youths were locked in the Labyrinth for the Minotaur to devour.
Eighteen years passed, until the third set of sacrifices was to be made. Theseus, a prince of Athens, took the place of one of the youths destined for Crete. Sailing in a ship with a black sail, Theseus promised his distraught father that he would return showing a white sail.
On arrival in Crete, Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos, caught sight of the handsome prince, and promptly fell in love with Theseus. Ariadne realising that Theseus would have to enter the maze, sought to aid him in his quest, and supplied him with a thread and the advice of Daedalus.
On entering the Minotaur’s Labyrinth, Theseus unwound the thread, allowing him to map his route from the maze’s entrance. Eventually, Theseus came upon the sleeping Minotaur, and making use of a sword supplied by the king’s daughter, Theseus slew the sleeping monster. It was then easy to retrace his route out of the maze, rescuing the other intended sacrifices on the way. With the monster dead, Theseus promptly leaves Crete taking Ariadne with him.
King Minos tries to take out some form of revenge on Daedalus for assisting Theseus, and so is locked away in a tower with his son. The tower proves to be no prison for the inventor though, and although his son is killed whilst escaping, Daedalus flies away to safety. Minos, in trying to recapture Daedalus, is murdered in the court of King Cocalus in Camicus, in Sicily.
The story of the Minotaur of course sounds totally made up, but there may be elements of truth in the tale. Some circumstantial evidence suggests that at the time when the island of Crete was the dominant force in the Mediterranean, it could demand tributes from the city states of Greece and other countries. These tributes could well have taken human form. Ceremonies for sacrifice would then be performed by a priest, possibly the son of King Minos, who would be disguised behind the mask of a bull.
The slaying of the Minotaur could also link into the same period, and be a representation of the growing strength of Athens. Once strong enough, Athens would no longer need to pay tribute to Crete.
Much of this is supposition, and not born out with any direct archaeological evidence. In fact, there is no evidence for even the existence of the Labyrinth. The palace of Minos at Knossos has been extensively excavated, with no obvious signs of a maze have been uncovered. This has led some archaeologists to describe the palace itself as a maze, and thus the source of the Labyrinth tales.
The lack of physical evidence for the maze or the monster does not make the story of the Minotaur any less entertaining though, and as a result the story of Theseus and the Minotaur remains popular even today.
Copyright - First Published 7th March 2008
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