The minotaur is a creature from Greek mythology with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man. Scholars suggest it represents an older sun god worshiped by Cretans before adopting Greek gods. The minotaur guarded a labyrinth until slain by Theseus. It was the result of a strange liaison between King Minos’ wife and a Cretan white bull. Theseus used a ball of string to kill the creature, and it has been represented in various forms of art.
The minotaur is a creature from Greek mythology with the head of a bull, the tale of a bull and the body of a man. He is particularly attached to the island of Crete, where he is said to have lived out his adult life in an elaborate labyrinth at Knossos. Vicious and powerful, the minotaur guarded the labyrinth until he was slain by the Greek hero Theseus.
There are many classical scholars who suggest that the minotaur, because it is so pervasive in Greek mythology, represents an older mythological cycle than that of Ancient Greece. In particular, scholars such as Sir James Frazer, author of The Golden Bough, believe the creature represents a much older sun god worshiped by Cretans before they adopted Zeus and the pantheon of Greek gods. Others link the minotaur and his bull father to the Phoenician cult of Ba’al, the famous golden calf of the Bible.
In Greek mythology, however, the minotaur is a ferocious beast and a strong lesson in the consequences of offending a god. He is the son of the strange liaison between the wife of King Minos, Pasiphae, and the Cretan white bull. Accounts of the myth have it that King Minos prayed to Poseidon for a white bull, but then liked it so much that he refused to sacrifice it. Poseidon took his revenge by making Pasiphae fall in love with the bull. She mated with the bull and the result was the strange man/bull creature who was too wild and ferocious to grow up to be a normal child.
As an adult, the minotaur is a cannibal, exacting toll of women and men each year, whom it would then devour. Some myths tell that Theseus, the hero, volunteered to be part of the annual tribute so that he could attempt to slay the beast. Theseus was aided by Minos’ daughter Ariadne and used a ball of string to make his way through the labyrinth where he killed the creature and freed the Greeks held hostage by him.
Minotaurs and the contest between Theseus and the creature of Crete have been represented in various forms of art. The slaying of the minotaur was a subject of much classical Greek art, and as late as modern and postmodern art, depictions of the minotaur, particularly in the work of Picasso, continue to fascinate. Dante’s Inferno places the beast as the guardian of the seventh circle of hell, and in more modern literature, CS Lewis has used the beast as the commander of the White Witch’s army in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
