Archive-name: Fantasy/minotaur.txt Archive-author: Archive-title: Legend of the Minotaur This unhappy monster, with the body of a man and the head and horns of a bull, was the result of a broken promise and unnatural desire. His story began when Minos of Crete sought the throne of that kingdom. To impress the Cretans, Minos told them that the gods would answer any prayer he addressed to them, and challenged the Cretans to put him to the test. The Cretans told him to ask Poseidon, Lord of the Ocean, to send him a bull out of the sea, and followed him to the seashore to watch him make this seemingly absurd request. Minos prayed fervently for it to be granted, and promised that if the bull appeared then he'd sacrifice it to the glory of Poseidon. The the awe and astonishment of the Cretans, the waters parted and a magnificent white bull swam ashore. They promptly elected Minos as their king, but he could not bring himself to sacrifice the splendid white bull from the sea. He added it to his own herd, and sacrificed an ordinary bull to Poseidon. The Ocean God was so infuriated by this broken promise that he caused Pasiphae, the wife of Minos, to fall in love with the bull. She lavished caresses and embraces upon the animal, but it showed no interest in her desire until she persuaded the inventor Daedalus to build her an artificial cow, so that she might crouch within it to be served by the bull. In due course she gave birth to a monster with a calf's head and a man's body, which quickly developed into a full-grown male with a head of a great fighting bull. --