Minotaur’s Family Tree

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Family

• Cretan Bull(parent),Pasiphae(parent)— Consort · Miraculous

  Pasiphae, cursed by Poseidon with desire for the Cretan Bull, conceived the Minotaur through a union made possible by Daedalus's wooden cow. The half-bull creature was imprisoned in the Labyrinth.

Slain by

• Theseus

  Theseus slew the Minotaur in the depths of the Labyrinth at Knossos, ending Athens's tribute of youths to Crete. He followed Ariadne's thread to escape the maze.

Serves

• Minos

  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

• Pasiphae,Poseidon

  Poseidon's curse on Minos — making Pasiphae desire the Cretan Bull — was the direct cause of the Minotaur's birth. The god punished Minos for failing to sacrifice the magnificent white bull Poseidon had sent from the sea.

• Ariadne

  Ariadne, half-sister of the Minotaur through their mother Pasiphae, gave Theseus the thread and sword that enabled him to slay the beast imprisoned in the Labyrinth beneath her father's palace.

• Labyrinth

  The Minotaur prowled the heart of the Labyrinth beneath Knossos, penned within its winding corridors by order of Minos to devour the Athenian tribute of seven youths and seven maidens sent every nine years.