King Minos and the Minotaur

Throne of Minos at Knossos

 Minos
• Son of Zeus and princess Europa
 Europa
• Levantine woman who came to Crete
– A. seduced and carried on the back of a bull
to Crete (yes, across the water)
– B. kidnapped by the Minoans who took her to
Crete.
 King Minos
• King of the “Minoans” on Crete
– ‘Minos’ may be term used to describe ‘king’
• Wife Pasiphae
• Minos boasted the gods would grant him
any wish
– Wished for a white bull for sacrifice and one
appeared from the water
– Lesser quality bull sacrificed; Poseidon
annoyed; cursed Pasiphae to love the bull.
 Daedalus
• Athenian inventor who killed his
nephew and was banished to
Crete.
• Pasiphae ordered him to
construct a hollow wooden cow,
with hides for skin, so she could
mate with the bull.
• Pasiphae gave birth to the
Minotaur
– Minotauros, "the bull of Minos“
 Tribute
Minos made war with the kingdom of Athens over the
death of his son, Androgenus.
Athens loses, and has to send 7 youths and 7 maidens
every 9 years (to be fed to the Minotaur).
 Enter Theseus
• His father, King Aegeus of Athens became drunk and got Aethra,
daughter of King Pittheus (another king in Greece) pregnant.
– He left her, and said if the child was a boy, that he was to come to him
in Athens when he could lift a certain huge rock, which underneath
Aegeus had put his sword and sandals.
• When he was 16, Theseus returned to Athens, killing many bandits
and monsters on the way.
• He found his father wedded to a new bride, Medea, and that he had
a stepbrother.
– Medea wants Theseus killed (so her son would be king after Aegeus),
and prepares a poisoned cup.
– Aegeus sees the sword Theseus has, and the plot is discovered.
– Medea is sent into exile.
• Daedalus is ordered to build a labyrinth
under the palace of Knossos to hide the
Minotaur.
• Theseus volunteers to go as sacrifice
(really to kill Minotaur with allies).
• Ariadne, daughter of Minos, falls in love
with Theseus.
– She tells Theseus to tie string to find the
way out of the labyrinth.
Theseus Kills the Minotaur
Detail from an Athenian red-figure clay vase, about 500-450 BC
 Theseus Returns Home
• Left with black sail, if alive, he’d change the sail to
white.
– King Aegeus of Athens (his father) watches for his son
to return.
• Theseus forgets to change the sail.
• King Aegeus in his grief throws himself into the sea,
which is now called the Aegean Sea.
• Ariadne dies accidentally or is deserted by Theseus.
 King Theseus
• Theseus marries Phaedra (another daughter of Minos) and retires
into self-exile.
• Later, after framing her stepson (Theseus had a child with an
Amazon), she in shame hanged herself. The stepson was killed but
brought back to life by Asclepius.
• Supposed abduction of Helen that went very badly—he was 50, she
was 12: he brothers, the Dioscuri rescued her (only to be taken by
Paris later).
• Theseus helps a friend go after Persephone
– He’s caught and forced to sit in the Chair of Oblivion
– Herakles rescues him and possibly his friend.
• Theseus, a complete exile dies on the island of Euboea, north of
Athens; thrown down an abyss or tripped from a height.
 Medea’s End
• After fleeing Athens, Medea returns to
Colchis.
– Her father, King Aeetes has been deposed by
his brother.
– She killed her uncle, and restored her father.
• Herodotus gave an alternate ending
– Medea and her son, Medus, flee to the Iranian
plateau and lived among the Aryans, who
changed their name to the Medes.