English Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português 繁體中文 Bahasa Indonesia Tiếng Việt ภาษาไทย
All categories

I have to talk about his birth, time in the labryinth, and death. I hav to write 20 notecards for class and i only have 12. Help.

2007-03-08 13:33:56 · 8 answers · asked by stm06 2 in Society & Culture Mythology & Folklore

8 answers

This article is about the mythological monster. For other uses, see Minotaur (disambiguation).
Topics in Greek mythology
Gods
Primordial gods and Titans
Zeus and the Olympians
Pan and the nymphs
Apollo and Dionysus
Sea-gods and Earth-gods

Heroes
Heracles and his Labors
Achilles and the Trojan War
Odysseus and the Odyssey
Jason and the Argonauts
Perseus and the Gorgon
Oedipus and Thebes
Theseus and the Minotaur
Triptolemus and the
Eleusinian Mysteries

Related
Satyrs, centaurs and dragons
Ancient Greek religion

In Greek mythology, the Minotaur (Greek: Μινόταυρος, Minótauros) was a creature that was part man and part bull. It dwelt at the center of the Labyrinth, which was an elaborate maze-like construction built for King Minos of Crete and designed by the architect Daedalus to hold the Minotaur. The actual historical site of Knossos is usually identified as the site of the labyrinth. The Minotaur was eventually killed by Theseus.

"Minotaur" is Greek for "Bull of Minos". The bull was known in Crete as Asterion, a name shared with Minos's foster father.

Contents [hide]
1 Birth and appearance
2 The price that brought Theseus
3 Interpretations
4 See also
5 References
6 Notes



[edit] Birth and appearance
The literary myth satisfied a Hellenic interpretation of Minoan myth and ritual. According to this, before Minos became king, he asked the Greek god Poseidon for a sign, to assure him that he, and not his brother, was to receive the throne (other accounts say that he boasted that the gods wanted him to be king). Poseidon agreed to send a white bull as a sign, on condition Minos would sacrifice the bull to the god in return. Indeed, a bull of unmatched beauty came out of the sea. King Minos, after seeing it, found it so beautiful that he instead sacrificed another bull, hoping that Poseidon would not notice. Poseidon was enraged when he realized what had been done, so he caused Minos's wife, Pasiphaë, to be overcome with a fit of madness in which she conceived a passion for the bull. Pasiphaë went to Daedalus for assistance, and Daedalus devised a way to satisfy her. He constructed a hollow wooden cow covered with cowhide for Pasiphaë to hide in and allow the bull to mount her. The result of this union was the Minotaur (the Bull of Minos), who some say bore the proper name Asterius (the "Starry One"). In some accounts, the white bull went on to become the Cretan Bull captured by Hercules as one of his labours.

The Minotaur had the body of a man and the head and tail of a bull.[1] Pasiphaë nursed him in his infancy, but he grew and became ferocious. Minos, after getting advice from the Oracle at Delphi, had Daedalus construct a gigantic labyrinth to hold the Minotaur. Its location was near Minos' palace in Knossos.


[edit] The price that brought Theseus

Bull mask at the Greek pavilion at Expo '88Now it happened that Androgeus, son of Minos, had been killed by the Athenians, who were jealous of the victories he had won at the Panathenaic festival. Others say he was killed at Marathon by the Cretan bull, his mother's former taurine lover, which Aegeus, king of Athens, had commanded him to slay. To avenge the death of his son, Minos waged war and won. He then demanded that seven Athenian youths and seven maidens, drawn by lots, be sent every ninth year (some accounts say every year) to be devoured by the Minotaur. When the third sacrifice came round, Theseus volunteered to go to slay the monster. He promised to his father, Aegeus, that he would put up a white sail on his journey back home if he was successful. Ariadne, in the Greek version the daughter of Minos, fell in love with Theseus and helped him get out of the labyrinth by giving him a ball of thread, allowing him to retrace his path. Theseus killed the Minotaur and led the other Athenians back out of the labyrinth.[2] However Theseus forgot to change the black sails of mourning for white sails of success, so his father, overcome with grief, leapt off the clifftop from which he had kept watch for his son's return every day since Theseus had departed into the sea. Then it became known as the Aegean Sea.

Minos, angry that Theseus was able to escape, imprisoned Daedalus and his son Icarus in a tall tower. They were able to escape by building wings for themselves with the feathers of birds that flew by, but Icarus died during the escape as he flew too high and the wax which held the feathers in the wing melted in the heat of the Sun


[edit] Interpretations
The contest between Theseus and the Minotaur was frequently represented in Greek art. A Knossian didrachm exhibits on one side the labyrinth, on the other the Minotaur surrounded by a semicircle of small balls, probably intended for stars; it is to be noted that one of the monster's names was Asterius.

The ruins of Minos' palace at Knossos have been found, but the labyrinth has not. The enormous number of rooms, staircases and corridors in the palace has led archaeologists to believe that the palace itself was the source of the labyrinth myth. Homer, describing the shield of Achilles, remarked that the labyrinth was Ariadne's ceremonial dancing ground.

Some modern mythologists regard the Minotaur as a solar personification and a Minoan adaptation of the Baal-Moloch of the Phoenicians. The slaying of the Minotaur by Theseus in that case indicates the breaking of Athenian tributary relations with Minoan Crete.

According to A.B. Cook, Minos and Minotaur are only different forms of the same personage, representing the sun-god of the Cretans, who depicted the sun as a bull. He and J. G. Frazer both explain Pasiphae's union with the bull as a sacred ceremony, at which the queen of Knossos was wedded to a bull-formed god, just as the wife of the Tyrant in Athens was wedded to Dionysus. E. Pottier, who does not dispute the historical personality of Minos, in view of the story of Phalaris, considers it probable that in Crete (where a bull-cult may have existed by the side of that of the double axe) victims were tortured by being shut up in the belly of a red-hot brazen bull. The story of Talos, the Cretan man of brass, who heated himself red-hot and clasped strangers in his embrace as soon as they landed on the island, is probably of similar origin.

A historical explanation of the myth refers to the time when Crete was the main political and cultural potency in the Aegean Sea. As the fledgling Athens (and probably other continental Greek cities) was under tribute to Crete, it can be assumed that such tribute included young men and women for sacrifice. This ceremony was performed by a priest disguised with a bull head or mask, thus explaining the imagery of the Minotaur. It may also be that this priest was son to Minos.

Once continental Greece was free from Crete's dominance, the myth of the Minotaur worked to distance the forming religious consciousness of the Hellene poleis from Minoan beliefs.


[edit] See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
MinotaurList of Minotaur references in popular culture
The Assyrian Cherub had a bull body and a human head.
The Egyptian god Apis is often depicted as a bull, or bull-headed man.
Aracoix is a creature that is half human, half bird
Ushi-oni A similar monster in Japanese folklore

2007-03-08 13:39:10 · answer #1 · answered by comedianwit 2 · 3 0

The minotaur was half man and half bull. Son of the king of Argos, Minos, the king would have 7 young men and 7 maidens sacrificed to it every 7 years. The minotaur was imprisoned in a labyrinth built by Daedaleus. Theseus killed the Minotaur, by sneaking up on it in the labyrinth and beating it with his hands. I have also heard that the minotaur was born beacuse Aphrodite was pissed off at Minos' wife. She made her fall in love with a sacred bull. Minos' wife then built a wooden bull, and had the sacred bull mate with the wooden one with her inside. The last part I can't confirm, but it could be true.

2007-03-08 14:38:11 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

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 (Kríti), 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.

2007-03-09 08:33:54 · answer #3 · answered by Kinka 4 · 0 0

Here's a good list for you... Black Metal: Abyssic Hate Akitsa Bathory (early is black metal, also had thrash and folk metal phases... NOT VIKING METAL, IT IS NOT A GENRE) Beherit Belketre Bilskirnir Black Draugwath/Draugwath/Blackdeath (same band, different names) Blut Aus Nord Bone Awl (BM/punk mix, pretty cool stuff) Burzum Darkthrone Emperor Graveland Hate Forest Judas Iscariot Kadotus Moontower Mütiilation Na Rasputje Nachtmystium Nargaroth Peste Noire Torgeist Tsjuder Velvet Cacoon Vermeth Vlad Tepes Von Woods of Infinity Woodtemple Xasthur Death metal: Afflicted Altar Anata Atheist Atrocity (I like the early stuff better) Autopsy Bolt Thrower Cartilage The Chasm Convulse Cryptopsy (early stuff is good, later stuff gets cruddy) Death Deicide (my preference, again, is early material) Demigod Depravity Desultory Disincarnate Dismember Funebrarum Hypocrisy (early) Impaled Jumpin' Jesus Liers in Wait Monstrosity Morbid Angel Necrophobic Nile Pestilence Possessed Sentenced (early) Septic Flesh (early) Suffocation Vader Black/death: Belphegor Destroyer 666 Dissection Infester Therion (early stuff is black/death, later stuff is more operatic) Speed Metal: Blind Guardian (early, later is power metal) Cacophony Helloween Thrash Metal: Angel Dust Annihilator Assassin (Ger) Blind Illusion Celtic Frost Coroner Dark Angel Death Angel Death Strike Destruction Destruction Exhorder Exodus Flotsam and Jetsam Forbidden Gothic Slam Heathen Hirax Hobbs' Angel of Death Kreator Living Sacrifice (early) Metal Church Morbid Saint Nuclear Assault Overkill Piledriver Razor Rigor Mortis Sodom Tankard Testament Toxik Watchtower Xentrix

2016-03-28 23:52:08 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0 0

The only thing i can help you with is his death, he was slayed by Theseus of athens in the labrynth. The labrynth i believe was in thebes (not so sure on that one). Anyway, Theseus used a ball of yarn ot keep his way in the labrynth.

2007-03-09 00:08:38 · answer #5 · answered by Promethius 2 · 0 0

ONly that it is found in the center of the labyrinth.

2007-03-09 00:14:55 · answer #6 · answered by Rev. Two Bears 6 · 0 1

[edit] Birth and appearance
The literary myth satisfied a Hellenic interpretation of Minoan myth and ritual. According to this, before Minos became king, he asked the Greek god Poseidon for a sign, to assure him that he, and not his brother, was to receive the throne (other accounts say that he boasted that the gods wanted him to be king). Poseidon agreed to send a white bull as a sign, on condition Minos would sacrifice the bull to the god in return. Indeed, a bull of unmatched beauty came out of the sea. King Minos, after seeing it, found it so beautiful that he instead sacrificed another bull, hoping that Poseidon would not notice. Poseidon was enraged when he realized what had been done, so he caused Minos's wife, Pasiphaë, to be overcome with a fit of madness in which she conceived a passion for the bull. Pasiphaë went to Daedalus for assistance, and Daedalus devised a way to satisfy her. He constructed a hollow wooden cow covered with cowhide for Pasiphaë to hide in and allow the bull to mount her. The result of this union was the Minotaur (the Bull of Minos), who some say bore the proper name Asterius (the "Starry One"). In some accounts, the white bull went on to become the Cretan Bull captured by Hercules as one of his labours.

The Minotaur had the body of a man and the head and tail of a bull.[1] Pasiphaë nursed him in his infancy, but he grew and became ferocious. Minos, after getting advice from the Oracle at Delphi, had Daedalus construct a gigantic labyrinth to hold the Minotaur. Its location was near Minos' palace in Knossos.


[edit] The price that brought Theseus

Bull mask at the Greek pavilion at Expo '88Now it happened that Androgeus, son of Minos, had been killed by the Athenians, who were jealous of the victories he had won at the Panathenaic festival. Others say he was killed at Marathon by the Cretan bull, his mother's former taurine lover, which Aegeus, king of Athens, had commanded him to slay. To avenge the death of his son, Minos waged war and won. He then demanded that seven Athenian youths and seven maidens, drawn by lots, be sent every ninth year (some accounts say every year) to be devoured by the Minotaur. When the third sacrifice came round, Theseus volunteered to go to slay the monster. He promised to his father, Aegeus, that he would put up a white sail on his journey back home if he was successful. Ariadne, in the Greek version the daughter of Minos, fell in love with Theseus and helped him get out of the labyrinth by giving him a ball of thread, allowing him to retrace his path. Theseus killed the Minotaur and led the other Athenians back out of the labyrinth.[2] However Theseus forgot to change the black sails of mourning for white sails of success, so his father, overcome with grief, leapt off the clifftop from which he had kept watch for his son's return every day since Theseus had departed into the sea. Then it became known as the Aegean Sea.

Minos, angry that Theseus was able to escape, imprisoned Daedalus and his son Icarus in a tall tower. They were able to escape by building wings for themselves with the feathers of birds that flew by, but Icarus died during the escape as he flew too high and the wax which held the feathers in the wing melted in the heat of the Sun


[edit] Interpretations
The contest between Theseus and the Minotaur was frequently represented in Greek art. A Knossian didrachm exhibits on one side the labyrinth, on the other the Minotaur surrounded by a semicircle of small balls, probably intended for stars; it is to be noted that one of the monster's names was Asterius.

The ruins of Minos' palace at Knossos have been found, but the labyrinth has not. The enormous number of rooms, staircases and corridors in the palace has led archaeologists to believe that the palace itself was the source of the labyrinth myth. Homer, describing the shield of Achilles, remarked that the labyrinth was Ariadne's ceremonial dancing ground.

Some modern mythologists regard the Minotaur as a solar personification and a Minoan adaptation of the Baal-Moloch of the Phoenicians. The slaying of the Minotaur by Theseus in that case indicates the breaking of Athenian tributary relations with Minoan Crete.

According to A.B. Cook, Minos and Minotaur are only different forms of the same personage, representing the sun-god of the Cretans, who depicted the sun as a bull. He and J. G. Frazer both explain Pasiphae's union with the bull as a sacred ceremony, at which the queen of Knossos was wedded to a bull-formed god, just as the wife of the Tyrant in Athens was wedded to Dionysus. E. Pottier, who does not dispute the historical personality of Minos, in view of the story of Phalaris, considers it probable that in Crete (where a bull-cult may have existed by the side of that of the double axe) victims were tortured by being shut up in the belly of a red-hot brazen bull. The story of Talos, the Cretan man of brass, who heated himself red-hot and clasped strangers in his embrace as soon as they landed on the island, is probably of similar origin.

A historical explanation of the myth refers to the time when Crete was the main political and cultural potency in the Aegean Sea. As the fledgling Athens (and probably other continental Greek cities) was under tribute to Crete, it can be assumed that such tribute included young men and women for sacrifice. This ceremony was performed by a priest disguised with a bull head or mask, thus explaining the imagery of the Minotaur. It may also be that this priest was son to Minos.

Once continental Greece was free from Crete's dominance, the myth of the Minotaur worked to distance the forming religious consciousness of the Hellene poleis from Minoan beliefs.

2007-03-08 21:38:16 · answer #7 · answered by raven blackwing 6 · 0 0

half-man, half bull. all horse crap or bs.

2007-03-08 13:58:55 · answer #8 · answered by rsinfante69 1 · 0 1

fedest.com, questions and answers