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
Matthew Rios
Sarah, I think this was wonderful article. I had not known of the Minotaur’s origin until now, and I think you capture this process quite gracefully. I’ve always heard of the tale’s involving Icarus, and Daedalus, but for some reason this story doesn’t immediately come to my mind. Thank you for the good read, I always enjoy brushing up on this sort of thing.
Cherice Leach
This story is the weirdest yet most interesting story that I have ever read. The people of Ancient Greece really had issues… It’s so weird that the Gods always place very strange curses on ones who disobey them. Their punishments are also very creative in the sense that who would have thought to build a female bull and then hide inside of it to have sexual relations with a bull? Super weird but very interesting. Great article!
Ezequiel De La Fuente
The story was super interesting however a bit strange. I’ve always loved how the Greeks tell their life lessons in their stories with Gods and mortals. Very informational. I know Poseidon had a part in it, but it disturbs me in what the wife did. Overall, great article that is straight to the point. I’m sure the husband in the story will think twice next time he wants to be
Abigale Carney
Very interesting article! I have never heard about the Minotaur before, but I do remember it appearing in many movies such as the Percy Jackson series. In that series, it was based off of Greek mythology, so I can now see the relation due to your article. Your article was very easy to understand, and kept me engaged throughout the entire piece. After reading this, I feel more knowledgeable about Greek mythology!
Justin Garcia
This was a very interesting article. I never knew the backstory to the Minotaur. The Fact that the Minotaur was actually born rather than created is fascinating. Mostly because most ancient monsters were created by acts other than birth from animals or people. It also gives the monster more symbolic meaning, because when heroes would fight the Minotaur they were essentially fighting an embodiment of sin.
Auroara-Juhl Nikkels
I knew about the creation of the Minotaur before reading this and you told the story extremely well. Your article held my interest and provided insight on how cruel the gods could really be. Poseidon could have chosen a million different ways to punish Minos, but instead chose to make his wife fall in love with a bull and create a half human. The idea to my is insane, but then I think of all the different kinds of mythological creatures that the gods created and the story of how the Minotaur came to be isn’t really all that out there fore Greek Mythology.
Luke Willis
Wow this was an awesome article. I have read a lot about Greek mythology and a lot about the Minotaur as well. However, for some reason i have never heard of this story before or i have not heard it in this much detail. I always find it funny how the god seem to punish the humans and i find it interesting how the Greeks could think of these interesting stories as well and how much imagination it must have taken to think of these stories. Great article.
Joshua Breard
I had heard of the Minotaur before button really the backstory of this legend. I did not know it was birthed from a queen and a bull after it was sacrificed to Poseidon. The article told a great story that was easy to follow. I found myself immersed in the legend of the minotaur and overall found this article to be very informative. Great Job!
Evelin Joseph
My only knowledge of the Minotaur came from the movie Percy Jackson, so this article taught me a lot about the mythical creature. I never knew that the Minotaur was actually the product of one of King Minos’s bulls and his wife. It was, once again, interesting to see the Gods’ influence in ancient times through Poseidon’s actions. The story was surprising as Poseidon made King Minos’s wife, Pasiphae, fall in love with the bull through a curse and even give birth to a half-bull, half-human. It taught me a lot about mythological stories and what they believed to be consequences to sin.
Osman Rodriguez
Interesting article Sarah! I could not actually remember the origin of the Minotaur until I read your article. It was very informative and a fun read. The origin story of the Minotaur, personally, is pretty disturbing. The fact that Poseidon went so far as to do something like that, all because they didn’t offer him the best bull. Still, interesting nonetheless. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment.