When people talk about the ancient mythological creature Minotaur, a ferocious beast immediately comes to mind and perhaps the infamous myth of the labyrinth as well. What people may not know, though, are the interesting details of the events that lead up to the birth of the mighty Minotaur. What is universally recognized as a feared creature of unusual birth was actually created from unfortunate actions between a selfish king and a vengeful god.
King Minos and his wife Queen Pasiphae led a good life ruling over the island of Crete. Minos held power over multiple islands of Greece and was recognized for his success and power by many. In an attempt to prove his rightful claim as King of Crete, Minos had sworn to locate the best bull he could find among his cattle, one that would be very favorable to its intended receiver. Minos would then take this great bull and sacrifice it to Poseidon, god of the seas, as he did each year in order to secure his ownership of the throne. One year in particular, among King Minos’ herd, there birthed a magnificent bull, one that possessed a unique kind of beauty that King Minos had never seen before. Minos truly was in awe of this magnificent bull, so much so that he found himself captivated by its beauty, and he realized that this bull was something he did not want to give up to the promised Poseidon. In fact, Minos purposefully chose to overlook the magnificent bull when making his decision, and settled on a less attractive bull to sacrifice to Poseidon.1
Watching him and his deceitful actions very closely, Poseidon took notice of King Minos’ plan in sacrificing a lesser bull to keep the best for himself. This made Poseidon very angry, and he immediately began thinking about how to discipline Minos for his selfishness. Poseidon saw that Minos loved his wife Pasiphae immensely, and with this knowledge, constructed a plan that would leave Minos and Pasiphae in the presence of a monster. 2
Poseidon cast a curse upon Queen Pasiphae, one of love, which she could not escape. Her love was not for her husband; instead, she felt love for his magnificent bull. Pasiphae would be found swooning over the magnificent bull as if it were a handsome and powerful man ready to take her into his strong arms. Alas, she was so utterly infatuated with the magnificent bull that she constructed a plan to lure the bull towards her, and hopefully lay with her romantically.3
Queen Pasiphae instructed a craftsman of the island, Daedalus, and his son, Icarus, to build her a wooden structure that represented a near-perfect body form of a female bull. She insisted that the piece be built as realistically as possible and large enough for herself to comfortably fit inside without revealing that she was human. In spite of her odd orders, Daedalus and Icarus did what the Queen asked of them. As a finishing touch, Queen Pasiphae placed a large cow hide over the structure so that the magnificent bull would notice the structure and take it as a female looking to mate. The Queen rolled the structure out to the field where she would often see the magnificent bull grazing day after day. She strategically placed herself in the view of the magnificent bull, stepped inside the structure, and waited patiently for the bull’s approach.4
After grazing for a bit, the magnificent bull caught sight of what it thought was the beautiful female and approached it. Before long, the Queen’s plan worked, as the magnificent bull fastened itself upon her and together, engaged in sexual and intimate relations. As a result of this, Queen Pasiphae became pregnant with the baby of the bull and upon its birth realized she was carrying something horrific inside of her.5
Just as Poseidon intended, Pasiphae had relations with the bull she loved and later birthed an unusual creature, born half-bull, half-human to be known as the Minotaur.
The creation and birth of the Minotaur, as well as other monsters, typically is done in response to acts of sin. In this particular case, King Minos’ egotistical actions led him to break a promise made to a god, and in return, that god made Minos’ wife feel the same love that her husband did for the magnificent bull, giving in to her abnormal fascination and eventually birthing an infamous monster of ancient Greece.6
- UXL Encyclopedia of World Mythology, 2009, s.v. “Minotaur.” ↵
- UXL Encyclopedia of World Mythology, 2009, s.v. “Minotaur.” ↵
- Christian Moevs, “Centaurs, Spiders and Saints,” in Vertical Readings in Dante’s Comedy: Volume 2, edited by Corbett George and Webb Heather (Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers, 2016), 14-17. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1sq5vb5.7. ↵
- UXL Encyclopedia of World Mythology, 2009, s.v. “Minotaur.” ↵
- Christian Moevs, “Centaurs, Spiders and Saints,” in Vertical Readings in Dante’s Comedy: Volume 2, edited by Corbett George and Webb Heather (Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers, 2016), 14-17. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1sq5vb5.7. ↵
- George Palmer Garrett, “The Function of the Pasiphae Myth in Brother to Dragons,” Modern Language Notes 74, no. 4 (1959): 311-13. doi:10.2307/3040070. ↵
134 comments
Carlos Aparicio
This article was so shocking to read. It was so sickening of what Poseidon did to Queen Pasipahe and the horrible spell he cast on her. I guess that is one consequence from a god when you disobey him. I had no idea of who Minotaur was or how he came to be. It’s nice to read these good descriptive articles about interesting articles.
Mariah Cavanaugh
Wow! This is a phenomenal article! It was well written and flowed nicely. I’ve read a few Greek stories, but this is the first time I heard the tale of the minotaur. I was both shocked and fascinated while reading your article. Poseidon is very clever with his revenge curses. I would like to hear how her husband reacted to this pregnancy and eventual birth of the monster minotaur.
Mark Martinez
A well written and put together article. I always liked to hear stories of ancient Greek Mythology and reading about the people and gods. However, it is a little strange how a lot of stories that involve romantic relations tend to involve an animal with a human. Either it’s a god in disguise or a punishment from a god.
Samuel Stallcup
Ancient Greek stories are always great, and this article did a fine job at retelling the story. I didn’t know that the reason for the minotaur being born was out of anger from Poseidon, and now it makes much more sense. I liked the amount of detail you gave, and also left out, specifically the part where the bull and the Queen fornicate.
Tara Sellers
I have heard of how the Minotaur was born, but never the full legend. I did not know that the god who had put the curse on her was Poseidon. The tale is a sad one and I wonder what Minos’s reaction was when he found out. Is this why Daedalus and his son Icarus where captured and had to make wings to escape, because they made the contraption in which let the queen to have sex with a bull?
Clarissa Bustamante
This was a very interesting article! I have always heard about the minotaur but mostly only in movies. The article was very informative especially when it came to telling the origin of the Minotaur. It was interesting how the minotaur came from bull sacrificing to Poseidon. But it was shocking to read how the minotaur was born through the relation of a human queen and a bull. Overall this was a very well written article.
Karina Nanez
What a fascinating story. I had not known the story behind the Minotaur, I had assumed it was a demon of Hades not the son of King Minos and Queen Pasipahe. And as horrific as it was to read that she had sex with a bull, I am also impressed with how carefully she put together her plan in order for the bull to find her attractive.
Gabriela Serrato
I am so shocked yet pleased that I read this article. I am very familiar with the Minotaur, as I have seen it in many tv shows, but it never occurred to me that I did not know of the back story. Was I interested in knowing about it as soon as the article popped up? Yes. Did I expect this odd of a story? No, but maybe I should have. I did not expect this! I almost have no words. I really appreciate that you wrote this article and that you wrote is so well. It is important that more people are educated on this topic, as the minotaur is quite popularly known. I wish more articles were written about topics like this because it is extremely interesting.
Lauryn Hyde
I had heard of the story of the Minotaur and while it is quiet strange, the article tells the story well. Greek mythology had always been something of interest of mine. This strange story gives off an important message of how we much not always be selfish and thick before we do something. If King Minos had not kept the strong bull to himself, then the creation of the Minotaur would not have happened.
Amanda Figueroa
This was a very interesting article with informative details about the origin of the minotaur. It is weird how Queen Paisphae fell in love for Poseidon’s bull and not him. This is so strange, but it is what makes the story go on. I liked how the article was written with such detail that made every bit of reading it intriguing.