Minotaur

/min"euh tawr'/, n.

1. Class. Myth. a monster, the offspring of Pasiphaë and the Cretan bull, that had the head of a bull on the body of a man: housed in the Cretan Labyrinth, it was fed on human flesh until Theseus, helped by Ariadne, killed it.

2. any person or thing that devours or destroys.

[ < L Minotaurus < Gk Minótauros, equiv. to Míno(s) MINOS + taúros bull]

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In Greek mythology, a monster of Crete with the body of a man and the head of a bull.

It was the offspring of Pasiphaë , wife of King Minos, and a snow-white bull sent by Poseidon and intended for sacrifice. When Minos kept it instead, the god punished him by making his wife fall in love with the bull. The Minotaur (whose name means "Minos bull") was imprisoned in the Labyrinth built by Daedalus. After defeating Athens in a war, Minos forced the Athenians to send human tribute to be devoured by the Minotaur. The third year the tribute was sent, Theseus volunteered to go, and with the help of Ariadne he killed the monster.

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▪ Greek mythology

Greek  Minotauros (“Minos's Bull”) 

 in Greek mythology, a fabulous monster of Crete that had the body of a man and the head of a bull. It was the offspring of Pasiphae, the wife of Minos, and a snow-white bull sent to Minos by the god Poseidon for sacrifice. Minos, instead of sacrificing it, kept it alive; Poseidon as a punishment made Pasiphae fall in love with it. Her child by the bull was shut up in the Labyrinth created for Minos by Daedalus.

      A son of Minos, Androgeos, was later killed by the Athenians; to avenge his death, Minos demanded that seven Athenian youths and seven maidens should be sent every ninth year (or, according to another version, every year) to be devoured by the Minotaur. When the third time of sacrifice came, the Athenian hero Theseus volunteered to go, and, with the help of Ariadne, daughter of Minos and Pasiphae, he killed the monster and ended the tribute. Theseus escaped with Ariadne. A modern version of the tale is told in Mary Renault's novel The King Must Die (1958).

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