Minos | Greek mythology | Britannica.com Greek mythology Horus Minos, legendary ruler of Crete; he was the son of Zeus , the king of the gods, and of Europa , a Phoenician princess and personification of the continent of Europe. Minos obtained the Cretan throne by the aid of the Greek god Poseidon, and from Knossos (or Gortyn) he gained control over the Aegean islands , colonizing many of them and ridding the sea of pirates. He married Pasiphae, the daughter of Helios, who bore him, among others, Androgeos, Ariadne , and Phaedra, and who was also the mother of the Minotaur . Minos successfully warred against Athens and Megara to obtain redress after his son Androgeos was killed by the Athenians. In Athenian drama and legend Minos became the tyrannical exactor of the tribute of children to feed the Minotaur. Having pursued Daedalus to Sicily, Minos was killed by the daughters of King Cocalus, who poured boiling water over him as he was taking a bath. After his death he became a judge in Hades.

Although Athens preserved a hostile tradition, the general account shows Minos as a powerful, just ruler, very closely associated with religion and ritual. In light of excavations in Crete , many scholars consider that Minos was a royal or dynastic title for the priestly rulers of Bronze Age , or Minoan, Knossos. Frescoed throne room, palace of King Minos at Knossos, Crete, c. 1700–1400 bc. Bernard G. Silberstein—Rapho/Photo Researchers Learn More in these related articles: Cretan mythology. Minos, Minotaur, Ariadne, Europe, Daedalus, Ikarus, Zeus, Theseus CRETAN MYTHOLOGY What must primitive man have felt when, cocooned in the protection of his cave, he looked out and saw lightning flashing in the middle of a storm? Or just as he was unconcernedly hacking out his stone tools, the earth started to shake at its foundations and the uncanny rumbling of an earthquake covered everything? At such moments his heart, like that of all animals, will certainly have been seized by fear.

But it was in his brain only, of all the species in the animal kingdom, that perplexity and doubt were born. Already, in that far - off time, there was a big “Why?” in the human brain. When he saw the death or the birth of his neighbour, natural phenomena, the grandeur of the natural world, early man wondered. But he also realised with despair how weak and fragile he was within this wonderful world. His need to interpret the world in which he lived and his desire to overcome his weaknesses activated his creative imagination. In an era when logic was still in its infancy, the creations of his imagination acquired, with the passage of time, the validity of the most important truth. Using as raw materials his daily experiences and the forms that were familiar to him, i.e. the forms of animals and of humans, he interpreted everything that was incomprehensible to him and he created creatures which embodied his yearning to explain the marvellous phenomena of nature, to seek solace, to find the strength and courage to fight against endless difficulties and, of course, to dominate this world. Thus, mythology was born and was chiselled ever slowly over the centuries.

Mythology as an attempt to explain the world comes into the same area as religion and for this reason it is formed around the nucleus of the religions beliefs of a people. The religious nucleus of Cretan mythology is the worship of the Sun, the Moon and the Stars, which was brought from the East by the first colonisers of Crete. Indeed the names of many mythical Cretan heroes bear witness to this, for example Asterionas, the king of Crete, who took as his wife Europa (she with the big face). Europa’s mother Telephassa (she which shines from afar); Minos’ wife Pasiphae (she who shines on everyone), the daughters of Minos and Pasiphae Phaidra and Ariadne (the sparkling, the shining ones) On the other hand, mythology as the expression of the human desire to dominate always has a historical nucleus of heroic deeds. The pride of the people who did them and the impression made on the neighbouring peoples who observed them were the reasons why these events were surrounded with the splendour of myth.

With the passing of the centuries, the mythological “ivy” put out rich shoots and essentially concealed the historical “trunk”, around which it was entwined. The historical nucleus of Cretan mythology is the power which Crete gained during the era of the Minoan Kings, her sea-empire and her expansion (by means of colonies and trading stations) throughout the Mediterranean. The leading mythical hero was King Minos of whom all the other Cretan heroes were either descendants or relations. Mythology of course is not an artistic creation - this would give it an aesthetic dimension. Greek mythology, however, (to which Cretan mythology belongs) happens to have a unique beauty, an aesthetic wealth which has made it well-loved throughout the world. The ancient Babylonians or the Amazon Indians had a god of thunder, but only the Zeus of the ancient Greeks is widely known. The ancient Mongols Celts must have had a young hero who could easily kill wild beasts and monsters, but everybody knows only the invincible Hercules of the ancient Greeks for this reason. Greek mythology is not only the subject of study by specialists but is also an exciting world which appeals to everyone.

Cretan mythology is a part of the place that you are now preparing to explore. It is the deepest roots of the archaeological treasures that you will have the chance to admire at many museums and at archaeological sites in every corner of the island. For this reason, we chose to present Cretan mythology to you in sections, in the description of the areas connected with it, and here simply to mention briefly the main heroes, and to give a chart showing the relationship between them. Amalthia The nymph of Idaion Andron who brought up Zeus. She fed him on the milk of a goat called Aix (=goat) and on wild honey. One day, when Zeus was playing with this goat, he broke off one of her horns and gave it to Amalthia, telling her that all the fruits she could ever want would spring from out of the horn (the famous Horn of Amalthia, or Horn of Plenty). Androgeos One of the sons of Minos and Pasiphae who was a champion athlete in all athletic events. One day he went to Athens and took part in some local games, where he walked off with all the prizes.

The Athenian athletes, green with envy, ambushed him just outside the city and killed him. When his father heard, he organised a military campaign against Athens, captured it and punished the Athenians by making them send seven young men and seven young women to Crete every year to be thrown to the Minotaur in the Labyrinth. Ariadne Daughter of Minos and Pasiphae. She fell in love with the Athenian hero, Theseus, when he came to Knossos to kill the Minotaur. Although she helped him greatly to succeed in his quest, with the famous skein of thread that she gave him, the ungrateful Theseus left her in Naxos where his ship put in on the way back to Athens. The god Dionyssos found her there, married her and took her up to mount Olympus. Daedalus (or Daedalos) An Athenian craftsman and the greatest inventor of ancient times. He was sent into exile for a crime he had committed in Athens. In this way, he found himself at the court of King Minos who employed him as an architect and sculptor at the Palace of Knossos.

The king was very pleased with the variety of work done by Daedalus and most of all with the Labyrinth where the Minotaur was imprisoned. But when he found out that Daedalus had made the wooden cow in which his wife Pasiphae had had intercourse with a bull, and that Daedalos had advised his daughter Ariandne to give the skein of thread to Theseus, he became very angry with him and gave orders for him to be put to death. Daedalus, however, forestalled him and escaped by air, having made wings for himself and his son Ikaros. Ikaros was killed during the flight, but Daedalus landed and took refuge in the city of Camico in Sicily. After a long search, Minos found him there, but the inventive Daedalus managed to kill his pursuer by means of a trick. Zeus The son of Cronos and Rea, he belongs to the second generation of gods, i.e. to the gods of Olympus. Cronos had been told by an oracle that one of his children would usurp his power and so he did not allow any of them to live but swallowed them as soon as they were born.

Rea became very angry, and when it was time for her to give birth to Zeus, she gave Cronos a rock to eat which was wrapped in swaddling-clothes and she went off and gave birth to Zeus in Diktaio Andro, a lonely cave on top of mount Dikti in Crete. Shortly after this, little Zeus was moved for reasons of safety to another Cretan cave, Idaion Andro on mount Idi, where a Nymph of the cave, Amalthia, undertook to bring him up (in another version of the story, she was a goat that brought Zeus up on her milk). When Zeus grew up, he put up a terrible fight and managed to topple the king from his throne and so he became king of the Gods. The other gods of Olympus were either his brothers and sisters or his children. His wife was Hera, although he had countless love affairs with other goddesses, but mainly with mortal women. One of these was Europa, whom he fell in love with in Tyre, Syria, and whom he brought to Crete to enjoy her love. Europe Daughter of the king of Tyre, Aginor and of Telephassa.

One day, Zeus saw her playing with her friends on the beach and he fell in love with her. He appeared before her in the form of a likeable bull, the unsuspecting girl sat on his back and the Zeus-bull rushed into the water, carrying his darling on his back, and took her to Crete. They made their love-rest in an idyllic riverside place at the spot where Gortyna was later built. When he grew tired of her, he gave her to the king of Crete, Asterionas, who married her and adopted the three children she had had with Zeus (Minos, Sarpidonas and Radamanthys). When she died, the Cretans paid tribute to her with divine honours an gave her name to one of the earth’s continents. Theseus Son of the king of Athens, Aegeus, and the greatest mythical Athenian hero who did innumerable heroic good deeds. He became a volunteer for the team of fourteen young people who were sent as food for the Minotaur. Theseus managed to kill the Minotaur and got out of the Labyrinth by using a ball of thread (the famous skein of thread) which Ariadne had given him.

When she left for Athens he took Ariadne with him as he had promised her, but after a few days he left her on Naxos and returned to Athens alone. He forgot however to change the black sails on his ship to white, which was the agreed signal to his father that the mission had been successful, and so his father, Aegeus, the king of Athens, threw himself into the sea and was drowned; the sea has since been called the Aegean. Kourites Seven good-tempered giant gods who came from Evoia. They roamed the Greek world, offering their good services where necessary. They happened to be in Crete when Zeus was born. Zeus’ mother, Rea, asked them to stay outside the Idaio Andro and to dance and beat loudly on their copper shields so that Zeus’ father, Cronos, would not hear his son crying. So Zeus managed to grow to manhood and later to become king of the Gods. Many years later, Zeus wife, Hera, asked them to get rid of Epaphos, a child that Zeus had had with a mortal woman.

The Kourites carried out the goddess’s wish but Zeus became very angry with them, forgot about the protection they had once given him, and killed them with a thunderbolt. Minos The most powerful and famous king of Crete, he was the son of Zeus and Europa and the heir of his stepfather Asterionas to the Cretan throne. He had the favour and protection of Zeus throughout his reign. Every nine years he went up to Idaio Andro and received directly from Zeus the laws with which he was to govern the Cretans. Under his rule, Crete enjoyed its greatest period of prosperity and expanded its power throughout the Aegean. His wife was Pasiphae with whom he had four daughters and four sons, but he also had many children by his many mistresses. He was killed in the city of Camico in Sicily in a campaign which he organised to hunt down Daedalus. After his death he became the judge of Souls in the Underworld with his brother Radamanthys and Aeakos, another son of Zeus!

The Minotaur A monster with the body of a man and the head of a bull which was born from the Union of Pasiphae and the sacred bull of Poseidon. Minos closed him up inside the Labyrinth, a dark underground maze of passages which was designed and built under the Palace of Knossos by the Athenian craftsman Daedalus especially for this purpose. It was fed on human flesh and especially on the seven young men and seven young women which the Athenians had to send every year after their defeat in the war with Minos. It was killed by Theseus. Pasiphae A nobleman’s daughter from an infamous generation. Her sister was the sorceress, Circe, who turned Odysseus’s companions into pigs, and her brother was the blood-thirsty king of Kolchis, Aeitis, the father of the sorceress Medea who killed her children. Pasiphae was the wife of Minos and the mother of his eight legitimate children. She too had magic powers which she used to stop her husband from being unfaithful, but without satisfactory results. She was troubled not only by Minos’ unfaithfulness but also by his perjury to Poseidon.

The vexed god, in order to take revenge on Minos who had not sacrificed to him the bull he had promised him, instilled in Pasiphae an uncontrollable sexual desire for the animal. With the help of Daedalus, Pasiphae had sexual intercourse with the bull and that is how the Minotaur was born. Radamanthys Son of Zeus and Europa and the younger brother of Minos. He had such fair judgement that he was known as the fairest man on earth. When Minos succeeded Asterionas to the Cretan throne, he sent his brother into exile, afraid that he would over-shadow him. Radamanthys roamed around the Aegean islands and the coast of Asia Minor, where all the peoples respected his fair judgement and entrusted him with resolving their disputes. When he died, Zeus appointed him judge of human souls in the underworld, with his brother Minos Sarpidonas Son of Zeus and of Europa, brother of Minos. He also(together with his brother Radamanthys) took the road into exile when Minos ascended the throne of Crete. He ended up in Militos in Asia Minor, where he ruled until his death.

Talos The first robot to be born of the human imagination! Talos was a copper giant, the work of Hephaistus and the gods’ gift to Minos. His job was to go round the whole of Crete (he could circle the island three times a day) and to protect it from invasion. His favourite weapons were enormous rocks which he catapulted on the enemy ships approaching the coast. If by any chance anyone managed to disembark, he had a warm welcome in store for them: he jumped in fire, made himself red-hot and then picked up the unfortunate invaders and crushed them in his arms, turning them into grilled steaks. However, he too had his “Achilles heel”: a small vein in the back of his leg which he plugged with a metal stopper. When the Argonauts came to Crete, the sorceress Medea managed to pull out the stopper and the copper giant fell to pieces. Phaedra The daughter of Minos and Pasiphae and sister of Ariadne.

Phaedra married Theseus when he became king of Athens despite his disgraceful behaviour some years earlier to her sister (he had left her high and dry on Naxos while she was asleep), and had two children by him -Demophon and Adamas. Phaedra was not only bolder but also more lively than her sister. She eventually became bored with Theseus and fell in love with Hippolytus, a son of Theseus by a previous wife (the Amazon, Antiopi). Hippolytus however did not reciprocate, and so Phaedra, afraid of being found out, lied about Hippolytus to Theseus saying that he had tried to rape her. Theseus believed her and soon after Hippolytus was dead. After this, Phaedra fell into deep despair and hanged herself in remorse. Source of the information on this page : “Unexplored Crete”, Road Editions. For more guidebooks and maps of Greece, click here . Minotaur - Ancient History Encyclopedia Minotaur by Brittany Garcia published on 01 September 2013 In Greek mythology , the Minotaur was a monster with the body of a man and the head and tail of a bull.

The Minotaur was the offspring of the Cretan Queen Pasiphae and a majestic bull. Due to the Minotaur's monstrous form, King Minos ordered the craftsman, Daedalus , and his son, Icarus, to build a huge maze known as the Labyrinth to house the beast. The Minotaur remained in the Labyrinth receiving annual offerings of youths and maidens to eat. He was eventually killed by the Athenian hero Theseus . The word Minotaur is a compound word consisting of the ancient Greek name "Μίνως" or "Minos" and the noun "ταύρος" or "bull." Thus, the word Minotaur comes to mean "bull of Minos." While, the Minotaur's birth name, Asterion, in ancient Greek "ἀστέριον" means "starry one" which suggests an association with the bull constellation: Taurus. Advertisement Minos & The Bull from the Sea Minos was one of the three sons from the union of Europa and Zeus ; when Zeus was took the form of a bull.

Europa's husband was the King of Crete , Asterion, who looked over the boys as if they were his own. When Aseterion died, it was unclear which of the three sons should ascend to power. The three sons were Minos, Sarpedon, and Rhadamanthus. It was Minos, whose name in Cretan actually means king, who was fated to be king of Crete even though Minos' ascension to power was a difficult journey because he first had to see off his sibling rivals. Minos, however, had one advantage that his brothers did not. He claimed that he had the support and authority from the gods to rule, and he boasted that he could prove it by praying for whatever he wanted and the gods would make it so. Thus, one day while sacrificing to Poseidon , he prayed that a bull would appear from the depths of the sea. Minos vowed to heaven that he would sacrifice the bull to Poseidon once it appeared. Poseidon, then, produced a magnificent bull from the sea; thus, Minos' claim for power was validated for no one dared to defy the favor of the gods, let alone the mighty Poseidon who ruled over all of the seas.

As a result of winning the throne, Minos banished his brothers from Crete. The three brothers would be re-united in afterlife, for after they died they were made judges in the Underworld. It was their task to judge the dead in order to assign where their placement was in the Underworld based upon the merits of their life. King Minos commanded Daedalus and Icarus to build a grand Labyrinth to house his wife's son: Asterion or Mintauros. However, King Minos did not fulfill his vow to Poseidon; he kept the majestic bull for himself and sacrificed a different one to the god. Angered by King Minos' disrespect, Poseidon plotted to punish him for his arrogance and hubris. In accordance to some versions of the myth, it is Poseidon who punishes Minos by instilling a passion within the king's wife, Pasiphae, for the bull that came from the sea. However, according to the Roman author Hyginus, it is Venus ( Aphrodite ) who curses Pasiphae, because the Queen had not shown proper piety to the goddess for some time.

The goddess punished her by sending a salacious passion for the majestic bull from the sea. Another version tells how Poseidon, angered by Minos, went to Aphrodite for her help in the matter and she cursed Pasiphae as a favor to Poseidon. Pasiphae & the Birth of the Minotaur Queen Pasiphae, plagued by her divinely inflicted desires, sought the help of Daedalus and Icarus. For Pasiphae, Daedalus constructed a wooden cow coated with a real cow hide and placed it upon wheels. Daedalus, then, put Queen Pasiphae inside the structure and wheeled her into the meadow that her beloved bull grazed in. It was there that she met and laid with the bull, since the bull thought the wooden cow was real. It is from this union that the Minotaur was born. Remove Ads Advertisement The queen named the beast Asterion (after King Minos' stepfather), which the Cretan people knew to be the Minotaur's true name.

Upon seeing the infant, King Minos discovered his wife's bestial affair and as punishment, Minos enslaved Daedalus and Icarus for their parts in the affair, but he left Pasiphae untouched. Pasiphae cared for Asterion and was able to nourish Asterion while he was a bull calf. However, as he grew he became ferocious and monstrous and she was unable to feed or care for him any longer. Asterion was unable to find a suitable source of food, since he was neither man nor beast, and so he started to eat people. In order to hide his wife's disgraceful affair and on the advise of an Oracle, King Minos commanded Daedalus and Icarus to build a grand Labyrinth to house his wife's son: Asterion or Mintauros. Death of Androgeos & Athen's Tribute While the construction of the Labyrinth was underway, King Minos discovered that his only human son, Androgeos, (with Pasiphae) had been killed. Some sources say that he was killed by the Athenians out of jealousy for his skill in the Panathenic Games.

A different version of the myth claims that the King of Athens , Aegeus, was angered by Androgeos' victories, and sent him to slay the unconquerable Marathonian Bull. In turn, he was killed by the bull and indirectly by the actions of the Athenians. Regardless of how, Androgeos was killed and King Minos blamed the Athenians for the death of his only human son and for the destruction of his family line. He sailed against the Athenians and harassed them until they agreed to pay the price for his son's death. King Minos demanded that Athens pay a tribute to Crete of seven maidens and seven youths every nine years. (There is some contradiction in the sources about how often these tribute were made, from every nine years to once a year). These tributes would then be placed in the Labyrinth for the Minotaur to devour. In various sources, the tributes or sacrificial victims were chosen by lot from only the most beautiful men and virginal girls. The Athenians consulted the Oracle of Delphi who instructed the city of Athens to give Minos whatever he demanded. However, according to Catullus, the murder of Androgeos sparked a cruel plague on Athens.

It is only when King Aegeus learned that by sending tributes to Crete and obeying Minos' demand that Athens would be saved; he agreed. Reluctantly, the Athenians submitted to Minos' terms and King Minos returned to Crete. Minoan Crete Tectamus Tectamus was the son of Dorus, son of Hellen . Tectamus married his niece, the daughter of Cretheus, king of Iolcus in Thessaly. Tectamus became the father of Asterius . Tectamus migrated to Crete with his family and followers, where he became the king of Crete. It was during his reign, when Europa , daughter of Agenor of Sidon, arrived on the back of a bull; the bull was actually the god Zeus . Zeus seduced Europa, and became the mother of three sons. His son Asterius had married the foreigner princess, and brought up her sons if they were his own. Asterius succeeded his father, when the old king (Tectamus) died. Library of History was written by Diodorus Siculus.

Related Articles Abduction of Europa In Phoenicia, Agenor ruled in the city of Sidon (sometimes it was Tyre). Agenor was the son of the sea-god Poseidon and Libya. Agenor was also brother of Belus, king of Egypt. He and his family were direct descendants of Io , daughter of the Argive river-god, Inachus. By his wife Telephassa (or Argiope), Agenor had one daughter, named Europa (Εὐρώπη), and five sons: Cadmus , Phoenix , Cilix , Thasus , and Phineus (according to Homer, Europa was the daughter of Phoenix). The maiden Europa was playing with her companions in a meadow and having a picnic, when they encountered a beautiful bull. But the bull was none other than Zeus himself. Aphrodite had caused him to fall in love with Europa, that he had transformed himself into a bull so that the god to get close as possible to Europa. The girls were not frightened of the bull, because he was so gentle, that the girls played around the disguised god. When the bull lay before Europa's feet, the girls decided to sit on his back.

When Europa mounted on the bull back, however, the bull immediately stood up, before the other girls had a chance to climb on the bull back. The bull suddenly ran to the shore and straight out to sea. The bull hovered about above the waves, accompanied by dolphins, the sea gods, Poseidon and his son Triton. The strange procession frightened Europa as she was carried further and further from her homeland. It wasn't long before the land disappeared from the horizon. Zeus, still in the form of the bull, reassured her that she should not be afraid of him. The bull told her that his name was Zeus, and that he was in love with her. He told the maiden that he was taking her to Crete, where she would bear him sons. Europa bore the thunder-god, three sons: Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Sarpedon. Her son, Minos , became the powerful king of Crete, who established a strong navy and an empire in the Aegean Sea. Rhadamanthys was a famous Cretan lawgiver. Sarpedon migrated to Lycia, where he shared the kingdom with Athenian prince, named Lycus.

Agenor was distraught over his daughter's disappearance. Agenor was completely besotted with his daughter, so he ordered all his sons to find their sister, "or else don't come back." All of her brothers didn't return home. Cadmus had travelled the furthest, all the way west, to Delphi. The oracle told Cadmus, to stop looking for his sister, and find a new home for himself. His journey took him to Boeotia, where he founded the city, which he called Cadmeia, but it was later changed to Thebes. You will find the full myth on Cadmus , in the House of Thebes . In the above tale, I had named Europa as the daughter of Agenor. In the Cataglogues of Women, Europa was the daughter of Phoenix, and granddaughter of Agenor and Cassiopea. This makes her the sister of Phineus, the blind diviner that Jason and the Argonauts had encountered at Salmydessus, a Thracian capital of Thynia.

Minos and his Brothers Minos (Μίνως) was a son of the god Zeus and Europa , the daughter of King Agenor of Sidon. Minos was also the brother of Rhadamanthys (´Ραδάμανθυν) and Sarpedon (Σαρπηδών). His step-father was Asterius, who was king of Crete. Zeus had brought Europa to Crete, while in the form of a beautiful bull. In Crete, he seduced Phoenician princess, and became. Asterius had raised Minos and his brothers as they were his own sons, when he married their mother. Asterius and Europa may have had a daughter named Crete (some say that Crete was the daughter of Deucalion ). The island was named after Crete. Minos was a powerful athletic man, known for his skill in hunting. In his younger days, Minos often goes out hunting. He once fell in love with a nymph, named Britomartis , daughter of Zeus and Karme (Carme), daughter of Eubulus.

But Britomartis, like her goddess Artemis, had no interested in men, as sexual partner, because she wished to remain a virgin. Since he can't have her love, Minos decided to rape the maiden. For several days, Minos pursued the nymph, until in desperation she leaped into the sea to escape. She was saved by fishermen, who pulled her out of water, using their fishing net. Admiring her determination to preserve her virginity, Artemis awarded her companion immortality. She was frequently called Dictynna, as a goddess of hunting and fishing. See the Mother Goddesses page for more about Britomartis . Of course, Minos' sexual preference wasn't limited to just nymphs or beautiful young women, as you will soon see. Rhadamanthys was respected as a judge for his fair and wisdom. He was said to have establish the code of laws in Crete, which was he nicknamed as the "Lawgiver". Tension was always high, among the three Cretan brothers. Minos and his brothers were often rivals. One day, their rivalry ended in open hostility, because each had fallen in love with a beautiful youth, named Miletus or Atymnius.

Miletus was the son of Apollo and either of Acacallis, Areia or Deione. (As Atymnius, he was the son of Zeus and Cassiopea.) When Miletus (Atymnius) was forced to choose, he told the brothers that he preferred Sarpedon. The jealous Minos seized power, and drove Miletus and his two brothers out of Crete. Sarpedon and his lover, fled to Asia Minor, where Miletus captured the town called Anactoria, which he renamed to Miletus (of course). Sarpedon continued east, where he and his followers conquered the Solymi tribe, and occupied their land. Sarpedon and his Cretan followers were known as the Termilae. They continued to be called Termilae, until the arrival of the Athenian Lycus had arrived with his followers. Sarpedon shared the kingdom with Lycus, and their country became known as Lycia. Sarpedon had a son, Evander, who he had married off to Bellerophon's daughter, Deïdameia. Sarpedon then made Evander king.

Evander became the father of Sarpedon , the Lycian leader who had fought and died at Troy. It was said that Europa , wasn't Sarpedon's mother, because he was sometimes known as the son of Zeus and Laodameia, another daughter of the hero Bellerophon. According to Homer, this Sarpedon fought in the Trojan War. Rhadamanthys headed in the opposite direction to his brother. Apollodorus says that Rhadamanthys had settled in Boeotia, where he married the widow Alcmene , mother of Heracles. He was the father of Erythrus and Gortys. When Rhadamanthys died, he was transformed into a god in the Underworld, particularly that of the Elysium, acting as one of three judges. The other two judges were Aeacus, son of Zeus and Aegina, and the other was Rhadamanthys' own brother, Minos. Library was written by Apollodorus. The Iliad and Odyssey were written by Homer. Description of Greece was written by Pausanias. Library of History was written by Diodorus Siculus.

Related Articles Pasiphaë and the Minotaur Minos married Pasiphaë (Πασιφάη), the daughter of the sun-god Helios and the Oceanid Perse . Minos was the father of four sons, Androgeus, Catreus , Deucalion and Glaucus , and of four daughters, Acacallis (Acalle), Xenodice, Ariadne (Ἀριάδνη) and Phaedra (Φαίδρα). Acacallis had unfortunately become pregnant, and was banished to Libya. The father of her son was the god Apollo. Her son was named Amphithemis, but he was often called Garamas. One day, Minos prayed to Poseidon for creature to sacrifice to the sea-god, Poseidon sent to the king, a beautiful white bull from the sea, which became known as the Cretan Bull . However, Minos found the bull so beautiful that he refused to sacrifice the bull to sea-god. Instead, Minos sacrificed a bull of poorer quality to Poseidon. Minos kept this prized bull for selective breeding with his herd of cows.

To punish Minos for his broken promise, Poseidon made Pasiphaë, Minos' wife, to fall in love with the bull. Daedalus (Δαίδαλος), Minos' inventor aided Pasephaë in fulfilling her desire to mate with the bull. Daedalus constructed a hollow, wooden cow, where he sew cow hide to the dummy. Placing the wooden cow in the meadow, Pasiphaë climbed into construction. The Cretan Bull came up to the bogus cow and mounted Pasiphaë. From the unnatural coupling of Pasiphaë and the Cretan Bull, Pasiphaë became mother of the monster known as the Minotaur (Μινώταυρος; "Bull of Minos"). Minotaur had the body of a man but with head of a bull. Minos confined the monster Minotaur, below his palace, within a maze called the Labyrinth.

As to the Cretan Bull, Minos was embarrassed that his wife had a monstrous offspring with his prized animal, so the Minoan king gave away the bull to Heracles , when the hero came to fetch the Cretan Bull as part of 7th Labour to Eurystheus. Heracles rode on the bull's back, as the Cretan Bull swam all the across the sea, to Tiryns. Once Heracles shown the bull to Eurystheus, the hero released it. The Cretan Bull roamed the countryside, until the beast made its way to Marathon in Attica. The Cretan Bull then came to be known as the Marathonian Bull . The bull caused lots of damage to properties and had killed farmers in Attica. In Athens, Aegeus was holding games at the festival, called Panathenaia. Androgeus, Minos young son became a guest to Aegeus, king of Athens, took part in all contests and had won all the events. Aegeus wanted the strongest athlete to kill the Marathonian Bull, so as the winner of contests, Aegeus ordered Androgeus to kill the bull.

Androgeus was eager to prove his prowess, so he eagerly went to kill the bull, but it was the young hero who had died, when the bull gorged him to death. Hearing of the death of his son, Minos mustered a large army and navy against Athens. Minos captured many islands as he approached Attica. Minos became the Lord of the Aegean. In his campaign on the mainland Greece, he had captured the kingdom of Megara, ruled by Nisus. See Nisus and Scylla . From there, he moved his army and navy against Athens. The siege in Athens, however, was long, frustrating Minos for revenge against Aegeus. So Minos prayed to his father, Zeus, the mightiest of the gods, for aid. So Zeus caused Athens to suffer from famine and the plague. The Athenians suffering from war and plagues; they asked the oracle how they might survive. The oracle informed them that only sacrifices can be made to end the war, plague and famine. So Aegeus and the Athenians seized the daughters of Hyacinthus, who were foreigners from Sparta, and sacrificed the girls.

But this was not the sacrifices that the oracle meant, neither the war nor the plague ended. So Aegeus consulted with the oracle again, and discovered what sacrifice he must make. So Aegeus send an embassy, to surrender to whatever terms that Minos demanded. Since Minos had lost a son, Aegeus must give him seven youths and seven maidens every nine years, as tributes. These young Athenians would be confined in the Labyrinth, as food to the monster Minotaur. Aegeus had no choice but to comply with Minos' demands. This was what the oracle meant by sacrifices. This practice of tributes only ended, when Aegeus' son, Theseus, offered himself as a sacrifice, with his real intention of killing the Minotaur. The Labyrinth was built by Daedalus (Daidalos), the only person who knew how to escape the giant maze. Ariadne, who fell in love with Theseus , persuaded Daedalus to disclose the secret method to escape from the Labyrinth. The Minotaur was killed by the Athenian hero Theseus and he escaped the Labyrinth.

(See Theseus .) Nisus and Scylla During Minos' campaign against Athens, the Cretan army attacked Megara, a kingdom in the Corinthian Isthmus that was ally to Athens. At the time of the siege, Megara's king was Nisus (Νἳσος), the son of Pandion, who was formerly a king of Athens. Nisus' mother was Pylia, daughter of Pylas, king of Megara. Nisus had a daughter named Scylla (Σκύλλη). According to the legend, Nisus have a lock of purple hair on his head. As long his hair was on his head, Nisus could not die and he would not lose his kingdom to any invaders. But the king never suspected treachery from his own daughter. Scylla watched the besieging army from the high walls of Megara. When Scylla first saw Minos, she fell in love with her father's enemy. Scylla betrayed her father, by pulling the purple hair out of Nisus' head, which instantly killed him. With Nisus' death the city of Megara surrendered to Minos.

Minos, however, did not reward Scylla for her treachery or his victory over Megara. Minos had girl tied to the prow of his ship, by her feet, so that Scylla drowned. Library was written by Apollodorus. Metamorphoses was written by Ovid. Description of Greece was written by Pausanias. Libation Bearers was written by Aeschylus. Related Articles Polyeidus and Glaucus Minos had a young son named Glaucus (Glaucos or Γλαὓκος) who fell into a large jar of honey. Minos told an Argive seer named Polyeidus (Polyidos or Πολύειδος), who was a descendant of Melampus (Melampous), to revive his son. Minos had Polyeidus entombed with Glaucus. In the tomb, Polyeidus killed a snake, but saw a second snake bringing back the dead snake to life with the herb. Polyeidus took some of herb and revive the king's son.

Minos then ordered Polyeidus to teach Glaucus everything about the art of divination; otherwise he could not leave the island. So he taught the king's son everything he knew. When Minos finally allowed the seer to leave, Polyeidus told the boy that he had one last lesson to teach him. Polyeidus told the boy to spit into his mouth. Once Glaucus spat into the seer's mouth, the boy forgot everything that Polyeidus had taught him. While Polyeidus was in Lycia, it was he who gave Bellerophon his counsel on how to tame the winged horse Pegasus . Death of Minos Minos was still furious at Daedalus' escape. Minos placed a large reward to find the inventor, and for years send his warships out searching for the fugitive. Finally he had pinpointed Daedalus' location in Sicily. Minos brought a sizeable naval force to capture Daedalus. Cocalus, the king of the Sicani, befriended Daedalus, who helped him build several great citadels – Megaris, Acragas and Selinus.

Minos had brought a spiral sea-shell and offered a large reward for anyone who could draw a thread through it. Cocalus brought shell to Daedalus. Attaching a thread to an ant, so the ant can pull the thread through one end of the shell to the other. Cocalus then display his success. Minos realised that Cocalus was hiding Daedalus. Minos demanded that Cocalus should hand over the inventor or face his mighty army. Cocalus promised to give Daedalus to the Cretan king, and offered his home in hospitality. While Minos was taking a bath, Cocalus' daughters poured boiling water over his head. Cocalus informed the Cretan general, that their king had accidentally slipped and fallen into the bath, filled with hot water. Minos was buried in Sicily. When Minos died, Minos became an attendant of the Themis , goddess of justice, along with his brother Rhadamanthys and with Aeacus , the son of Zeus and Aegina . They were three judges in the Underworld, presiding over the souls of the dead.

Crete was divided between Minos two sons, Catreus (Κατρεύς) and Deucalion (Δευκαλίων). Deucalion was the father of Idomeneus and a daughter, named Crete. Crete was probably the eponym of the island; though, some says that Crete was the daughter of Europa and Asterius . Deucalion also had illegitimate son named Molus. According to the Odyssey, Deucalion had another son named Aethon. When Odysseus was disguised as a beggar in his palace, he had introduced himself to Penelope as Aethon, who met her husband before the war. Catreus had only one son, named Althaemenes, and three daughters, Apemosyne, Clymene and Aërope. Catreus had either ruled Crete alone, or the kingdom was divided between him and his brother, Deucalion. Catreus had heard from the oracle that he would die at the hand of one of his children. Catreus tried to keep this a secret, but Althaemenes had overheard.

Fearing that he would be the one to murder his father, Althaemenes fled to the island Rhodes, taking his sister Apemosyne with him. Althaemenes founded the city in Rhodes, which he called Cretinia. While brother and sister were living in Rhodes, Hermes had raped Apemosyne so that she fell pregnant. When Althaemenes saw this, he did not believe her about who had raped her. Althaemenes killed his sister, by kicking Apemosyne to death. Catreus ordered Nauplius to kill his other two daughters; instead Nauplius married Clymene, who became the mother of Palamedes and Oiax or Oeax. Nauplius sold the other sister, Aerope, to Atreus, the king of Mycenae. Atreus had a brother, named Thyestes, his archenemy and rival. Her adultery with Thyestes led the two brothers to conflict and began a cycle of violent death between Atreus and Thyestes, her children and grandchildren. See House of Atreus . When Theseus became a widow, Catreus agreed to the hero's marriage to his younger sister, Phaedra.

This marriage however ended in tragedy, when Phaedra fell in love with her stepson, Hippolytus, the son of the Amazon Antiope. (Read Hippolytus in the Theseus' page, about Phaedra and Hipploytus.) When Catreus reach an old age and knew that he was dying. Catreus went to Rhodes, in the hope that his son Althaemenes, so that he would succeed him in Crete. When the Cretans landed on the island, Althaemenes thought they were pirates, so he led his armed warriors against the intruders. Althaemenes killed his own father with a javelin. When Althaemenes found out the truth that he had killed his own father, Althaemenes prayed for his own death. The gods answered his prayer, by causing the earth to swallow the sorrowful Althaemenes. With the death of Catreus and his son, Althaemenes, Catreus' nephew, Idomeneus became king of Crete. Library was written by Apollodorus.

Related Articles Idomeneus Idomeneus (Ἰδομενεές) was a son of Deucalion . He was also the brother of Crete and half-brother of Molus. Idomeneus was the nephew of Catreus . Idomeneus had married Meda, and became the father of Cleisithyra and Idamante. Idomeneus was a former suitor of Helen , and brought 80 ships to Troy. Meriones, son of Molus, was his lieutenant and his second-in-command, whom Idomeneus often fought side-by-side. Though he was one of oldest leaders, next to Nestor, he distinguished himself in the war. Idomeneus was one of the leaders who had volunteered to fight Hector in single combat. Idomeneus was one of the leaders who hid in the Wooden Horse. Idomeneus was said to have returned safely to Crete, and when he died he was buried alongside with Meriones. Idomeneus had promised the gods that if he returned safely to Crete, he would sacrifice the first person who he met.

The tragedy of his vow was that first person was his own son, Idamante. The rash king had no choice but to kill his unfortunate son. But according to Apollodorus, Idomeneus safely returned home after the war, but in his long absence, Meda had taken a lover, named Leucus, at the instigation of Nauplius. Leucus managed to gain support from ten cities in Crete, so that he was able to deprive Idomeneus of his kingdom. Meda realised her mistake in taking a lover, she fled to the temple, seeking refuge with her daughter, but Leucus followed and murdered Medea and her daughter Cleisithyra. Leucas then drove Idomeneus out of Crete, but Apollodorus doesn't state where he was exiled to. Vergil says that Idomeneus had migrated with his followers to Calabria, in southern Italy. According to the Odyssey , Idomeneus had another brother, named Aethon. The Ithacan hero, Odysseus had used this name, when he was disguised as a beggar. Odysseus fabricated a story for his wife of how he met her husband.

King Minos | Article about King Minos by The Free Dictionary King Minos | Article about King Minos by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Dictionary , Wikipedia . Minos (mī`nŏs, –nəs), in Greek mythology, king of Crete, son of Zeus Zeus , in Greek religion and mythology, son and successor of Kronos as supreme god. His mother, Rhea, immediately after his birth concealed him from Kronos, who, because he was fated to be overthrown by one of his children, ate all his offspring. ..... Click the link for more information. and Europa Europa , in Greek mythology, daughter of Agenor and Telephassa. Zeus, enamored of her, appeared as a white bull, enticed her to climb on his back, and swam off with her to Crete. There she bore him Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Sarpedon. ..... Click the link for more information. . He was the husband of Pasiphaë, who bore him Androgeus, Glaucus, Ariadne Ariadne , in Greek mythology, Cretan princess, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë.

She loved Theseus, and gave him the skein of thread that enabled him to make his way out of the labyrinth after killing the Minotaur. ..... Click the link for more information. , and Phaedra Phaedra , in Greek mythology, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë. She was the wife of Theseus. When her stepson, Hippolytus, rejected her love, she accused him of raping her and hanged herself. ..... Click the link for more information. . Because Minos failed to sacrifice a beautiful white bull to Poseidon, the god caused Pasiphaë to conceive a lustful passion for the animal, by whom she bore the Minotaur, a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man. The craftsman Daedalus Daedalus , in Greek mythology, craftsman and inventor. After killing his apprentice Talos in envy, he fled from Greece to Crete. There, he arranged the liaison between Pasiphaë and the Cretan Bull that resulted in the Minotaur. ..... Click the link for more information. constructed the labyrinth in which the monster was confined.

When King Aegeus of Athens killed Androgeus, Minos vengefully forced Athens to pay him an annual tribute of seven youths and seven maidens. These he shut up inside the labyrinth, where they either starved or were devoured. Finally Theseus Theseus , in Greek mythology, hero of Athens; son of either King Aegeus or Poseidon. Before Aegeus left Troezen he placed his sword and sandals beneath a huge rock and told his wife Aethra that when their son, Theseus, could lift the rock he was to bring the gifts to his kingdom ..... Click the link for more information. joined a group of the victims and killed the Minotaur. Minos became the most prosperous king of the Mediterranean area, renowned as much for his justness as his power. Along with Aeacus Aeacus , in Greek mythology, son of Zeus and the nymph Aegina. He was the father of Peleus and Telamon. After a plague had nearly wiped out the inhabitants of his land, Zeus rewarded the pious Aeacus by changing a swarm of ants to men (known as Myrmidons). ..... Click the link for more information.

and Rhadamanthus Rhadamanthus , in Greek mythology, son of Zeus and Europa. Renowned for his justice on earth, the gods made him one of the judges of the dead. ..... Click the link for more information. , he became one of the three judges of Hades. Minos was presumably the name or title of an ancient Cretan king. The Minoan civilization Minoan civilization , ancient Cretan culture representing a stage in the development of the Aegean civilization. It was named for the legendary King Minos of Crete by Sir Arthur Evans, the English archaeologist who conducted excavations there in the early 20th cent. ..... Click the link for more information. is named for him. Minos King Minos | God of War Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia [ show ] Greek Mythology In Greek mythology, Minos (Greek: Μίνως) was a mythical king of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa. He ordered Daedalus to construct the Labyrinth to house the Minotaur. After his death, Minos became a judge of the dead in Hades. The Minoan civilization of pre-Hellene Crete has been named after him.

By his wife, Pasiphaë, he fathered Ariadne, Androgeus, Deucalion, Phaedra, Glaucus, Catreus, Acacallis, and many others. Minos, along with his brothers, Rhadamanthys and Sarpedon, was raised by king Asterion (or Asterius) of Crete. When Asterion died, his throne was claimed by Minos who banished Sarpedon and (according to some sources) Rhadamanthys too. It is not clear if Minos was a name or a title, the Cretan word for "king", or indeed, to take a euhemerist position, the name of a particular king that was subsequently used as a title. Scholars have noted the interesting similarity between Minos and the names of other ancient founder-kings, such as Menes of Egypt, Mannus of Germany, Manu of India, and so on. There is a name in Minoan Linear A mi-nu-te that may be related to Minos. According to La Marle's reading of Linear A, we should read mwi-nu ro-ja (Minos the king) on a Linear A tablet.

The royal title ro-ja is read on several documents, including on stone libation tables from the sanctuaries, where it follows the name of the main god, Asirai (the equivalent of Sanskrit Asura, and of Avestan Ahura). La Marle suggests that the name mwi-nu (Minos) is expected to mean 'ascetic' as Sanskrit muni, and fits this explanation to the legend about Minos sometimes living in caves on Crete. If royal succession in Minoan Crete descended matrilinearly— from the queen to her firstborn daughter— the queen's husband would have become the Minos, or war chief In God of War III The statue of King Minos, along with the statues of his brothers Rhadamanthus and Aeacus, are the judges of the Underworld, and judge the heart of every dead soul, determining if they will go to Elysium or Tartarus . When Kratos entered the Underworld in God of War III , he had to present himself before all three judges. Aeacus and Rhadamanthus could not decide on his fate, so it was up to Minos to make the final decision.

Minos declared that the Underworld was not yet ready for Kratos , and so the three judges let the Spartan warrior continue his way. When Kratos obtained the Cestus , he used it to destroy Minos and the other two judges to release the Chain of Balance . Trivia Mythology and Legends of Crete, Greece - Crete a la Carte Estate Agency Mythology and Legends of Crete, Greece Properties for Sale Mythology History Chania Rethymnon Heraklion Lassithi Mythology and legend has bestowed on the Greek island of Crete the privilege of being the birthplace of Zeus , father of the gods. Rhea, his mother, fearing the wrath of Cronos, Zeus' father, who "swallowed" his children in order that they might not usurp his power, came to the island, with the help of Gaia and Uranus, and gave birth to her son in a cave. He was reared by Nymphs and, when he grew to manhood, he engaged his father in a fight, emerged victorious, and became king of the heavens.

From the union of Zeus with the princess Europa - whom, according to mythology, Zeus, assuming the form of a bull, had abducted from Phoenicia and brought to Crete - three sons, worthy of their father-god and of their noble mother, were born. They were Minos, Rhadamanthys and Sarpidon. Minos, the better known and most honoured of the three, became the powerful, just and wise king of Crete, ruling from his palace in Knossos, and from the important centres of Phaestos and Kydonia. During his reign, Crete developed into a rich sea power, flourished culturally and artistically, and her people lived in peace and justice. Minos' brother, Rhadamanthys, helped him administer his kingdom, while the third brother, Sarpidon, founded his own kingdom in Lycia. Other well-known legends are linked with king Minos. One of these, telling of the Minotaur and of the feat of the daring prince of Athens, Theseus, is among the most popular and colourful, and has been handed down for thousands of years from generation to generation.

According to the legend, Minos' wife, the queen Pasiphae, prompted by the god Poseidon, who wished to punish her husband, fell in love with a bull. From this unnatural union was born a hideous monster, with the head of a bull on a supernatural, human body the Minotaur. Minos confined the bull in the Labyrinth, a maze-like prison under the palace, built by Daedalus. At that time, the city-state of Athens was paying Minos a tribute of seven young men and seven lovely maidens of noble birth, to feed to the Minotaur. It was from this humiliating and horrible tax that the brave Theseus, son of Aegeus, king of Athens, resolved to deliver his city. He set off with the pitiable shipment of doomed young men and maidens forMinos' Crete, and put into action his plan, which was to kill the terrible beast, to manage to find his way out of the labyrinth and to escape from Crete together with the fourteen young Athenians.

He succeded thanks to the help of Ariadne, daughter of Minos and Pasiphae, who fell in love with him and offered to help him, after he had promised to marry her and take her away to Athens. Theseus entered the labyrinth and, unrolling the ball of thread which Ariadne had given him, he made his way to the place where the Minotaur was, killed the beast and then, rolling up the ball again, he was able to find his way back out of the labarinth. Theseus, with the young people and Ariadne, set off again, on an Athenian ship for the journey home. They were so overwhelmed with joy by their deliverance from the Minotaur, however, that they forgot to lower the black sail of mourning from their mast and to hoist the joyful one, as had been agreed with Aegeus before they left. The king, sat on a rock at cape Sounion, agonisingly waiting to see his son's ship return. When he saw the black sail from a distance, he believed that the young people together with his beloved son, had all been lost. He bowed his sad head and threw himself into the sea and drowned.

Since then, this sea has been named after him: the Aegean Sea. Neither did Ariadne's love for Theseus have a happy end. According to another myth, the princess was abandoned by Theseus on the island of Dia on the very night of the consummation of their marriage, while another myth has it that the god Dionysos fell in love with Ariadne and carried her off with him. The story of Daedalus and Icarus is also linked with Crete at the time when the great king Minos reigned. Daedalus, a skillful craftsman of the palace and builder of the labyrinth, incurred the wrath of Minos because he had helped the queen in her unlawful affair with the bull. Wishing to escape from the island together with his son, Icarus, and knowing that king Minos controlled all the sea routes, the idea came to him that only if they could fly like birds would they be able to escape. So, he made two pairs of wings glued them together with wax and attached them to his son's back and to his own. During their flight, however, his son was so elated by the height and speed, that he flew ever higher, nearer to the sun.

His wings melted in the heat and he fell and drowned in the sea, which thereafter bore the name of Icarian sea. Daedalus, flying carefully, was able to reach Sicily. Minos, however, had an inglorious end. He was murdered by the daughters of king Kokalos, while he was in Sicily searching for Daedalus in order to punish him. These, and many other myths and tales related to them, speak of Crete and lend the island the other-worldly and mysterious aura, which has surrounded it through the millenia of its long history, and which is still felt today. Greek Mythology: Minos Greek Mythology Wednesday, 28 January 2015 Minos In Greek mythology, Minos was described as one of the three son from the union of Europa and Zeus , when Zeus was in the form of a bull. Europa's husband was the king of Crete, Asterion, who looked over the boys as he his own. The three sons were Minos, Sarpedon, and Rhadamanthus. These three men, after death were made judge in the underworld.

It was their task to judge the dead in order to assign where their placement was in the underworld based upon the merits of their life. Minos Minos married Pasiphae , immortal daughter of the sun god Helios . When Asterion died, it was unclear which of the three sons should ascend to power. But it was Minos whose name actually means king, who was fated to be king of Crete. But Minos' ascension to power was a difficult journey, he competed for the kingship of Crete with his brothers. Minos asked the god to send an offering as a sign of his true kingship. The god of sea, Poseidon , send a beautiful white bull, which emerged to miraculously from the waves. This confirmed to all concerned that Minos was their true king. When Minos saw the beautiful white bull, he refused to sacrifice it to Poseidon and replace it with another. Angered with Minos, Poseidon plotted to punish him for his arrogance. So Poseidon turned the bull wild and implanted sexual desire towards bull in Pasiphae (wife of Minos).

Pasiphae mated with bull and gave birth to Asterius, who was called Minotaur (Minotaur was a monster half man and half bull). Pasiphae and the Bull Pasiphae nursed Minotaur, but he grew and became ferocious, being the unnatural offspring of a woman and a beast, he had no natural source of nourishment and thus devoured man for sustenance. Minos, after getting advice from the oracle at Delphi, had Daedalus (a craftsman and inventor) construct a gigantic labyrinth to hold the Minotaur. Its location was near Minos' palace in Knossos. By his wife, Pasiphae , Minos fathered Ariadne , Androgeus, Deucalion, Phaedra, Glaucus, Catreus, Acacallis and Xenodice. By a nymph, Pareia , he had four sons, Eurymedon, Nephalion, Chryses and Philolaus, who were killed by Heracles in revenge for the murder of the latter's two companions.

( Hercules Labor 9 - Obtain the girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons ) By Dexithea, one of the Telchines, he had a son called Euxanthius. By Androgeneia of Phaestus he had Asterion, who commanded the Cretan contingent in the war between Dionysus and the Indians. Minos had sexual relation with many women, Pasiphae bewitched him, and whenever he took another woman to his bed, he ejaculated wild beasts and the women perished. The Athenian Procris , bribed by a golden crown admitted a lover in her bed, and having being discovered by her husband, fled to the court of Minos. King Minos and Procris But Minos fell in love with her. Minos owned a Swift Dog and a Dart-That-Flew-Straight, and in return for these gifts, Procris let herself be bribed again, sharing his bed, but having first given him the Circaean root to drink that he might not harm her. Afterwards, fearing Pasiphae, Procris came to Athens, and being reconciled with her husband Cephalus.

Androgeus, the eldest son of Minos had accidentally killed in Athens. According to other version, Androgeus set sail for Athens to take part in the Pan-Athenia games. Being strong and skillful he did very well, winning some events outright. He so became a crowd favorite, much to the resentment of Pallantides (nephews of King Aegeus) and they assassinated him. King Minos attacked Athens and asked Aegeus for his son's assassins and if they were to be handed to him, the town would be spared. However not knowing who the assassins were, king Aegeus surrendered the whole town to Minos' mercy. His retribution was that at end of every Great Year the seven young man and seven young woman were to board a boat and sent as a tribute to Crete, to be fed to the Minotaur. This continued until Theseus killed the Minotaur with the help of Ariadne (Minos daughter). Daedalus disclosed to Ariadne the way out of the Labyrinth so that she could help Theseus.

Daedalus and his son Icarus Minos shut up the guilty Daedalus and his son, Icarus, in the Labyrinth or inside a tower. But Daedalus constructed wings from wax and feathers, and escaped. Icarus was killed when he flew to close to the sun. Daedalus safely made his way to Sicily. Minos, attacked Megara during a war with Athens over the death of his son Androgeus. Nisus was the King of Megara, had a lock of purple hair that kept him safe from harm. Eros caused his daughter Scylla to fall in love with Minos. In another version, she fell in love with Minos from a distance, and after cutting off the purple lock, she presented it to Minos. King Nisus and his daughter Scylla However, Minos was disgusted with her act and he tied Scylla by the feet to the stern of a ship and drowned her. Accroding to other version, Minos's ships set sail, Scylla attempted to climb up one of them. But Nisus, who had turned into a sea eagle or osprey, attacked her.

Scylla transformed into a bird as well. Minos searched for Daedalus by travelling from city to city asking a riddle. He presented a spiral seashell and asked for a string to be run through it. When he reached Camicus, King Cocalus, knowing Daedalus would be able to solve the riddle, privately fetched the old man to him. He tied the string to an ant which, lured by a drop of honey at one end, walked through the seashell stringing it all the way through. Minos then knew Daedalus was in the court of King Cocalus and demanded he be handed over. Cocalus managed to convince Minos to take a bath first, where Cocalus' daughters killed Minos. King Minos as judge in the underworld In some versions, Daedalus himself poured boiling water on Minos and killed him. After his death he became a judge in the underworld.

Related to Posts: Minos | Article about Minos by The Free Dictionary Minos | Article about Minos by The Free Dictionary Related to Minos: dominos , Aeacus , Æacus Minos (mī`nŏs, –nəs), in Greek mythology, king of Crete, son of Zeus Zeus , in Greek religion and mythology, son and successor of Kronos as supreme god. His mother, Rhea, immediately after his birth concealed him from Kronos, who, because he was fated to be overthrown by one of his children, ate all his offspring. ..... Click the link for more information. and Europa Europa , in Greek mythology, daughter of Agenor and Telephassa. Zeus, enamored of her, appeared as a white bull, enticed her to climb on his back, and swam off with her to Crete. There she bore him Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Sarpedon. ..... Click the link for more information. . He was the husband of Pasiphaë, who bore him Androgeus, Glaucus, Ariadne Ariadne , in Greek mythology, Cretan princess, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë.

She loved Theseus, and gave him the skein of thread that enabled him to make his way out of the labyrinth after killing the Minotaur. ..... Click the link for more information. , and Phaedra Phaedra , in Greek mythology, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë. She was the wife of Theseus. When her stepson, Hippolytus, rejected her love, she accused him of raping her and hanged herself. ..... Click the link for more information. . Because Minos failed to sacrifice a beautiful white bull to Poseidon, the god caused Pasiphaë to conceive a lustful passion for the animal, by whom she bore the Minotaur, a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man. The craftsman Daedalus Daedalus , in Greek mythology, craftsman and inventor. After killing his apprentice Talos in envy, he fled from Greece to Crete. There, he arranged the liaison between Pasiphaë and the Cretan Bull that resulted in the Minotaur. ..... Click the link for more information. constructed the labyrinth in which the monster was confined.

When King Aegeus of Athens killed Androgeus, Minos vengefully forced Athens to pay him an annual tribute of seven youths and seven maidens. These he shut up inside the labyrinth, where they either starved or were devoured. Finally Theseus Theseus , in Greek mythology, hero of Athens; son of either King Aegeus or Poseidon. Before Aegeus left Troezen he placed his sword and sandals beneath a huge rock and told his wife Aethra that when their son, Theseus, could lift the rock he was to bring the gifts to his kingdom ..... Click the link for more information. joined a group of the victims and killed the Minotaur. Minos became the most prosperous king of the Mediterranean area, renowned as much for his justness as his power. Along with Aeacus Aeacus , in Greek mythology, son of Zeus and the nymph Aegina. He was the father of Peleus and Telamon. After a plague had nearly wiped out the inhabitants of his land, Zeus rewarded the pious Aeacus by changing a swarm of ants to men (known as Myrmidons). ..... Click the link for more information.

and Rhadamanthus Rhadamanthus , in Greek mythology, son of Zeus and Europa. Renowned for his justice on earth, the gods made him one of the judges of the dead. ..... Click the link for more information. , he became one of the three judges of Hades. Minos was presumably the name or title of an ancient Cretan king. The Minoan civilization Minoan civilization , ancient Cretan culture representing a stage in the development of the Aegean civilization. It was named for the legendary King Minos of Crete by Sir Arthur Evans, the English archaeologist who conducted excavations there in the early 20th cent. ..... Click the link for more information. is named for him. Minos

Question: In Greek mythology, who was the mother of the Cretan king, Minos?
Answer: EUROPA