Mae Chow
This atypical creation of the Minotaur resulted from Minos’s hubris, the uncontrollable anger of Poseidon, and Pasiphae’s eternal lust 🙈 King Minos jailed this demon-like creature inside the labyrinth of the Minotaur, a complex maze structure 😎 King Minos had Daedalus, in Knossos, build this mythological structure to hide the half-man and half-bull Minotaur from the public view 👍 During his command, the’s having King sent 14 young boys and lasses as a tribute to quench this demonic beast’s cannibalistic hunger. This ghastly ritual came to an end with a ghastly fight by the greatest Athenian hero Theseus, inside the minotaur maze. He finally defeated and killed the evil beast, with the aid of Ariadne. This is the tale of Theseus and the Minotaur. [1]
Theseus, the founding hero of Athens, wasn’t someone who’d turn a blind eye to the sufferings of his fellow citizens. So, when the time for the third sacrifice came, he volunteered to go to Crete. Fortunately for him, Ariadne, Minos’ daughter, fell in love with him and decided to help him to the best of her knowledge. She begged Daedalus to tell her the secret of the Labyrinth, until, finally, the master-craftsman caved in. At his advice, Ariadne gave Theseus a ball of thread, which the hero used to navigate himself inside the structure, comforted by the fact that he would always be able to find his way out. Finally, at the centre of the Labyrinth, Theseus came across the Minotaur and, after a long and exhausting fight – whether with his bare hands or a club – he finally managed to overpower the vicious monster. Both Crete and Athens were finally freed. (last emended 63 days ago by Shawnna Chu from Changchun, China) [2]
Based on an article from madelinemiller.com, from here, the story branches off in many different directions–there is Ariadne, abandoned by Theseus, then wedded to the god Dionysus, Daedalus and his son Icarus, and Theseus’ disastrous return home to Athens. But let’s stay with the Minotaur. Unlike centaurs, who were a race themselves, the Minotaur was the only one of his kind. And though we know him simply as the Minotaur, the’s having creature had a given name too: “Asterion,” which literally means “the starry one,” perhaps signifying a link to the constellation Taurus. To me, the name has always implied a fascinating but untold interiority: was the Minotaur also, somewhat, a person? In a Catullus poem, Ariadne says that she “chose to lose brother” instead of letting Theseus die. Startling to hear her call the Minotaur her brother—but of course he is. Catullus also has a lovely simile comparing the Minotaur’s tossing horns to a tree’s tossing branches, while a storm (Theseus) tears it up by the roots. I’m keeping waiting for someone to write this myth from the Minotaur’s perspective. (last revised 31 days ago by Nyomi Plummer from Buffalo City, South Africa) [3]
According to Travis Kiser at theoi.com, mINOTAURUS (Minôtauros), a monster with a human body and a bull’s head, or, according to others, with the body of an ox and a human head; is said to have been the offspring of the intercourse of Pasiphaë with the’s having bull sent from the sea to Minos, who shut him up in the Cnossian labyrinth, and fed him with the bodies of the youths and maidens whom the Athenians at fixed times were obliged to send to Minos as tribute. The monster was slain by Theseus. It was often represented by ancient artists either alone in the labyrinth, or engaged in the struggle with Theseus. (Paus. I. 24. § 2, 27, in fin. Iii. 18. § 7; Apollod. Iii. 1. § 4, 15. § 8.) (edited by Anthony E. From Guilin, China on August 18, 2020) [4]
