The Minotaur
Asterius in Apollodorus
The bull-faced, human-bodied creature confined in Daedalus’s Cretan Labyrinth and killed there by Theseus with Ariadne’s help.
Quick answer
In Apollodorus, the Minotaur is Asterius, a creature born to Pasiphaë and the bull of Poseidon. It has a bull’s face and a human body, lives under guard in the Labyrinth, and is eventually killed by Theseus.
Quick facts
| Tradition | Greek mythology |
|---|---|
| Name in the source | Asterius, called the Minotaur [1] |
| Parents | Pasiphaë and the bull sent by Poseidon |
| Source realm | The Labyrinth on Crete |
| Creature type | Human-and-bull hybrid |
| Defining feature | The face of a bull and the remainder of a human body |
| Keeper | King Minos |
| Defeated by | Theseus, aided by Ariadne’s clue of thread [2] |
What the source book says
Apollodorus says that Poseidon sent Minos a bull that the king was meant to sacrifice. When Minos kept it instead, the god made the bull savage and caused Pasiphaë to desire it. With a device made by Daedalus, she conceived Asterius, called the Minotaur. Minos then confined the creature in the Labyrinth that Daedalus had built.[1]
In the later Theseus episode, Athens must send seven young men and seven young women to the Minotaur. Ariadne obtains the route from Daedalus and gives Theseus a clue of thread. Theseus fastens it at the entrance, finds the Minotaur in the innermost part of the Labyrinth, kills it with his fists, and follows the thread back out.[2]
Description and identity
Apollodorus gives a compact description: the Minotaur has the face of a bull and the rest of a human. The account supplies no colour, height, horns of a particular shape, clothing, or weapon. It names the creature Asterius but usually refers to it by the title Minotaur.[1]
- Combines human and bull anatomy
- Is a single named creature, not a species
- Lives under confinement rather than roaming Crete
- Occupies the deepest part of an artificial maze
- Is overcome by Theseus in close combat
Source realm: the Cretan Labyrinth
The Labyrinth is not a natural habitat. Apollodorus describes it as a guarded chamber whose tangled turns confuse the way out. Daedalus’s design, Ariadne’s knowledge, and the thread that marks Theseus’s return are therefore as important to the encounter as the creature itself.
Role in the Theseus story
A consequence of Minos’s broken sacrifice
The creature’s birth follows the king’s decision to keep Poseidon’s bull, binding the royal household’s disaster to a failed religious obligation.
The danger at the maze’s centre
The Labyrinth turns the encounter into two problems: Theseus must defeat the Minotaur and still find a route back to the entrance.
A victory made possible by cooperation
Theseus strikes the killing blows, but the source makes his return dependent on Ariadne and on the directions she receives from Daedalus.
Book and reference
- 1The Library
Apollodorus; translated by James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library, 1921. See Book 3, section 1.4.
Read the translated text ↗ - 2The Library: Epitome
Apollodorus; translated by James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library, 1921. See Epitome 1.7–1.9.
Read the translated text ↗