In Greek mythology, the Minotaur was a creature that was half man and half 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. Greek mythology comprises the collected legends of Greek gods and goddesses and ancient heroes and heroines, originally created and spread within an oral-poetic tradition. ... The ancient Greeks proposed many different ideas about the primordial gods in their mythology. ... In Greek mythology, the Titans (Greek Τιτάν, plural Τιτᾶνες) are among a series of gods who oppose Zeus and the Olympian gods in their ascent to power. ... Statue of Zeus The Greek sculptor Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall Statue of Zeus in about 435 bc. ... The Twelve Olympians, in Greek mythology, were the principal gods of the Greek pantheon, residing atop Mount Olympus. ... Marble sculpture of Pan copulating with a goat, recovered from Herculaneum Pan (Greek Παν, genitive Πανος) is the Greek god who watches over shepherds and their flocks. ... For other uses of nymph see Nymph (disambiguation). ... Apollo in art In art, Apollo is usually depicted as a handsome young man, almost always beardless, and often with a lyre or bow in hand. ... Bacchus by Caravaggio The god Dionysus is occasionally confused with one of several historical figures named Dionysius, a theophoric name that simply means [servant] of Dionysus. ... The ancient Greeks had a large number of sea gods. ... In mythology chthonic (from Greek χθονιος-pertaining to the earth; earthy) designates, or pertains to, gods or spirits of the underworld, especially in Greek mythology. ... For the son of Alexander the Great, see Heracles (Macedon). ... For other uses, see Achilles (disambiguation). ... The Trojan War was a war waged, according to legend, against the city of Troy in Asia Minor by the armies of Greece, following the kidnapping (or elopement) of Helen of Sparta by Paris of Troy. ... Jason, in Greek, is a hero of Greek mythology. ... For the order of chivalry, see Order of the Golden Fleece. ... For the constellation, see Perseus (constellation); for the Macedonian king, see Perseus of Macedon Perseus with the Head of Medusa Perseus was the son of Danae, the only child of Acrisius king of Argos. ... In Greek mythology, the Gorgons (terrible or, according to some, loud-roaring) were vicious female monsters with sharp fangs and hair of living, venomous snakes. ... Œdipus and the Sphinx, from an 1879 illustration from Stories from the Greek Tragedians by Alfred Church Oedipus or Œdipus, less commonly Oidipous, was the mythical king of Thebes, son of Laius and Jocasta, who, unknowingly, killed his father and married his mother. ... Seven Against Thebes is a play by Aeschylus concerning the battle between Eteocles and the army of Thebes and Polynices and his supporters, traditional Theban enemies. ... Theseus (Θησευς) was a legendary king of Athens, son of Aegeus (or of Poseidon). ... Triptolemus (also Buzyges), in Greek mythology, was the son of King Celeus of Eleusis in Attica. ... The Eleusinian Mysteries were annual initiation ceremonies for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. ... A mystery religion is any religion with an arcanum, or body of secret wisdom. ... Satyrs (Satyri) in Greek mythology are half-man half-beast nature spirits that haunted the woods and mountains, companions of Pan and Dionysus. ... Guido Reni, Abduction of Deianira, 1620-21 In Greek mythology, the centaurs ( Greek: Κένταυροι) are a race part human and part horse, with a horses body and a human head and torso. ... Greek religion is the polytheistic religion practiced in ancient Greece in form of cult practices, thus the practical counterpart of Greek mythology. ... Greek mythology comprises the collected legends of Greek gods and goddesses and ancient heroes and heroines, originally created and spread within an oral-poetic tradition. ... Binomial name Homo sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Subspecies Homo sapiens idaltu (extinct) Homo sapiens sapiens Human beings define themselves in biological, social, and spiritual terms. ... The worship of the Sacred Bull throughout the ancient world is most familiar in the episode of the idol of the Golden Calf made by Aaron and worshipped by the Hebrews in the wilderness of Sinai (Exodus). ... This article is about the maze. ... In Greek mythology, Minos was a semi-legendary king of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa. ... Crete, sometimes spelled Krete (Greek Κρήτη / Kriti) is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea. ... The European research project DAEDALUS (2000-2002) dealt with the validation of software components embedded in future generation critical concurrent systems by exhaustive semantic-based static analysis and abstract testing methods based on abstract interpretation. Applications included the static analysis of multi-threaded computer programs, for which a programming tool... Theseus (Θησευς) was a legendary king of Athens, son of Aegeus (or of Poseidon). ...

"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, instead sacrificed another bull, hoping that Poseidon would not notice. Poseidon was very angry when he realised 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 for one of his labours. Andrea Doria as Neptune by Agnolo Bronzino: a potent allegory of Genoas hegemony in the Tyrrhenian Sea In Greek Mythology, Poseidon (Ποσειδῶν) was the god of the sea, known to the Romans as Neptune, and to the Etruscans as Nethuns. ... For Pasiphaë the moon of Jupiter, see Pasiphaë (moon). ... The European research project DAEDALUS (2000-2002) dealt with the validation of software components embedded in future generation critical concurrent systems by exhaustive semantic-based static analysis and abstract testing methods based on abstract interpretation. Applications included the static analysis of multi-threaded computer programs, for which a programming tool... In Greek mythology, the Cretan Bull was either the bull that carried away Europa or the bull Pasiphae fell in love with. ... For the son of Alexander the Great, see Heracles (Macedon). ...

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. For alternate usages of Oracle, see Oracle (disambiguation) An Oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion; an infallible authority, usually spiritual in nature. ... Knossos Knossos (alternative spellings Knossus, Cnossus, Gnossus, Greek Κνωσσός) is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete, probably the ceremonial and political center of the Minoan culture. ...

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 to be devoured by the Minotaur. When the third sacrifice came round, Theseus volunteered to go to slay the monster. 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). In Greek mythology, Androgeus was the father of Sthenelus and a son of Minos and Pasiphae. ... The Acropolis in central Athens, one of the most important landmarks in world history. ... The Panathenaic Games were a set of games held every four years in Athens in Ancient Greece. ... Theseus (Θησευς) was a legendary king of Athens, son of Aegeus (or of Poseidon). ... Ariadne (utterly pure, from a Cretan-Greek form for arihagne) was a fertility goddess of Crete. ...

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. Icarus and Daedalus In Greek mythology, Icarus was the son of Daedalus. ...

Sometimes the Minotaur is represented as a bull with a human torso instead of a head, like a bull version of the Centaur. Guido Reni, Abduction of Deianira, 1620-21 In Greek mythology, the centaurs ( Greek: Κένταυροι) are a race part human and part horse, with a horses body and a human head and torso. ...

Interpretations

Theseus battles the Minotaur on a black-figure vase

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 name, was Asterius. (From user talk:MyRedDice), Yes, all my images are in public domain. ... (From user talk:MyRedDice), Yes, all my images are in public domain. ...

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. Baal (בַּעַל / בָּעַל, Standard Hebrew Báʿal, Tiberian Hebrew Báʿal / Báʿal) is a northwest Semitic word signifying The Lord, master, owner (male), husband cognate with Akkadian Bēl of the same meanings. ... Moloch or Molech or Molekh representing Hebrew מלך mlk is either the name of a god or the name of a particular kind of sacrifice associated historically with Phoenician and related cultures in north Africa and the Levant. ... Phoenicia was an ancient civilization in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal plain of what is now Lebanon and Syria. ...

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. Statue of Zeus The Greek sculptor Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall Statue of Zeus in about 435 bc. ... Bacchus by Caravaggio The god Dionysus is occasionally confused with one of several historical figures named Dionysius, a theophoric name that simply means [servant] of Dionysus. ... For the genus of grass, see Phalaris (grass). ... Minoan symbolic labrys of gold, 2nd millennium BC: many have been found in the sacred cave of Arkalochori on Crete) The Labrys is a doubleheaded axe. ... Perillos of Athens, a brass-founder, proposed to Phalaris, Tyrant of Agrigentum, the invention of a new means for executing criminals; accordingly, he cast a brazen bull, made totally of brass, hollow, with a door in the side. ... In Greek mythology, Talos was a bronze automaton whom Zeus gave to Europa. ... Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. ...

A political interpretation has that the Greeks freed themselves from the tributes and the power of Crete.

Fictional appearances

Minotaurs appear in fantasy and historical fiction far less frequently than other mythological beings such as centaurs. 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 and Federico Fellini's movie Satyricon, minotaurs are merely men wearing bull's head masks. Terry Gilliam's movie Time Bandits is less clear on this point, since the minotaur is not unmasked and therefore might be real. In literature, fantasy is a form of speculative fiction in which physical laws differ from our own through a reason for which no scientific explanation is offered, or which take place a world wholly different from our own. ... A historical novel is a novel in which the story is set among historical events, or more generally, where the time the action takes place in predates the time of the first publication -- distinguish and contrast the genre of alternate history. ... Guido Reni, Abduction of Deianira, 1620-21 In Greek mythology, the centaurs ( Greek: Κένταυροι) are a race part human and part horse, with a horses body and a human head and torso. ... Dante shown holding a copy of The Divine Comedy, next to the entrance to Hell, the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory and the city of Florence, in Michelinos fresco. ... Mary Renault (1905–1983) was an English novelist whose works are still popular with devotees of the historical novel. ... The King Must Die is a novel by Mary Renault about the life of Theseus, a character in ancient Greek mythology. ... Federico Fellini (January 20, 1920 – October 31, 1993) was a famous Italian film-maker and director. ... Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as part of the entertainment industry. ... Masks in a Guatemalan Market Teen reading a book, while wearing a dinosaur mask A mask is a piece of material or kit worn on the face. ... Terry Gilliam Terence Vance Gilliam (born November 22, 1940 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA) is a film director. ... Time Bandits (first released on July 13, 1981) is a fantasy film directed by Terry Gilliam (who created animations for Monty Pythons Flying Circus), produced by George Harrisons Handmade Films. ...

Thomas Burnett Swann's novels Day of the Minotaur (1965), The Forest of Forever (1971) and Cry Silver Bells (published posthumously, 1977), which form a loose trilogy in reverse order and were later published as an omnibus volume in chronological order as The Minotaur Trilogy, depict the last two survivors of an ancient race of minotaurs dwelling in the forests of ancient Crete alongside other mythological creatures. Swann's minotaurs are described as being more human-like than the classical description, with hoof-like toes, bull's tail, fur-covered (usually naked) bodies, human faces, large pointed ears, and short horns that grow like antlers. They are an intelligent, cultured race, which belies their sometimes fearsome appearance, and fluent in Greek ("What did you expect me to do, moo or speak Hittite?"). Thomas Burnett Swann (October 12, 1928 - May 5, 1976) was an American poet, critic and fantasy author. ... 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... A trilogy is a set of three works of art, usually literature or film, that develop a single theme even though they are generally created at different times. ... For the Poet Laureate of Milwaukee, see Antler (Poet). ... The Hittite language is the dead language once spoken by the Hittites, a people who once created an empire centered on ancient Hattusa (modern Boğazköy) in north-central Turkey. ...

In 2005, a film is to be released. Minotaur is 2005 motion picture, directed by Jonathan English. ...

See also

• Liontaur
• The Assyrian cherub had a bull body and a human head.