The Battle of the Minotaur with Theseus is also described in detail by Apollodorus: Definition of the Minotaur, presented by lalanguefrancaise.com – These definitions of the word Minotaur are given as a reference and come from royalty-free dictionaries. More information about the word Minotaur is provided by the editors of lalanguefrancaise.com The Myth of the Minotaur is considered an antagonist of Theseus from an essentially Athenian point of view, and literary sources are biased as they are all biased for athens` perspectives. The Etruscans have a different version of the myth, because they make Ariadne the wife of Dionysus Theseus, he is content to marry Phaedra, his sister, and to deposit Ariadne on the island of Dia, either on his own initiative or with her consent.[16] The Etruscan point of view offers an alternative to the myth of the Minotaur, which was never seen in Greek art: on a cup of wine with figures dated to the early fourth century BC. J.-C., Pasiphaé tenderly kisses the Miniotaur of the Children on his lap[17]. The Ballad of the Minotaur • The Day of the Minotaur • The Minotaur • Minotaur (Comics) • Minotaur of Strasbourg • European Minotaur of Strasbourg • Theseus and the Minotaur • Minotaur Trilogy The essence of the myth of the birth of the Minotaur was very succinctly expressed in the Heroids attributed to Ovid, where Pasiphae`s daughter complains about the curse of her mother`s unrequited love: « The bull is the disguised form of a god, Pasiphae, my mother, victim of this illusion, gave birth in pain »[7]. Home > Dictionary > Definitions of the word « Minotaur » Hygin also takes up in his fables the episodes of the legend, the conception of the Minotaur by Pasiphae and his death by the hand of Theseus 14. The myth of the Minotaur is reported by Greco-Roman authors: Apollodorus and Hygin describe the conception of the monster and its death. Virgil and Ovid briefly evoke the myth. The Minotaur, as the ancient Greeks imagined, had the body of a man with the head of a bull. [10] Pasiphae took care of it when he was little, but he grew up quickly and went wild.
Minos, after seeking advice from the Oracle of Delphi, ordered Daedalus to build the gigantic labyrinth to enclose it. In Greek mythology, the Minotaur is a fabulous monster that has the body of a human and the head of a bull[1] or half human and half bull. Born from the loves of Pasiphae and a white bull sent by Poseidon, he was locked by King Minos in the labyrinth in the center of Crete, specially built by Daedalus, so that he could not escape and no one would discover his existence.[2] In ancient texts, the Minotaur also bears the name of Asterios or Asterion, named after the king of Crete, to whom Zeus had entrusted Minos, fruit of his union with Europe. The Minotaur was eventually killed by Theseus, the son of Aegina, with the help of Ariadne. Literature has also taken up the subject, making the search for the Minotaur at the foot of the labyrinth an introductory test aimed at destroying the animal monster that hides in each of us. Dante imagined in his hell the Minotaur with the body of a bull and the head of a man,[25] probably because he knew the ancient texts, but not their artistic representations. [18] In ancient texts, the Minotaur also bears the name of Asterios or Asterion, named after the king of Crete Asterion, to whom Zeus Minos, fruit of his union with Europe, had entrusted. The battle between Theseus and the Minotaur has often been depicted in Greek art. A Cnossian didrachm presents the labyrinth on one side, and the Minotaur on the other, surrounded by a semicircle of small marbles that probably represent stars, probably in reference to the Minotaur`s other name, Asterion, which means « star. » The Minotaur is a well-known figure of the Greek therianthropic bestiary, which has been used in many works in art, literature, cinema, role-playing games and video games. According to Jorge Luis Borges, the figure of the Minotaur was born from the cult of the bull and the double axe (Labrys, which gave the word labyrinth), which was common in the pre-Hellenic religion, which also celebrated the sacred bullfight. Murals depicting bull-headed men have been found, and this creature may have been part of Cretan demonology.
The story of the Minotaur would then be a « late and clumsy » version of much older myths and « frightening dreams »[18]. The image of the Minotaur is almost inextricably linked to that of the labyrinth, again according to Borges` interpretation, because the idea of a house in which people can get lost is as strange as that of a bull-headed man, and it is fitting that in the middle of a monstrous house there is a monstrous inhabitant [18]. For Vincent Message, « the extraordinary architecture of the labyrinth responds to the hybrid nature of the Minotaur, whose monstrosities correspond[19] ». Theseus and the Minotaur, detail of an Attic Stamnos with red figures by the painter of Altamura, circa 460 BC, Staatliche Antikensammlungen von München. Virgil quickly evokes the myth of the Aeneid: on the doors is the death of Andregeja; At that time, a punishment was imposed on the Cecoropids who, O misfortune!, sacrificed seven of their sons each year; The ballot box is set up for the lottery decision. Opposite is the land of Gnosse emerging from the sea, a counterpart: here is a cruel passion for a bull, the deceptive replacement of the Pasiphae and, mestizo, deformed descendants, here is the Minotaur, monument to a monstrous Venus, finally the famous work, the palace with inseparable detours. Every nine years (or every year after Virgil), seven young men and seven young women were sent to Crete as victims for atonement for the murder of Androgea, the son of Minos, by Aegean, king of Athens. Within a year, Theseus, The Aegean`s own son, was drawn by lot or voluntarily placed among the young men destined for sacrifice.