Minos’s Family Tree

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Family

• Pasiphae(spouse),Androgeus(child),Ariadne(child),Catreus(child),Deucalion of Crete(child),Glaucus son of Minos(child),Phaedra(child)— Marriage

  Minos and Pasiphae, king and queen of Crete, bore Ariadne, Phaedra, Androgeus, Deucalion of Crete, Catreus, and Glaucus son of Minos — a royal line shaped by tragedy from Androgeus's death in Athens to Ariadne's betrayal.

• Europa(parent),Zeus(parent),Rhadamanthus(sibling)— Consort

  Zeus abducted Europa in the form of a white bull, carrying her across the sea to Crete where she bore him Minos and Rhadamanthus, both destined to become judges of the dead in the underworld.

  ⚠ Apollodorus (Bibliotheca 3.1.1) names a third son Sarpedon, but this is a different figure from Homer's Sarpedon son of Laodamia who fought at Troy (Iliad 6.196-205).

Guarded by

• Talos

  Talos served as the bronze guardian of Crete for King Minos, circling the island three times each day and hurling boulders at any unauthorized ship that approached its shores.

Enemy of

• Aegeus

  Minos waged war on Athens after the death of his son Androgeus, defeating King Aegeus and imposing the tribute of seven youths and seven maidens to feed the Minotaur in the Labyrinth.

• Daedalus

  Minos imprisoned Daedalus after discovering the craftsman helped Theseus escape the Labyrinth. Daedalus fled Crete on wax wings and later engineered Minos's death in Sicily through the scalding pipes in Cocalus's bathhouse.

• Poseidon

  Poseidon cursed Minos after the king refused to sacrifice the Cretan Bull, causing Pasiphae to desire the bull and leading to the birth of the Minotaur.

• Theseus

  Theseus volunteered to end Athens's tribute to Minos and slew the Minotaur in the Cretan king's Labyrinth. Minos had imposed the tribute after his son Androgeus was killed in Athens.

Slain by

• Cocalus,Daedalus

  Daedalus engineered King Minos's death in Sicily by installing hidden pipes in King Cocalus's bathhouse. Cocalus's daughters poured boiling water through the pipes, killing the Cretan king who had pursued Daedalus across the Mediterranean.

Rules over

• Labyrinth

  Minos held dominion over the Labyrinth at Knossos, controlling who entered its inescapable corridors and condemning seven Athenian youths and seven maidens to the Minotaur within every nine years.

• Minotaur

  Minos ruled over the Minotaur by imprisoning the creature in the Labyrinth and controlling its feeding through the Athenian tribute. The beast lived and died at its stepfather's command.

Associated with

• Aeacus,Rhadamanthus,Underworld

  Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus serve as the three judges of the dead in the Underworld, appointed by Zeus for their justice in life. Rhadamanthus judges Asian souls, Aeacus those from Europe, and Minos casts the deciding vote.

• Ariadne

  Ariadne betrayed her father Minos by giving Theseus the thread and sword to navigate the Labyrinth and slay the Minotaur, choosing her love for the Athenian hero over loyalty to Crete.

• Cocalus

  Minos pursued Daedalus to Sicily using a spiral seashell puzzle only the craftsman could solve. When Cocalus presented the threaded shell, Minos knew Daedalus was present and demanded his return.

• Cretan Bull

  Minos kept Poseidon's Cretan Bull instead of sacrificing it, provoking the god's curse on Pasiphae. The bull later escaped to Marathon, where Heracles captured it as his seventh labour.

• Pasiphae

  Pasiphae, cursed by Poseidon with desire for the Cretan Bull, bore the Minotaur — a shame Minos concealed by imprisoning the creature in Daedalus's Labyrinth beneath Knossos.