The Origins of Supernatural Beings

Hybrids- Minotaur

Minotaur

Minotaur are legendary beasts with the heads of bulls and the bodies of men. The most infamous story featuring a Minotaur comes from ancient Greek mythology and involves King Minos. The word Minotaur originates from the Greek term "Minotauros", meaning "Bull of Minos". It is debated whether King Minos truly existed, but he is believed to have been the king of Crete around 1400-1700 BC. The Minoan civilization was named after him, and his legacy remains alive today.

Minos was the son of Zeus and Europa. He was married to a woman named Pasiphae, and they had seven children called Ariadne, Acacallis, Deucalion, Xenodice, Glaucus, Catreus, Phaedra and Androgeus. His mother had been married to King Asterius of Crete, and he died before the couple produced an heir. Minos believed that the lack of an heir apparent gave him the right to claim the throne. He had to prove the claim to his subjects, and he prayed Poseidon would send a bull from the sea. Poseidon responded and provided Minos with a beautiful bull. Minos won the crown but decided the bull was too glorious to be slaughtered. He sacrificed an ordinary bull instead, breaking his oath. Poseidon was enraged and caused Queen Pasiphae to fall in love with the animal. She instructed the inventor Daedalus to disguise her as a cow, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a hybrid creature. The beast disgusted King Minos, but he understood the incident was the result of his treachery and did not kill the hybrid. They named the creature Asterius, but it later became renowned as the Minotaur. Minos sent away the divine bull and ordered Daedalus to build a labyrinth to contain the Minotaur. The complex labyrinth Daedalus devised was inescapable. The Minotaur ate human flesh, and Minos started executing his enemies by releasing them into the labyrinth to be eaten by monstrous Asterius. Prince Androgeus travelled to the Panathenaic Games in Athens. He was a successful athlete, and the Athenians became jealous. They set him up to be killed by the divine bull during a marathon, unaware he was the son of King Minos. The death of Androgeus triggered a disease epidemic within Athens. King Aegeus of Athens pleaded for forgiveness and appealed to King Minos. King Minos demanded seven men Athenian and seven women be sacrificed to the Minotaur yearly to stop the plague. After three years, Prince Theseus, son of King Aegeus, became unhappy with the agreement. He offered himself as a sacrifice and said that once he entered the labyrinth, he would kill the Minotaur. His father tried to dissuade him from his mission, but Prince Theseus was determined to kill the beast. He told his father that if he was victorious, he would change the sails white, and if he was defeated, his ship would return with black sails. Once Prince Theseus arrived in Crete, he was spotted by the Princesses Ariadne and Phaedra, who fell in love with him. Princess Ariadne begged Daedalus to teach her how to escape the Labyrinth, and Daedalus complied. He told her that Prince Theseus could use a spool of thread to retrace his steps back to the entrance. Theseus entered the labyrinth with confidence, and after a brutal fight, he slew the Minotaur, freeing Crete and Athens. Prince Theseus promised to take Princess Ariadne back to Athens with him and told her to await him on the seashore. She complied but fell asleep on the sand while her sister snuck aboard. By the time Prince Theseus realized Princess Ariadne was not on the ship, he had already sailed out too far to return to Crete. He was too distraught that he forgot to change the sails. When King Aegeus saw the black sail rising over the horizon, he threw himself into the sea and drowned. That sea is still called the Aegean sea.

The Roman poet Ovid first recorded the fable in 8 AD. More than a thousand years had passed since the death of King Minos, and the legend was likely dramatized over many generations. There are different versions of the legend circulating. The Greek philosopher Plutarch wrote "Life of Theseus" in the 2nd century. The Life of Theseus mentions the Minotaur and references Euripedes the tragedian and Hellenicus the logographer who also recorded the legend of the Minotaur. Many influential figures in ancient times created their own variations of the Minotaur in the labyrinth, popularizing the myth and causing discrepancies in the details. Seneca, Gaius Julius Hyginus and Philostratus the Elder all wrote about the Minotaur.

"[The young Theseus arrives in Athens :] Not long afterwards there came from Krete (Crete) for the third time the collectors of the tribute . . . an agreement to send him [Minos] every nine years a tribute of seven youths and as many maidens. And the most dramatic version of the story declares that these young men and women, on being brought to Krete, were destroyed by the Minotauros (Minotaur) in the Labyrinth, or else wandered about at their own will and, being unable to find an exit, perished there; and that the Minotauros, as Euripides says, was 'A mingled form and hybrid birth of monstrous shape', and that 'Two different natures, man and bull, were joined in him' . . . . Hellanikos (Hellanicus) . . . says the agreement was that the Athenians should furnish the ship, and that the youths should embark and sail with him carrying no warlike weapon, and that if the Minotauros was killed the penalty should cease. On the two former occasions, then, no hope of safety was entertained, and therefore they sent the ship with a black sail, convinced that their youth were going to certain destruction; but now Theseus encouraged his father and loudly boasted that he would master the Minotauros, so that he gave the pilot another sail, a white one, ordering him, if he returned with Theseus safe, to hoist the white sail, but otherwise to sail with the black one, and so indicate the affliction . . . When he reached Krete on his voyage, most historians and poets tell us that he got from Ariadne, who had fallen in love with him, the famous thread, and that having been instructed by her how to make his way through the intricacies of the Labyrinth, he slew the Minotauros and sailed off with Ariadne and the youths." -Plutarch, Life of Theseus

Minotaur is fictional, but King Minos may have had a labyrinth. King Minos possibly constructed a labyrinth to dispose of his enemies. He could have even filled it with carnivorous animals to kill and devour the prisoners. The story of the Minotaur could have been spread as slander to mock Queen Pasiphae. Allegedly, Catherine the Great of Russia died because she was romantically interested in a horse, and it crushed her by mistake. Catherine the Great of Russia died of a stroke, yet she is still subject to the rumour. Certainly, King Minos had many enemies that would relish the opportunity to spread lies about his family. He had tumultuous relations with the Athenians, and he was not a true son of King Asterius.

"The Labyrinth of Minos" directed by Tom Belding in 2014, "Minotaur" directed by Munroe Ferguson in 2014, "Sinbad and the Minotaur" directed by Karl Zwicky in 2011, and "Minotaur" directed by Jonathan English in 2006 are all inspired by the ancient Greek legend of the Minotaur.

Minotaur are also mentioned in Dante's Inferno. The Minotaur guard's entry to the seventh circle of hell. Virgil taunts the beast by asking whether his killer is in Phlegethon. The Minotaur becomes enraged and begins thrashing madly, and the distraction allows Dante and Virgil to pass him. King Minos is also a character in Dante's Inferno. He is the judge of the damned and determines which of the nine circles of hell a soul should be sent to. The second ring of the seventh circle of hell is a strange forest filled with gloomy trees. Virgil tells Dante to snap a twig off a tree. When the tree cried out in pain and started bleeding, Virgil told the tree to tell Dante his story. It said each tree is the soul of someone who committed suicide. The tree said his name was Pier Della Vigna, and he was an advisor to Emperor Frederick, but when people started spreading rumours about him, he became so ashamed he killed himself. Dante asked Pier Della Vigna how the souls became trees, and he revealed King Minos turns the souls of people who committed suicide into seeds, which he then casts into the second ring of the seventh circle of hell.

"When the exasperated soul abandons the body whence it rent itself away, Minos consigns it to the seventh abyss it falls into the forest, and no part is chosen for it; but where Fortune hurls it, there like a grain of spelt it germinates. It springs a sapling, and a forest tree; The Harpies, feeding then upon its leaves, do pain create, and for the pain an outlet."

The reason Minotaur remain relevant is they have been mentioned in so many iconic works and stories. The legend of the Minotaur in the labyrinth has remained popular for countless generations, and Dante's Inferno is a mainstream classic still discussed in modernity. Its origins likely lay in politics, but it has grown to such acclaim that the infamy of monstrous Asterius the Minotaur has outgrown the creators of the myth. Minotaur are featured on television, video games, board games, books, and even Halloween costumes. Video games including Legend of Grimrock, Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, League of Legends, World of Warcraft and Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance all incorporate Minotaur.

Minotaur are unique because their original legend remains more popular than current Minotaur media. They are ancient, yet they have not yet reached their maximum potential within popular culture. Whenever Minotaur are featured in media, they are typically side-characters, not protagonists. In the future, it would be interesting to have more Minotaur as protagonists.