Minotaur T-Shirt

Minotaur

In Greek mythology, the Minotaur had the body of a man and the head and tail of a bull.

Before Minos became king he asked the Greek god Poseidon for a sign, to assure him that he, and not his brother, was to receive the throne. Poseidon agreed to send a white bull as a sign on the condition Minos sacrificed the bull to the god in return. Indeed, a bull of unmatched beauty came out of the sea. After seeing it King Minos found it so beautiful that he instead sacrificed another bull hoping that Poseidon would not notice. Poseidon was enraged when he realized what had been done and caused Minos’s wife, Pasiphaë, to be overcome with a fit of madness in which she conceived a passion for the bull. She tried to seduce the bull without success before requesting the help of Daedalus who constructed a hollow wooden cow covered with cowhide for Pasiphaë to hide in and allow the bull to mount her. As a result of this union Pasiphaë gave birth to the Minotaur. Pasiphaë nursed the Minotaur in his infancy, but he grew and became ferocious. Minos, after getting advice from the Oracle at Delphi, had Daedalus construct a gigantic labyrinth to hold the Minotaur. The Minotaur was eventually killed by Theseus.