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Minotaur
In
Greek mythology, monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man.
It was the offspring of Pasiphaë, queen of Crete, and a snow-white
bull the god Poseidon had sent to Pasiphaë's husband, King Minos.
When Minos refused to sacrifice the beast, Poseidon made Pasiphaë
fall in love with it. After she gave birth to the Minotaur, Minos ordered
the architect and inventor Daedalus to build a labyrinth so intricate that
escape from it without assistance would be impossible. Here the Minotaur
was confined and fed with young human victims Minos forced Athens to send
him as tribute. The Greek hero Theseus was determined to end the useless
sacrifice and offered himself as one of the victims. When Theseus reached
Crete, Minos's daughter Ariadne fell in love with him. She helped him escape
by giving him a ball of thread, which he fastened to the door of the maze
and unwound as he made his way through it. When he came upon the sleeping
Minotaur, he beat the monster to death and then led the other sacrificial
youths and maidens to safety by following the thread back to the entrance. |
All text on "Minotaur" are taken from Microsoft Encarta '97 |
