The Myth of King Minos and the Minotaur

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Where is Minos said to have lived and ruled?

To begin with, the myth declares Minos’ strong desire to rule the land of Crete. As a result, when the King of Crete died, “Minos aimed at the supremacy of Crete,” believing he was destined to rule its territory (Encyclopedia Mythica, 1997a, par. 2). To be more exact, he claimed that the gods supported him and he was indeed a right fit for a ruler, and “in proof of it, he said that anything he prayed for was done” (Encyclopedia Mythica, 1997a, par. 2). Minos was granted the land, so he decided to divide it into three parts, each with its own capital. Consequently, Zeus instructed the new king of Crete on the art of law-giving, and “the Cretans traced their legal and political institutions to Minos” (Encyclopedia Mythica, 1997a, par. 4). In addition, Minos controlled pirates of his maritime state and even managed to master islands of the Aegean. Overall, Minos was considered a fair and wise ruler of the Crete and Greek islands by the people who lived there at the time.

How did Minos become king?

Minos’ numerous claims about his destiny of being a ruler of Crete led to him seeking a way to prove to Poseidon that he was worthy of a title. As a result, Minos decided to make a sacrifice that would be valuable for the god, so “he prayed that a bull might come forth from the sea and promised to sacrifice the animal” (Encyclopedia Mythica, 1997a, par. 3). Finally, a gorgeous bull of a white color came to the land and, therefore, Minos became the King of Crete.

How did Minos upset Poseidon, and how did Poseidon punish Minos?

Minos’ promise to Poseidon was clear and stated that he first would sacrifice a white bull in exchange for becoming the King of Crete. However, the moment Minos saw a mesmerizing animal, he could not force himself to kill it, so he found another bull to replace it. Still, Poseidon learned the truth and decided to punish a new king by forcing Minos’ wife to love the animal, “Pasiphaë concealed herself in an artificial cow suit, and was eventually mounted by the … bull” (Encyclopedia Mythica, 1997a, par. 3). By and whole, their bond resulted in a creation of a new creature, the Minotaur.

What is the Minotaur? How does it come about? Where is it kept?

A passionate love of Minos’ wife, Pasiphaë, and a bull once sacrificed to Poseidon created Minotaur. To be more exact, the creature was a half-human and half-animal; it was “a monster which had the body of a man, but the head of a bull” (Encyclopedia Mythica, 1997a, par. 3). Minos was highly dissatisfied with Poseidon’s payback and desired to hide his wife’s new whereabouts from people. However, the creature started wreaking havoc on the land, and finally, “Heracles managed to capture it” (Encyclopedia Mythica, 1997b, par. 2). Consequently, the King of Crete ordered Daedalus to build a labyrinth to trap the Minotaur precisely in the center of it and simultaneously hide the unnatural bond of a monster’s parents.

Visual representations of the Minotaur can be seen on silver coins from what city/palace?

As a matter of fact, the story of the Minotaur became highly popular in mythology, so people started depicting it in various forms of art. For instance, the creature is shown in its half-human and half-animal form on Crete’s gemstones and, in addition, on silver coins from Knossos (Encyclopedia Mythica, 1997b). Overall, people also opted for painting the battle of the Minotaur and Theseus on their arts.