Androgeus- Greek FigureMortal

Death of a Prince

Androgeus was the eldest son of King Minos of Crete and the sorceress Pasiphae, and brother to Ariadne and Phaedra. A gifted athlete, he traveled to Athens to compete in the Panathenaic games, where he defeated all competitors in every event. His victories won him admiration but also the jealousy of the Athenians.

The circumstances of his death are reported differently. In one tradition, King Aegeus of Athens, threatened by the young man's prowess and his possible alliance with Aegeus's political rivals, sent Androgeus to fight the Marathonian Bull — the same beast Heracles had brought from Crete as his seventh labor, now ravaging the Attic countryside. The bull killed him. In another, Androgeus was ambushed and murdered by jealous competitors on the road to Thebes. Either way, a prince of Crete had died on Athenian soil, and Minos would not let the crime go unanswered.

The Tribute

When news reached Crete, Minos was consumed with grief and rage. He assembled the Cretan fleet and waged war against Athens, conquering Megara along the way — the city fell when Scylla, daughter of King Nisus, cut the purple lock of hair that kept her father invincible, betraying him out of love for Minos. But Athens itself held, and Minos prayed to Zeus for vengeance. The god answered with plague and famine upon Attica.

The Athenians, following an oracle, agreed to Minos's terrible terms: every nine years, Athens would send seven young men and seven young women to Crete to be placed in the Labyrinth and devoured by the Minotaur, the bull-headed monster born of Pasiphae's unnatural union. This tribute continued until Theseus volunteered as one of the youths and, with the help of Ariadne, slew the Minotaur and ended the cycle of sacrifice.