Minotaur facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Minotaur |
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Minotaur bust, (National Archaeological Museum of Athens)
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| Other names | Asterion |
| Abode | Labyrinth, Crete |
| Personal information | |
| Parents | Cretan Bull and Pasiphaë |
| Siblings | Acacallis, Ariadne, Androgeus, Glaucus (son of Minos), Deucalion, Phaedra, Xenodice and Catreus |
The Minotaur is a famous creature from Greek mythology. It had the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man. Sometimes, it was described as half-man and half-bull. This powerful beast lived in the center of the Labyrinth, a huge, confusing maze built by the clever architect Daedalus and his son Icarus. King Minos of Crete ordered this maze to be built.
According to ancient stories, the city of Athens had to send fourteen young people (seven boys and seven girls) to Crete every nine years. These young people were offered as sacrifices to the Minotaur. This was a punishment from King Minos because his son, Androgeus, had died. The brave Athenian hero Theseus eventually defeated the Minotaur. He found his way through the Labyrinth with the help of a special thread given to him by Ariadne, King Minos's daughter.
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What's in a Name?
The name "Minotaur" comes from ancient Greek words. It combines "Minos" (the king's name) and "tauros," which means "bull." So, it literally means "Bull of Minos."
In Crete, people also knew the Minotaur by the name Asterion or Asterius. This name was also used for Minos's foster-father.
Originally, "Minotaur" referred only to this one specific creature. It wasn't until modern fantasy stories in the 20th century that "minotaur" became a general term for any bull-headed monster.
How the Minotaur Came to Be
After becoming king of Crete, Minos wanted to show he was favored by the gods. He prayed to Poseidon, the god of the sea, asking for a beautiful white bull. Poseidon sent the bull, and Minos was supposed to sacrifice it to honor the god.
However, the bull was so magnificent that Minos decided to keep it. He thought Poseidon would accept a different sacrifice instead. To punish Minos for this trick, Poseidon made Minos's wife, Pasiphaë, fall in love with the bull.
Pasiphaë, with the help of the skilled craftsman Daedalus, found a way to be close to the bull. Later, she gave birth to a creature named Asterius, who became known as the Minotaur. This made the Minotaur a grandchild of the sun god Helios.
Pasiphaë tried to care for the Minotaur, but it grew very large and became wild. Because of its unusual birth, the Minotaur needed to eat humans to survive. King Minos, advised by the oracle at Delphi, then asked Daedalus to build a giant Labyrinth to keep the Minotaur safely locked away. This maze was built near Minos's palace in Knossos.
What the Minotaur Looked Like
In ancient art, the Minotaur is usually shown with the body of a man and the head and tail of a bull. This is the most common way people imagined it.
Sometimes, especially in later stories from the Middle Ages, the Minotaur was shown differently. Some artists depicted it with a man's head and upper body on a bull's lower body. This was the opposite of the classical image, more like a centaur (a creature that is half-human, half-horse). However, the image of a man's body with a bull's head is the most famous and widely accepted.
The Hero Theseus and the Minotaur
All the stories agree that Androgeus, the son of King Minos, died because of the Athenians. As a punishment, Athens had to send young men and women as sacrifices to the Minotaur.
Some stories say the Athenians killed Androgeus because they were jealous of his victories in games. Other versions say he was killed by the Cretan Bull near Marathon, after King Aegeus of Athens ordered him to hunt it. The most common story is that Minos attacked Athens to get revenge for his son's death and won the war. As a result, Athens had to send young people to Crete regularly.
Historians like Pausanias wrote that Minos's fleet simply bothered Athens until they agreed to send children as sacrifices. Another story says a terrible plague hit Athens, and to stop it, King Aegeus had to send "young men and the best of unwed girls" to feed the Minotaur. Most accounts say seven young men and seven young women were chosen by lot every seven or nine years.
When it was time for the third sacrifice, Theseus, the prince of Athens, bravely volunteered to go. He declared he would rather die than let his city pay such a terrible price. He promised his father, King Aegeus, that if he succeeded, he would change the ship's black sail (used for victims) to a white sail for his return. If he failed, the black sail would remain.
In Crete, Ariadne, King Minos's daughter, fell deeply in love with Theseus. She wanted to help him. She gave him a ball of thread, which allowed him to find his way back out of the confusing Labyrinth after he entered.
Theseus fought the Minotaur. Many stories say he killed it with his bare hands, or sometimes with a club or sword. After defeating the beast, he led the Athenian youths out of the maze. They then sailed away from Crete with Ariadne.
On the journey home, Theseus left Ariadne on the island of Naxos. As they neared Athens, the crew forgot to change the black sail to white. From his lookout point on Cape Sounion, King Aegeus saw the black-sailed ship. Believing his son was dead, King Aegeus was overwhelmed with sadness and tragically fell into the sea. This sea is now called the Aegean Sea in his honor. With his father's death, Theseus became the new king of Athens.
Other Stories Like This
- Theseus and the Minotaur – a logic game inspired by this myth.
- Kao (bull) – a legendary bull in Meitei mythology, similar to the Minotaur.
- Ox-Head and Horse-Face – guardians of the underworld in Chinese mythology.
- Satyr – a legendary human-goat hybrid creature.
- Shedu – a figure in Mesopotamian mythology with a bull's body and a human head.
- Minotauria – a type of spider named after the Minotaur.
See also
In Spanish: Minotauro para niños
