King Minos of Crete once defied a god. After refusing to sacrifice a divine white bull to Poseidon, the sea god enacted a terrible revenge. Minos's wife was cursed, and the resulting child was a monster: a creature with the body of a man and the head of a bull, called the Minotaur. To hide this shame, Minos commanded the great inventor Daedalus to construct an inescapable prison. Daedalus built the Labyrinth, a maze of such tangled windings that no one could find their way out. Kept at its center and fed on human flesh, the monster became a dark secret. The question was not if it could be killed, but if any hero could even reach it and return.
Theseus and the Minotaur
The Greek myth of Theseus, who sailed to Crete with Athens' tribute of youths, killed the Minotaur in Daedalus's Labyrinth with Ariadne's help, and caused his father's death on the way home.
Chapter 1
The Monster's Lair
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Frequently Asked Questions
What was the Minotaur?
The Minotaur, whose name was Asterius, was a creature from Greek mythology with the body of a man and the head of a bull. He was the offspring of the wife of King Minos of Crete and a divine white bull. He lived in the center of the Labyrinth and was fed human flesh.
How did Theseus defeat the Minotaur?
Theseus entered the Labyrinth and killed the Minotaur at its center. While he is often depicted in art and literature with a sword, some ancient accounts describe the hero defeating the monster with his bare hands. He successfully navigated out of the maze using a ball of thread provided by Princess Ariadne.
Why is the Aegean Sea named after King Aegeus?
Before leaving, Theseus promised his father, King Aegeus, he would change his ship's black sails to white if he survived. Forgetting in his victory, he returned with black sails. Seeing them, Aegeus believed his son was dead and threw himself into the sea from a cliff in despair.
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