In Greek mythology, the Minotaur (), also known as Asterion or Asterius, is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "part man and part bull". He dwelt at the center of the Labyrinth, which was an elaborate maze-like construction designed by the architect Daedalus and his son Icarus, upon command of King Minos of Crete. According to tradition, every nine years the people of Athens were compelled by King Minos to choose fourteen young noble citizens (seven men and seven women) to be offered as sacrificial victims to the Minotaur in retribution for the death of Minos's son Androgeus. The Minotaur was eventually slain by the Athenian hero Theseus, who managed to navigate the labyrinth with the help of a thread offered to him by the King's daughter, Ariadne.
Etymology
The Minotaur was called ' in Latin and in Etruscan. English pronunciation of the word "Minotaur" is varied; the following can be found in dictionaries: ,
The word "Minotaur" derives from the Ancient Greek a compound of the name (Minos) and the noun tauros meaning , or Asterios (), a name shared with Minos's foster-father.
"Minotaur" was originally a proper noun in reference to this mythical figure. That is, there was only the one Minotaur. The notion of other minotaurs surfaced in the early middle ages, perhaps first in
The Cosmography of Aethicus Ister in the 7th or 8th century, which speaks of minotaur cubs raised by Amazons for use in war. The Hereford Mappa Mundi (ca 1300) depicts what might be a minotaur, and the map's legend refers to "wild animals similar to the minotaur". It's not clear whether the middle ages envisioned a race of minotaurs, or simply that minotaurs arose from further human-bull unions: Gerald of Wales (12th/13th century) attributed the existence of ox-men in Ireland to the Irish taste for bestiality. Pasiphaë nursed the Minotaur but he grew in size and became ferocious. As the unnatural offspring of a woman and a beast, the Minotaur had no natural source of nourishment, and thus devoured humans for sustenance. Minos, following advice from the oracle at Delphi, had Daedalus construct a gigantic Labyrinth to hold the Minotaur. Its location was near Minos's palace in Knossos.
Appearance
The Minotaur is commonly represented in Classical art with the body of a man and the head and tail of a bull. According to Sophocles's , when the river spirit Achelous seduced Deianira, one of the guises he assumed was a man with the head of a bull. From classical antiquity through the Renaissance, the Minotaur appears at the center of many depictions of the Labyrinth.