Pasiphae’s Family Tree

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Family

• Minos(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.

• Helios(parent),Perse(parent),Aeetes(sibling),Circe(sibling)— Consort

  Helios and the Oceanid Perse bore Circe, Aeetes, and Pasiphae — a lineage renowned for sorcery. All three children inherited formidable powers of pharmakeia.

• Cretan Bull(spouse),Minotaur(child)— 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.

Associated with

• Minotaur,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.

• Cretan Bull

  Poseidon cursed Pasiphae with an unnatural desire for the Cretan Bull after Minos refused to sacrifice it. With Daedalus's help, she consummated the union, conceiving the Minotaur.

• Daedalus

  Daedalus built a hollow wooden cow for Pasiphae so she could satisfy the desire Poseidon had cursed her with for the Cretan Bull, resulting in the birth of the Minotaur.

• Minos

  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.