# Minotaur

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Creature of Greek mythology

This article is about the mythological monster. For other uses, see [Minotaur (disambiguation)](/source/Minotaur_(disambiguation)).

Minotaur The Minotaur on an Attic kylix tondo from c. 515 BC with a kalos inscription.[a] Other names Asterion Abode Labyrinth, Crete Genealogy Parents Cretan Bull and Pasiphaë Siblings Ariadne, Androgeus, Glaucus (son of Minos), Deucalion, Phaedra

In [Greek mythology](/source/Greek_mythology), the **Minotaur**[b] ([Ancient Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek_language): Μινώταυρος, [romanized](/source/Romanization_of_Ancient_Greek): *Mīnṓtauros*), also known as **[Asterion](/source/Asterius_(mythology))** or **[Asterius](/source/Asterius_(mythology))**, is a [mythical creature](/source/Mythical_creature) portrayed during [classical antiquity](/source/Classical_antiquity) with the head and tail of a [bull](/source/Bull) and the body of a man[2](p 34) or, as described by Roman poet [Ovid](/source/Ovid), a being "part man and part bull".[c] He dwelt at the center of the [Labyrinth](/source/Labyrinth), which was an elaborate [maze](/source/Maze)-like construction[d] designed by the architect [Daedalus](/source/Daedalus) and his son [Icarus](/source/Icarus), upon command of King [Minos](/source/Minos) of [Crete](/source/Crete). According to tradition, every nine years the people of [Athens](/source/Athens) were compelled by King Minos to choose [fourteen young noble citizens](/source/Sacrificial_victims_of_the_Minotaur) (seven men and seven women) to be offered as sacrificial victims to the Minotaur in retribution for the death of Minos's son [Androgeus](/source/Androgeus_(son_of_Minos)). The Minotaur was eventually slain by the Athenian hero [Theseus](/source/Theseus), who managed to navigate the labyrinth with the help of a thread offered to him by the King's daughter, [Ariadne](/source/Ariadne).

## Etymology

The Minotaur was called **[Minotaurus](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Minotaurus)** [\[miːnoːˈtau̯rʊs\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Latin) in [Latin](/source/Latin) and Θevrumineš in [Etruscan](/source/Etruscan_language).[7] English pronunciation of the word "Minotaur" is varied; the following can be found in dictionaries: [/ˈmaɪnətɔːr, -noʊ-/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) [*MY-nə-tor, -⁠noh-*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key),[1] [/ˈmɪnətɑːr, ˈmɪnoʊ-/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) [*MIN-ə-tar, MIN-oh-*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key),[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] [/ˈmɪnətɔːr, ˈmɪnoʊ-/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) [*MIN-ə-tor, MIN-oh-*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key).[8]

The word "Minotaur" derives from the [Ancient Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek) Μινώταυρος [\[miːnɔ̌ːtau̯ros\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Greek) a [compound](/source/Compound_(linguistics)) of the name Μίνως ([Minos](/source/Minos)) and the noun [ταῦρος](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CF%84%CE%B1%E1%BF%A6%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%82#Ancient_Greek) *tauros* meaning 'bull',[8] thus it is translated as the 'Bull of Minos'. In Crete, the Minotaur was known by the name Asterion (Ἀστερίων)[9] or Asterios (Ἀστέριος),[10] a name shared with Minos's foster-father.[e]

"Minotaur" was originally a proper noun in reference to this mythical figure. That is, there was only the one Minotaur. The notion of other minotaurs surfaced in the early middle ages, perhaps first in *[The Cosmography of Aethicus Ister](/source/Aethicus_Ister)* in the 7th or 8th century, which speaks of minotaur cubs raised by Amazons for use in war.[12] The [Hereford Mappa Mundi](/source/Hereford_Mappa_Mundi) (ca 1300) depicts what might be a minotaur, and the map's legend refers to "wild animals similar to the minotaur".[13] It's not clear whether the middle ages envisioned a race of minotaurs, or simply that minotaurs arose from further human-bull unions: [Gerald of Wales](/source/Gerald_of_Wales) (12th/13th century) attributed the existence of ox-men in Ireland to the Irish taste for bestiality.[13] The notion of minotaurs as a race of beings became more common in 20th century fantasy fiction.

## Creation myth

[Pasiphaë](/source/Pasipha%C3%AB) and baby Minotaur, [Attic](/source/Attica) red-figure [kylix](/source/Kylix_(drinking_cup)) found at Etruscan [Vulci](/source/Vulci). Italy. Currently at the [Cabinet des Médailles](/source/Cabinet_des_M%C3%A9dailles), Paris

After ascending the throne of the island of Crete, [Minos](/source/Minos) competed with his brothers as ruler. Minos prayed to the sea god [Poseidon](/source/Poseidon) to send him a [snow-white bull](/source/Cretan_Bull) as a sign of the god's favor. Minos was to sacrifice the bull to honor Poseidon, but owing to the bull's beauty he decided instead to keep him. Minos believed that the god would accept a substitute sacrifice. To punish Minos, Poseidon arranged with Aphrodite for Minos's wife, [Pasiphaë](/source/Pasipha%C3%AB), to fall in love with the bull. Pasiphaë had the [master craftsman](/source/Master_craftsman), [Daedalus](/source/Daedalus), fashion for her a hollow wooden cow, into which she climbed to let the bull mate with her. She then fell pregnant and bore Asterius, the Minotaur, making him a grandchild of [Helios](/source/Helios).[14][15] Pasiphaë nursed the Minotaur but he grew in size and became ferocious. As the unnatural offspring of a woman and a beast, the Minotaur had no natural source of nourishment,[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] and thus devoured humans for sustenance.[16] Minos, following advice from the [oracle at Delphi](/source/Oracle_at_Delphi), had Daedalus construct a gigantic [Labyrinth](/source/Labyrinth) to hold the Minotaur. Its location was near Minos's palace in [Knossos](/source/Knossos).[17]

## Appearance

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](/source/Sophocles)'s *[Trachiniai](/source/Women_of_Trachis)*, when the river spirit [Achelous](/source/Achelous) seduced [Deianira](/source/Deianira), one of the guises he assumed was a man with the head of a bull. From [classical antiquity](/source/Classical_antiquity) through the [Renaissance](/source/Renaissance), the Minotaur appears at the center of many depictions of the Labyrinth.[18] [Ovid](/source/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](/source/Centaur).[19] This alternative tradition survived into the Renaissance, and is reflected in Dryden's elaborated translation of [Virgil](/source/Virgil)'s description of the Minotaur in Book VI of the *[Aeneid](/source/Aeneid)*: "The lower part a beast, a man above/The monument of their polluted love."[20] It still figures in some modern depictions, such as [Steele Savage](/source/Steele_Savage)'s illustrations for [Edith Hamilton](/source/Edith_Hamilton)'s *[Mythology](/source/Mythology_(book))* (1942). A mythical creature fitting this description was also known as a [bucentaur](/source/Bucentaur), but it postdates Greek mythology.

## Theseus myth

[Tondo](/source/Tondo_(art)) showing the victory of [Theseus](/source/Theseus) over the Minotaur in the presence of [Athena](/source/Athena) from c. 435 BC

All the stories agree that prince [Androgeus](/source/Androgeus_(son_of_Minos)), son of King Minos, died and that the fault lay with the Athenians. The sacrifice of [young Athenian men and women](/source/Sacrificial_victims_of_Minotaur) was a penalty for his death.

In some versions he was killed by the [Athenians](/source/Athens) because of their jealousy of the victories he had won at the [Panathenaic Games](/source/Panathenaic_Games); in others he was killed at [Marathon](/source/Marathon%2C_Greece) by the Cretan Bull, his mother's former taurine lover, because [Aegeus](/source/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 his son, and won. The consequence of Athens losing the war was the regular sacrifice of [several of their youths and maidens](/source/Sacrificial_victims_of_Minotaur). [Pausanias](/source/Pausanias_(geographer))'s 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.[21] In his account of the Minotaur's birth, [Catullus](/source/Catullus) refers to yet another version[22] in which Athens was "compelled by the cruel plague to pay penalties for the killing of [Androgeon](/source/Androgeus_(son_of_Minos))". 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](/source/Sacrificial_victims_of_Minotaur), chosen by lots, to be sent every seventh year (or ninth); some versions say every year.[23]

Theseus dragging the Minotaur out of the Labyrinth, red-figure kylix from c. 440-430 BC

When the time for the third sacrifice approached, the Athenian prince [Theseus](/source/Theseus) volunteered to slay the Minotaur. Isocrates orates that Theseus thought that he would rather die than rule a city that paid a tribute of children's lives to their enemy.[24] He promised his father Aegeus that he would change the somber black sail of the boat carrying the victims from Athens to Crete, and put up a white sail for his return journey if he was successful; the crew would leave up the black sail if he was killed.

In Crete, Minos's daughter [Ariadne](/source/Ariadne) fell madly in love with Theseus and helped him navigate the Labyrinth. In most accounts she gave him a ball of thread, allowing him to retrace his path. According to various classical sources and representations, Theseus killed the Minotaur with his sword, a club, or his bare hands.[25] He 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](/source/Naxos_(island)) and continued to Athens. The returning group neglected to replace the black sail with the promised white sail, and from his lookout on Cape [Sounion](/source/Sounion), King Aegeus saw the black-sailed ship approach. Presuming his son dead, he killed himself by leaping into the [sea that is since named after him](/source/Aegean_Sea).[26] His death secured the throne for Theseus.

## Interpretations

Statue of the Minotaur (Roman copy of an original by [Myron](/source/Myron)), [National Archaeological Museum, Athens](/source/National_Archaeological_Museum%2C_Athens)

Theseus wrestling with the Minotaur in the presence of [Ariadne](/source/Ariadne), c. 550-540 BC

The contest between Theseus and the Minotaur was frequently represented in [Greek art](/source/Greek_art). A Knossian [didrachm](/source/Ancient_drachma) 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](/source/Pasipha%C3%AB) gave birth to Asterius, who was called the Minotaur. He had the face of a bull, but the rest of him was human; and Minos, in compliance with certain oracles, shut him up and guarded him in the Labyrinth.[10]

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,[27] an idea that is now generally discredited.[f] Homer, describing the [shield of Achilles](/source/Shield_of_Achilles), remarked that Daedalus had constructed a ceremonial dancing ground for [Ariadne](/source/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](/source/Baal)-[Moloch](/source/Moloch) of the [Phoenicians](/source/Phoenicia). The slaying of the Minotaur by Theseus in that case could be interpreted as a memory of Athens breaking tributary relations with [Minoan Crete](/source/Minoan_civilization).[17]

According to [A. B. Cook](/source/Arthur_Bernard_Cook), *Minos* and *Minotaur* were different forms of the same personage, representing the [sun-god](/source/Solar_deity) of the Cretans, who depicted the sun as a bull. He and [J. G. Frazer](/source/James_George_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](/source/Tyrant) in Athens was wedded to [Dionysus](/source/Dionysus). E. Pottier, who does not dispute the historical personality of Minos, in view of the story of [Phalaris](/source/Phalaris), considers it probable that in Crete (where a [bull cult](/source/Bull_cult) may have existed by the side of that of the [labrys](/source/Labrys)) victims were tortured by being shut up in the belly of a red-hot [brazen bull](/source/Brazen_bull). The story of [Talos](/source/Talos), the Cretan man of [brass](/source/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.

[Ionian](/source/Ionia) Perfume Jar in the shape of a minotaur

The Minotaur in the [Labyrinth](/source/Labyrinth), engraving of a 16th-century AD gem in the Medici Collection in the [Palazzo Strozzi](/source/Palazzo_Strozzi), Florence[29]

[Kerényi Károly](/source/Ker%C3%A9nyi_K%C3%A1roly) viewed the Minotaur, or Asterios, as a god associated with stars, comparable to [Dionysus](/source/Dionysus).[30] Coins minted at [Knossos](/source/Knossos) from the fifth century showed labyrinth patterns encircling a goddess's head crowned with a wreath of grain,[31] a bull's head, or a star. Kerényi 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.[32]

A geological interpretation also exists. Citing early descriptions of the minotaur by [Callimachus](/source/Callimachus) as being entirely focused on the "cruel bellowing"[33][g] 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. [h]

### Image gallery

		- Theseus and the Minotaur. Detail from an Attic [black-figure](/source/Black-figure) [amphora](/source/Amphora), c. 575 BC–550 BC.

		- Theseus and the Minotaur. Side A from a black-figure Attic amphora, c. 540 BC.

		- Theseus and the Minotaur. Attic red-figured plate, 520–510 BC.

		- Theseus and the Minotaur. Attic black-figure [lekythos](/source/Lekythos), 500–475 BC. From Crimea.

		- Theseus and the Minotaur, black-figure amphora c. 480 BC

		- Theseus fighting the Minotaur, red-figure amphora, c. 460 BC

		- Theseus and the Minotaur. Side A from an Attic red-figure [stamnos](/source/Stamnos), c. 460 BC.

		- Theseus and the Minotaur, Attic black-figure kylix tondo, c. 450–440 BC.

## References in media

This section may contain irrelevant references to popular culture. Please help improve it by removing such content and adding citations to reliable, independent sources. (May 2020)

### Dante's *Inferno*

[Dante](/source/Dante_Alighieri) and [Virgil](/source/Virgil) meet the Minotaur, illustration by [Gustave Doré](/source/Gustave_Dor%C3%A9)

The Minotaur (*infamia di Creti*, Italian for 'infamy of Crete'), appears briefly in [Dante](/source/Dante)'s *[Inferno](/source/Inferno_(Dante))*, in Canto 12 (l. 12–13, 16–21), where Dante and his guide [Virgil](/source/Virgil) find themselves picking their way among boulders dislodged on the slope and preparing to enter into the [seventh circle of hell](/source/Seventh_circle_of_hell).[36] Dante and Virgil encounter the beast first among the "men of blood": those damned for their 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,[37] though this representation had already appeared in the Middle Ages.[2](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, ché questi non vene ammaestrato da la tua sorella, ma vassi per veder la vostre pene."

— *[Inferno](/source/Inferno_(Dante))*, Canto XII, lines 16–20

Translation:

My sage cried out to him: "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; he comes to view your punishments."

[William Blake](/source/William_Blake)'s image of the Minotaur to illustrate *Inferno* XII

In these lines, Virgil taunts the Minotaur to distract him, and reminds the Minotaur that he was killed by [Theseus the Duke of Athens](/source/Theseus) with the help of the monster's half-sister [Ariadne](/source/Ariadne). The Minotaur is the first infernal guardian whom Virgil and Dante encounter within the walls of [Dis](/source/City_of_Dis).[i] The Minotaur seems to represent the entire zone of [Violence](#Seventh_Circle_.28Violence.29), much as [Geryon](/source/Geryon) represents Fraud in Canto XVI, and serves a similar role as gatekeeper for the entire seventh Circle.[39]

[Giovanni Boccaccio](/source/Giovanni_Boccaccio) writes of the Minotaur in his literary commentary of the Commedia: "When he had grown up and become a most ferocious animal, and of incredible strength, they tell that Minos had him shut up in a prison called the labyrinth, and that he had sent to him there all those whom he wanted to die a cruel death".[40] [Dante Gabriel Rossetti](/source/Dante_Gabriel_Rossetti), in his own commentary,[41][42] compares the Minotaur with all three sins of violence within the seventh circle: "The Minotaur, who is situated at the rim of the tripartite circle, fed, according to the poem was biting himself (violence against one's body) and was conceived in the 'false cow' (violence against nature, daughter of God)."

Virgil and Dante then pass quickly by to the [centaurs](/source/Centaur) (Nessus, Chiron and Pholus) who guard the [Flegetonte](/source/Phlegethon) ("river of blood"), to continue through the seventh Circle.[43]

### Visual art

[Edward Burne-Jones](/source/Edward_Burne-Jones)'s illustration of *Theseus and the Minotaur in the Labyrinth*, 1861

- [Pablo Picasso](/source/Pablo_Picasso) made a series of etchings in the *[Vollard Suite](/source/Vollard_Suite)* showing the Minotaur being tormented, possibly inspired also by Spanish bullfighting.[44]

### Television, literature and plays

- *[The Chronicles of Narnia](/source/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia)* story *[The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe](/source/The_Lion%2C_the_Witch_and_the_Wardrobe)* features a race of Minotaurs that are among the creatures on the [White Witch](/source/White_Witch)'s side.

- The Minotaur is a recurring character in [Rick Riordan](/source/Rick_Riordan)'s *[Camp Half-Blood Chronicles](/source/Camp_Half-Blood_Chronicles)* (2005-present).

- Argentine author [Julio Cortázar](/source/Julio_Cort%C3%A1zar) 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 her brother the Minotaur.[45]

- The short story "[The House of Asterion](/source/The_House_of_Asterion)" by the Argentine writer [Jorge Luis Borges](/source/Jorge_Luis_Borges) gives the Minotaur's story from the monster's perspective.[46] - The 2000 novel *[House of Leaves](/source/House_of_Leaves)*, by American writer [Mark Z. Danielewski](/source/Mark_Z._Danielewski), contains numerous references to Borges and "The House of Asterion", including a chapter, titled "The Minotaur", that opens with a quote from Borges and presents a sympathetic interpretation of the Minotaur.[47]

- Asterion is the chief antagonist of *[The King Must Die](/source/The_King_Must_Die)*, [Mary Renault](/source/Mary_Renault)'s 1958 reinterpretation of the Theseus myth in the light of the excavation of Knossos.[48]

- [Harrison Birtwistle](/source/Harrison_Birtwistle) and [David Harsent](/source/David_Harsent)'s opera, *[The Minotaur](/source/The_Minotaur_(opera))*

### Film

- *[Minotaur, the Wild Beast of Crete](/source/Minotaur%2C_the_Wild_Beast_of_Crete)*, a 1960 Italian film directed by [Silvio Amadio](/source/Silvio_Amadio) and starring [Bob Mathias](/source/Bob_Mathias)[49]

- *[Minotaur](/source/Minotaur_(2006_film))*, a horror adaptation of the legend starring [Tom Hardy](/source/Tom_Hardy) as Theo (Theseus), was released on DVD by [Lions Gate](/source/Lionsgate_Films) in 2006.[50]

### Video games and role-playing games

- The fantasy role-playing game *[Dungeons & Dragons](/source/Dungeons_%26_Dragons)* features minotaurs as opponents, where they "retain the connotation of 'man' degraded into 'beast'" of their traditional counterparts,[51] but also as playable characters, translated from the singular creature of legend into a species.[52][53][54]

- In the 2018 action-adventure game *[Assassin's Creed Odyssey](/source/Assassin's_Creed_Odyssey)*, the Minotaur is a legendary creature to be defeated in a boss fight.[55][56] In a series of missions various references are made to the mythical history of the Minotaur,[57][58] like Theseus and the thread of Ariadne.

## See also

- [Kao (bull)](/source/Kao_(bull)) – a legendary chaotic bull in Meitei mythology, similar to Minotaur in character

- *[Minotauria](/source/Minotauria)* – a [genus](/source/Genus) of [woodlouse hunting spiders](/source/Dysderidae) endemic to the [Balkans](/source/Balkans)[59]

- [Ox-Head and Horse-Face](/source/Ox-Head_and_Horse-Face) – two guardians or types of guardians of the underworld in Chinese mythology

- [Satyr](/source/Satyr) – a legendary human-horse (later human-goat) hybrid(s)

- [Shedu](/source/Shedu) – a figure in Mesopotamian mythology with the body of a bull and a human head

- [Theseus and the Minotaur](/source/Theseus_and_the_Minotaur_(maze_puzzle)) – a logic game that is inspired by the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur in the Labyrinth.

## Footnotes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** In [Ancient Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek_language): ὁ παῖς καλός, *ho pais kalos* meaning "the boy is beautiful", a common [epigraphic](/source/Epigraphy) formula found on Attic pottery

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [/ˈmaɪnətɔːr, ˈmɪnətɔːr/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) [*MY-nə-tor, MIN-ə-tor*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key),[1] [US](/source/American_English): [/ˈmɪnətɑːr, -oʊ-/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) [ⓘ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-Minotaur.wav) [*MIN-ə-tar, -⁠oh-*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key);[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** According to [Ovid](/source/Ovid): 1. *semibovemque virum semivirumque bovem*,[3] one of the three lines that his friends would have deleted from his work, and one of the three that he, selecting independently, would preserve at all cost, in the apocryphal anecdote told by [Albinovanus Pedo](/source/Albinovanus_Pedo).[4]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** In a counter-intuitive cultural development going back at least to Cretan coins of the 4th century BCE, many visual patterns representing the [Labyrinth](/source/Labyrinth) do not have dead ends like a maze; instead, a single path winds to the center.[6]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Hesiod says of Zeus's establishment of Europa in Crete: 1. "... he made her live with [Asterion](/source/Asterion_(king_of_Crete)) the king of the Cretans. There she conceived and bore three sons, [Minos](/source/Minos), [Sarpedon](/source/Sarpedon_(Trojan_War_hero)), and [Rhadamanthys](/source/Rhadamanthys)."[11]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-34)** Sir [Arthur Evans](/source/Arthur_Evans), the first of many archaeologists who have worked at Knossos, is often given credit for this idea, but he did not believe it;[28] modern scholarship generally discounts the idea.[2](pp 42–43)[5](p 25)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-40)** [Callimachus](/source/Callimachus) first refers to the minotaur with the phrase 1. "Having escaped the cruel bellowing and the wild son of [Pasiphaë](/source/Pasipha%C3%AB) and the coiled habitation of the crooked labyrinth" ...[33]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-43)** Kaplan argues that the minotaur is the result of ancient people trying to explain earthquakes;[34] he points out that carbon dating of marine fossils attached to boulders that were ejected from the ocean by ancient [tsunamis](/source/Tsunamis) indicates the region was [tectonically](/source/Tectonically) very active during the years when the minotaur myth first appeared.[35] Given this, he argues that the Minoans used the monster to help explain the terrifying earthquakes that were "bellowing" beneath their feet.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-47)** The [fallen angels](/source/Fallen_angel), the [Erinyes](/source/Erinyes) [Furies], and the unseen [Medusa](/source/Medusa) were located on the [City of Dis](/source/City_of_Dis)'s defensive ramparts.[38]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-collins_english_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-collins_english_2-1) ["English Dictionary: Definition of Minotaur"](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/minotaur). Collins. Retrieved 20 July 2013.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Kern-2000_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Kern-2000_4-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Kern-2000_4-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Kern-2000_4-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Kern-2000_4-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Kern-2000_4-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-Kern-2000_4-6) Kern, Hermann (2000). *Through the Labyrinth*. Munich, London, New York: Prestel. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [379132144-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/379132144-7).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Ovid](/source/Ovid). *[Ars Amatoria](/source/Ars_Amatoria)*. 2.24.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [A. Pedo](/source/Albinovanus_Pedo) cited by Rusten, J.S. (Autumn 1982). "Ovid, Empedocles, and the Minotaur". *The American Journal of Philology*. **103** (3): 332–333, esp. 332. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2307/294479](https://doi.org/10.2307%2F294479). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [294479](https://www.jstor.org/stable/294479).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Doob-1990_8-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Doob-1990_8-1) Doob, Penelope Reed (April 1990). *The Idea of the Labyrinth: From Classical antiquity through the Middle Ages*. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-080142393-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-080142393-2).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Kern (2000);[2](Chapter 1) Doob (1990)[5](Chapter 2)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** de Simone, C. (1970). "Zu einem Beitrag über etruskisch *θevru mines*". *Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung*. **84**: 221–223.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-collins_american_12-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-collins_american_12-1) ["Minotaur"](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/american/minotaur). *American English Dictionary*. Collins. Retrieved 20 July 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** [Pausanias](/source/Pausanias_(geographer)). *Description of Greece*. Perseus Digital Library. [Corinth, Chapter 31, Section 1](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.31.1).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Apollod.3.1.4_14-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Apollod.3.1.4_14-1) Apollodorus. *Library*. Perseus Digital Library. [Book 3, Chapter 1, Section 4](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.1.4&highlight=Asterius).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Hesiod-fr140_15-0)** [Hesiod](/source/Hesiod). *[Catalogue of Women](/source/Catalogue_of_Women)*. fr. 140.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Herren, Michael W. (2011). [*The Cosmography of Aethicus Ister*](https://www.scribd.com/document/855484467/Cosmography-Aethicus-Ister-Pretrazivo#content=query:minotaurs,pageNum:279,indexOnPage:0,bestMatch:false). Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols. p. 157, 257 (note 404). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-2-503-53577-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-2-503-53577-7). Retrieved 11 January 2026.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Salih_18-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Salih_18-1) Salih, Sarah (2003). ["Idols and Simulacra: Paganity, Hybridity and Representation in *Mandeville's Travels*"](https://books.google.com/books?id=5M7JElJtK8AC&dq=minotaur+hereford+map&pg=PA125). In Bildhauer, Bettina; Mills, Robert (eds.). *The Monstrous Middle Ages*. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 125. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-80208719-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-80208719-1). Retrieved 11 January 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** Apollodorus. *Library*. Perseus Digital Library. [Book 3, Chapter 1](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.1&highlight=Minotaur).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** Chicago, Judy. ["The Dinner Party (Heritage Floor): Pasiphae"](https://web.archive.org/web/20241012160225/https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/heritage_floor/pasiphae). *BrooklynMuseum.org*. Archived from [the original](https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/heritage_floor/pasiphae) on 12 October 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** ["Metamorphoses: Theseus and the Minotaur"](https://classictales.co.uk/metamorphoses/theseus-and-minotaur). Cambridge Schools Classics Project. 6 October 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2025.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-EB19112_22-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-EB19112_22-1) [Chisholm, Hugh](/source/Hugh_Chisholm), ed. (1911). ["Minotaur"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Minotaur). *[Encyclopædia Britannica](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition)*. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 555.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** Several examples are shown in Kern (2000).[2]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** Examples include illustrations 204, 237, 238, and 371 in Kern.[2]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** The Aeneid of Virgil, as translated by John Dryden, found at [http://classics.mit.edu/Virgil/aeneid.6.vi.html](http://classics.mit.edu/Virgil/aeneid.6.vi.html) . Virgil's text calls the Minotaur "biformis"; like Ovid, he does not describe which part is bull, which part man.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-26)** ["Pausanias, Description of Greece, Attica, chapter 27"](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160:book=1:chapter=27&highlight=minotaur). *www.perseus.tufts.edu*. Retrieved 18 May 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-27)** [Catullus](/source/Catullus). [*Carmen 64*](http://rudy.negenborn.net/catullus/text2/e64.htm).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-28)** [Servius](/source/Maurus_Servius_Honoratus). *On the [Aeneid](/source/Aeneid)*. 6.14. *singulis quibusque annis* 'every one year'. The annual period is given by Zimmerman, J.E. (1964). "Androgeus". *Dictionary of Classical Mythology*. [Harper & Row](/source/Harper_%26_Row); and Rose, H.J. (1959). *A Handbook of Greek Mythology*. Dutton. p. 265. Zimmerman cites [Virgil](/source/Virgil), [Apollodorus](/source/Apollodorus), and [Pausanias](/source/Pausanias_(geographer)). The nine-year period appears in [Plutarch](/source/Plutarch) and [Ovid](/source/Ovid).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-29)** ["Isocrates, Helen, section 27"](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0144:speech=10:section=27&highlight=minotaur). *www.perseus.tufts.edu*. Retrieved 18 May 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-30)** [Graves, Robert](/source/Robert_Graves) (1955). *The Greek Myths: 1*. Penguin. p. 339.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-31)** [Plutarch](/source/Plutarch). *Theseus*. 15–19.[Diodorus Siculus](/source/Diodorus_Siculus). *[Bibliotheca historica](/source/Bibliotheca_historica)*. i.16, iv.61.[Apollodorus](/source/Apollodorus). *[Bibliotheke](/source/Bibliotheca_(Pseudo-Apollodorus))*. iii.1, 15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-32)** Hogan, C. Michael (2007). Cope, Julian (ed.). ["Knossos fieldnotes"](http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/10854/knossos.html#fieldnotes). *The Modern Antiquarian*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-33)** McCullough, David (2004). *The Unending Mystery*. Pantheon. pp. 34–36.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-35)** [Paolo Alessandro Maffei](/source/Paolo_Alessandro_Maffei) (1709), *Gemmae Antiche*, Pt. IV, pl. 31; Kern (2000): Maffei "erroneously deemed the piece to be from [Classical antiquity](/source/Classical_antiquity)".[2](p 202, fig. 371)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-36)** Kerenyi, Karl (1951). *The Gods of the Greeks*. p. 269.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-37)** See illustrations of [Carme](/source/Carme_(mythology)), for an example of a goddess crowned with a labyrinthine wreath of grain.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-38)** Kerényi, Karl (1976). *Dionysos: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life*. pp. 104–105, 159.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Callimachus-Mair-Mair-1921_39-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Callimachus-Mair-Mair-1921_39-1) [Callimachus](/source/Callimachus) (1921). *Callimachus, Hymns and Epigrams*. Translated by Mair, A.W.; Mair, G.R. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-41)** Kaplan, Matt (2012). *Science of Monsters*. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-42)** Scheffers, Anja; et al. (2008). "Late Holocene tsunami traces on the western and southern coastlines of the Peloponnesus (Greece)". *[Earth and Planetary Science Letters](/source/Earth_and_Planetary_Science_Letters)*. **269** (1–2): 271–279. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2008E&PSL.269..271S](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008E&PSL.269..271S). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/j.epsl.2008.02.021](https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.epsl.2008.02.021).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-44)** The traverse of this circle is a long one, filling Cantos 12 to 17.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-45)** Inferno XII, verse translation by R. Hollander, p. 228 commentary

1. **[^](#cite_ref-46)** [Alighieri, Dante](/source/Dante_Alighieri). "Canto IX". *[Inferno](/source/Inferno_(Dante))*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-48)** Boccaccio, *Comedia delle ninfe fiorentine* commentary

1. **[^](#cite_ref-49)** [Boccaccio, G.](/source/Giovanni_Boccaccio) (30 November 2009). *Boccaccio's Expositions on Dante's Comedy*. University of Toronto Press.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-50)** Bennett, Pre-Raphaelite Circle, 177–180.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-51)** ["Dante Gabriel Rossetti. His Family-Letters with a Memoir (Volume Two)"](http://www.rossettiarchive.org/docs/pr5246.a43.vol2.rad.html). *www.rossettiarchive.org*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-52)** Beck, Christopher, "Justice among the Centaurs", Forum Italcium 18 (1984): 217–229

1. **[^](#cite_ref-53)** Tidworth, Simon, "Theseus in the Modern World", essay in *The Quest for Theseus* London 1970 pp. 244–249 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0269026576](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0269026576)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-54)** De Laurentiis, Antonella (2009). "Los reyes: El laberinto entre mito e historia" [Los reyes: The Labyrinth Between Myth and History]. *Amaltea. Revista de mitocrítica* (in Spanish). **1**. [Universidad Complutense de Madrid](/source/Universidad_Complutense_de_Madrid): 145–155. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1989-1709](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1989-1709).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-55)** Bennett, Maurice J (1992). ["Borges's The House of Asterion"](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00144940.1992.9937945). *The Explicator*. **50** (3): 166–170. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1080/00144940.1992.9937945](https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00144940.1992.9937945).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-56)** Hagood, Caroline (2012). ["Exploring the Architecture of Narrative in House of Leaves"](https://www.proquest.com/openview/80fa1013be593d89dab4e42335d466d0/). *www.proquest.com*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20241228034057/https://www.proquest.com/openview/80fa1013be593d89dab4e42335d466d0/) from the original on 28 December 2024. Retrieved 27 October 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-57)** ["Fiction and Drama"](http://www.jstor.org/stable/809856). *The English Journal*. **47** (9): 587–89. 1958. [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [809856](https://www.jstor.org/stable/809856).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-58)** ["The Minotaur, the Wild Beast of Crete"](https://letterboxd.com/film/the-minotaur-the-wild-beast-of-crete/). *Letter Box*. Retrieved 2 May 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-allmoviedvd_59-0)** Jonathan English (director). [*Minotaur (2005)*](https://www.allmovie.com/movie/minotaur-v342810/releases). Retrieved 2 March 2018 – via AllMovie.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-60)** Churlew, Matthew (2006). [""Masters of the Wild": Animals and the Environment in *Dungeons & Dragons*"](http://www.concentric-literature.url.tw/issues/Animals/6.pdf) (PDF). *Concentric: Literary and Cultural Studies*. **32** (1): 135–168. Retrieved 16 March 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-61)** Forest, Richard W. (2014). "Dungeons & Dragons, Monsters in". In Weinstock, Jeffrey (ed.). *The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters*. [Ashgate Publishing](/source/Ashgate_Publishing).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-62)** [Gloyn, Liz](/source/Liz_Gloyn) (2019). *Tracking Classical Monsters in Popular Culture*. [Bloomsbury Academic](/source/Bloomsbury_Academic). pp. 36–37. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-7845-3934-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-7845-3934-4).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-63)** [Hickman, Tracy](/source/Tracy_Hickman); [Weis, Margaret](/source/Margaret_Weis) (1987). *[Dragonlance Adventures](/source/Dragonlance_Adventures)*. [TSR, Inc](/source/TSR%2C_Inc). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-88038-452-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-88038-452-2).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-64)** Loveridge, Sam (1 May 2020). ["How to find and beat the Assassin's Creed Odyssey Minotaur"](https://www.gamesradar.com/assassins-creed-odyssey-minotaur/). *[Games Radar](/source/Games_Radar)*. Retrieved 12 December 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-65)** Lennox, Jesse (2 October 2020). ["Assassin's Creed Odyssey: How To Find And Defeat The Minotaur"](https://www.thegamer.com/assassins-creed-odyssey-how-to-find-and-defeat-the-minotaur/). *[TheGamer](/source/TheGamer)*. Retrieved 12 December 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-66)** Peterson, Cody (11 September 2020). ["How to Find (& Beat) The Minotaur in Assassin's Creed Odyssey"](https://screenrant.com/find-beat-minotaur-assassins-creed-odyssey/). *[Screen Rant](/source/Screen_Rant)*. Retrieved 12 December 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-67)** Fekete, Bob (8 October 2018). ["'Assassin's Creed Odyssey' Gates of Atlantis Guide: Where is the Minotaur, Medusa, Sphinx and Cyclops?"](https://www.newsweek.com/assassins-creed-odyssey-gates-atlantis-guide-minotaur-medusa-sphinx-cyclops-1158456). *[Newsweek](/source/Newsweek)*. Retrieved 12 December 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Kulc1903_68-0)** Kulczyński, W. (1903). "Aranearum et Opilionum species in insula Creta a comite Dre Carolo Attems collectae". *Bulletin International de l'Académie des Sciences de Cracovie*. **1903**: 32–58.

## External links

**Minotaur**  at Wikipedia's [sister projects](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikimedia_sister_projects)

- [Definitions](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/minotaur) from Wiktionary
- [Media](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Minotaur) from Commons
- [Texts](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/minotaur) from Wikisource

- [Minotaur in Greek Myth](http://www.theoi.com/Ther/Minotauros.html) source Greek texts and art.

- [The Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (images of the Minotaur)](https://iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk/category/vpc-taxonomy-000333)

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Thebes Chryseis Chrysothemis Clytemnestra Damocles Deidamia Deucalion Electra Eteocles Europa Gordias Hecuba Helen of Troy Hellen The Heracleidae Hermione Hippolyta Io Iphigenia Ismene Jocasta Laius Lycian peasants Lycaon The Maenads Memnon Messapian shepherds Midas Minos Myrrha Neoptolemus Niobe Orestes Paris Patroclus Penelope Philomela Phoenix Polybus of Corinth Polynices Priam Procne Pylades Pyrrha Telemachus Troilus Underworld Entrances to the underworld Rivers Acheron Cocytus Eridanos Lethe Phlegethon Styx Lakes/swamps Acherusia Avernus Lake Lerna Lake Caves Cave at Cape Matapan Cave at Lake Avernus Cave at Heraclea Pontica Charoniums Charonium at Aornum Charonium at Acharaca Ploutonion Ploutonion at Acharaca Ploutonion at Eleusis Ploutonion at Hierapolis Necromancy temple Necromanteion of Acheron Places Elysium Erebus Fields of Asphodel Isles of the Blessed Mourning Fields Tartarus Judges Aeacus Minos Rhadamanthus Guards Campe Cerberus Residents Anticlea Danaïdes Eurydice Ixion Ocnus Salmoneus The Shades Sisyphus Tantalus Tiresias Titans Tityos Visitors Dionysus Heracles Hermes Odysseus Orpheus Pirithous Psyche Theseus Symbols/objects Bident Cap of invisibility Charon's obol Animals, daemons, and spirits Ascalaphus Ceuthonymus Eurynomos Menoetius Mythical Beings Lists Deities Mythological creatures Mortals Minor figures Trojan War characters Minor spirits Daemon Agathodaemon Cacodaemon Eudaemon Nymph Satyr Beasts / creatures Centaur Centaurides Ichthyocentaur Cyclops Dragon Drakaina Echidna Giant Gorgon Harpy Hecatonchires Hippocampus Horses of Helios Lamia Phoenix Python Siren Scylla and Charybdis Sphinx Typhon Captured / slain by heroes Calydonian boar Cerberus Cerynian Hind Chimera Cretan Bull Crommyonian Sow Erymanthian boar Khalkotauroi Lernaean Hydra Mares of Diomedes Medusa Minotaur Nemean lion Orthrus Polyphemus Stymphalian birds Talos Teumessian fox Tribes Achaeans Amazons Anthropophagi Bebryces Cicones Curetes Dactyls Gargareans Halizones Korybantes Laestrygonians Lapiths Lotus-eaters Myrmidons Pygmies Spartoi Telchines Places / Realms Aethiopia Ara Colchis Erytheia Hyperborea Ismarus Ithaca Libya Nysa Ogygia Panchaia Phlegra Scheria Scythia Symplegades Tartessos Themiscyra Thrinacia Troy Events Apollo and Daphne Calydonian boar hunt Echo and Narcissus Eros and Psyche Judgment of Paris Labours of Heracles Orpheus and Eurydice Returns from Troy Odyssey Wars Amazonomachy Attic War Centauromachy Gigantomachy Indian War Theomachy Titanomachy Trojan War Objects Adamant Aegis Ambrosia Apple of Discord Argo Dragon's teeth Diipetes Eidolon Galatea Girdle of Aphrodite Golden apple Golden Fleece Gordian knot Harpe Ichor Labyrinth Lotus tree Milk of Hera Moly Necklace of Harmonia Orichalcum Palladium Panacea Pandora's box Petasos (Winged helmet) Phaeacian ships Philosopher's stone Shield of Achilles Shirt of Nessus Sword of Damocles Talaria Thunderbolt Thyrsus Trident of Poseidon Trojan Horse Winnowing Oar Wheel of fire Symbols Autochthon Bowl of Hygieia Caduceus Cornucopia Gorgoneion Herm Kantharos Labrys Ouroboros Owl of Athena Phallus Rod of Asclepius Swan song Wind East West North South Modern treatments Classical mythology in western art and literature Classicism Classics Greek mythology in popular culture Modern understanding of Greek mythology

Authority control databases International VIAF 2 GND WorldCat National United States Israel Catalonia Artists FID People DDB Other IdRef Yale LUX

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Minotaur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minotaur) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minotaur?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.