Links to other sites on the Web
How many of us know them… beings with the head of a bull and the body of a man. I know that I for one know quite a few of them.
Many of us remember from our school days whilst studying Greek mythology the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur. I remember it being a very sad story. I felt sorry for the Minotaur, he was the product of an illicit relationship. A snow white bull was given to King Minos as a gift by Poseidon for a sacrifice. King Minos would not sacrifice this beautiful beast, so as a punishment Poseidon cast a spell to make Pasiphae fall in love with the bull. The poor old Minotaur was the result of this love.
Minos condemned the Minotaur to a life in the centre of a complex labyrinth, and sent in regularly young men who would get lost and never get out, so the Minotaur would feed upon them.
This is where Theseus comes into it. He was sick and tired of hearing of all of these young men being sacrificed to the Minotaur, so he decided to go in and kill him. Ariadne, Minos’s daughter had fallen in love with him, so she gave him a ball of string so that he would go in kill the Minotaur, and then be able to find his way back out of the labyrinth. This is exactly what happened, then Ariadne and Theseus lived happily ever after.
However, even though this is a legend in Greek mythology, how relevant is it today? Well, as I have already mentioned, I know several bull-headed people, who are just there to take whatever comes their way regardless of the consequences, and I feel sorry for them because I feel that they do not know any other way. But to be honest, in my book it is Minos who was at fault, instead of conveying his anger to his wife for having been unfaithful, or to Poseidon for having inflicted this spell upon Pasiphae, he condemned the Minotaur to living the rest of his life in this labyrinth. How many times do we see that in real life? The ones who are not to blame, get the punishment. Hah and they say that Legends are just interesting stories! I for one feel that we should look back on the past and learn a lot from them. We may not have physical monsters today, but we certainly do have a lot of spiritual ones.
Links to other sites on the Web
Back to Minotaur
Back to my Home Page
© 1997 jasujo@hotmail.com
Get your own Free Home Page