Dictionary of Meaning
<<Back
Please select a letter:
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z |
0-9
Click here for Shopping
Minotaur
*** Shopping-Tip: Minotaur
{{dablink|This article is about the mythological monster. For the 2005 movie see
Minotaur (film).}}
{{Greek myth}}
In
Greek mythology, the '''Minotaur''' was a creature that was part
human man and part
bull (mythology) 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.
"Minotaur" is
Greek language 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, found it so beautiful that he instead sacrificed another bull, hoping that Poseidon would not notice. Poseidon was very angry when he realized 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 (also known as Hercules) for one of his labours.
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 Oracle at Delphi, had Daedalus construct a gigantic labyrinth to hold the Minotaur. It was located under Minos' palace in
Knossos.
Now it happened that
Androgeus, son of Minos, had been killed by the
Athens Athenians, who were jealous of the victories he had won at the
Panathenaic Games 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. He promised to his father, Aegeus, that he would put up a white sail on his journey back home.
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). However Theseus forgot to put up the white sails, so his father started crying and fell into the sea. Then it became known as the Aegean Sea.
Minos, angry that Theseus was able to escape, imprisoned Daedalus and his son
Icarus (mythology) Icarus in the labyrinth. They were able to escape by building wings for themselves, but Icarus died during the escape as he flew too high and the wax which held the feathers in the wing melted as it was closer to the Sun.
Sometimes the Minotaur is represented as a bull with a human torso and head, like a bull version of the
Centaur.
Image:Minotaur.jpg thumb|left|250px|Theseus battles the Minotaur on a black-figure vase.
Interpretations
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 names was Asterius.
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.
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.
A political interpretation has that the Greeks freed themselves from the tributes and the power of Crete.
Cultural appearances
Minotaurs appear in
fantasy and
historical fiction far less frequently than other mythological beings such as
centaurs.
Fiction
*
Jorge Luis Borges's short story "La casa de Asterión (The House of Asterion)" features a story from the minotaur's perspective.
*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'' minotaurs are merely men wearing bull's head
mask masks.
*The second part of
David Gemmell's ''The Lion of Macedon'' historic fantasy, ''The Dark Prince'', features a sympathetic minotaur.
*
Thomas Burnett Swann's ''Minotaur Trilogy'' depicts the last two survivors of an ancient race of intelligent minotaurs dwelling in the forests of ancient Crete alongside other mythological creatures.
* The minotaur plays a pivotal role in
Mark Z. Danielewski's book ''
House of Leaves'', although it is never directly seen.
* Steven Sherrill's 2000 novel ''The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break'' has the minotaur working as a cook in North Carolina where he lives in a trailer.
* Minotaurs frequently appear in the ''
Chronicles of Narnia''.
* The 8th
Xanth book, ''Crewel Lye'' features a race of "cow-boys" and "cow-girls" who are humans with the heads of cattle.
Illustrated Fiction
*In ''
Wonder Woman'' a minotaur works at the Themysciran Embassy as a chef.
Visual Art
*The Minotaur appears in many works by
Pablo Picasso, particularly in the 1930s. Some of these show him raping and killing, but in other pictures the Minotaur is depicted as a lover rather than a monster, appearing to be in a consensual relationship with a woman.
*The Minotaur is a recurring character in
Stanley Donwood's artwork.
Music
*The Artist Minotaur plays the leading role of the murderer in
David Bowie David Bowie's album ''
1.OUTSIDE''.
Television
*The minotaur appears in two episodes of ''
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys''.
*Minotaurs appear on three different, although seemingly unrelated occasions in ''
Doctor Who''.
*In the anime ''
Melody of Oblivion'', Horu the monster is depicted in many ways that implies that he is, in fact, the minotaur.
Film
*Three minotaurs appeared in ''
Monkeybone''.
*The 2005 film ''
Minotaur (film) Minotaur'' loosely followed the original stories, taking many liberties.
*In
Federico Fellini's
film movie ''
Satyricon (movie) Satyricon'', minotaurs are men wearing bull's head
masks.
*
Terry Gilliam's movie ''
Time Bandits'' features a minotaur.
*
Takashi Miike's 2003 film ''
Gozu'' features a Minotaur-like character ('Gozu' literally means 'cow head' in Japanese).
*Minotaurs appear in the movie version of ''
The Chronicles of Narnia film series The Chronicles of Narnia''.
Video Games
* The game ''
Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete'' takes place in the labyrinth, but the minotaur is never seen.
* Minotaurs are frequently bosses in the ''
Castlevania'' video game series.
* Minotaur-like enemies appeared as a pair of bosses in the computer game ''
Heretic (video game) Heretic''.
* Minotaurs are also commonly-encountered enemies in the
Playstation 2 game ''
God of War''.
* Minotaurs (called Kamos in the game) appear as an enemy character in ''
Age of Mythology''.
* Minotaurs appear as ''The Brothers'' in ''
Final Fantasy VIII''.
* In the online game ''
Shadowbane'' players are able to assume the role of a minotaur.
* The first colossus which must be slain in ''
Shadow of the Colossus'' is named Minotaur.
* In the ''
Final Fantasy XI'' expansion pack ''
Chains of Promathia'', one of the earliest boss monsters is a minotaur.
* In the popular PC series, ''
Heroes of Might and Magic'', Minotaurs and Minotaur Kings are powerful creatures that heroes can use in their army.
* Minotaur-like enemies make several appearances in ''
Blizzard Entertainment'''s ''
Diablo (computer game)''.
Role Playing Games
As a race of monsters rather than a unique creature minotaurs feature in some fantasy
role-playing games.
*
Minotaur (Dungeons & Dragons) Minotaurs are featured in ''
Dungeons & Dragons''.
* In ''
Warhammer Fantasy Battles'' Minotaurs are part of the
Beasts of Chaos Army.
* The card game ''
Magic: The Gathering'' features minotaurs as being both savage (the Hurloon minotaurs) and tribal yet somewhat cultured (the Talruum).
* ''
World of Warcraft'' features Minotaurs as the tribal bovine humanoids known as the
Tauren.
See also
{{Commons|Minotaur|Minotaur}}
* The
Assyrian Cherub had a bull body and a human head.
* The Egyptian
Apis is often depicted as a bull, or bull-headed man.
Category:Characters in the Divine Comedy
Category:Greek legendary creatures
Category:Crete
Category:Mythological hybrids
bg:Минотавър
ca:Minotaure
da:Minotauros
de:Minotauros
el:ΜινώταυÏ?ος
es:Minotauro
eu:Minotauro
fr:Minotaure
gl:Minotauro
it:Minotauro
he:×ž×™× ×•×˜×?ור
lb:Minotauros
lt:Minotauras
nl:Minotaurus
ja:ミノタウãƒã‚¹
no:Minotauros
pl:Minotaur
pt:Minotauro
ru:Минотавр
sr:Минотаур
fi:Minotauros
sv:Minotauros
th:มิโนทà¸à¸£à¹Œ
tr:Minotaur
zh:米诺陶诺斯
*** Shopping-Tip: Minotaur
