Folklore - Mythology

 
 

Minos

 

  

 

When King Asterion died, his three adoptive sons should inherit the throne, but since he had not divided the island between them before his death, there broke out a discord between them.

 
Minos asked the god of the sea Poseidon to send him a white bull as a sign of his divine origin. Shortly afterwards, the bull emerged from the waves of the sea and stood next to Minos. Noone could any longer doubt that Minos should be the king. The bull, however, was so beautiful that Minos did not have the heart to sacrifice it to Poseidon (which he had promised), but kept it to himself and offered another bull.


This denial became the reason of Poseidon's revenge. Soon after Minos' wife Pasifai fell in love with the bull - and became pregnant with it. She gave birth to Minotauros, a horrible monster, half human and half bull, which was locked inside the labyrinth, which Minos had been made by his inventive builder Daidalos, and where seven young men and seven maidens from Athens were sacrified.
 

 
However, it should be mentioned that there is serious doubt as to whether the labyrinth was situated at Knossos, although it and Minotauros often were motifs on their coins, or a little north of the second largest Minoan palace Phaistos, where there exists a large cave complex, which probably has served as a quarry for the buildings in Gortyna.

 

 
In the area around Phaistos there have also been found coins with depictions of Minotauros.
 

 

Minos and Pasifai had four sons (Androgeos, Defkalíon, Katréfs and Gláfkos) and four daughters (Ariádni, Faídra, Akálli and Xenodíki). Especially Ariadni would later play an important role in the further history.
 

 
As mentioned, the Athenians were forced to send 14 young people every three years to the monster of Crete, but after some years it became too much for the son of the King, Theseus. He traveled with the other victims to Crete in order to kill Minotauros. The problem was just how to get out of the labyrinth again! Fortunately, Ariadni fell in love with him and gave him the famous ball of thread, so he could find his way out of the labyrinth.

 

 
This theme has been a favorite topic all the way up to our time, also in the context of political satire. On the picture from 1898 - before Crete's annexation to Greece - a German satirical drawing shows Europa cutting Theseus' lifeline before he enters the labyrinth. Above the door is written: "Crete. Access prohibited to the labyrinth". At the top, Peloponnese is seen as a symbol of Greece, trying to seize Crete.
 

 
Minos evolved into an almost god-given king, who had meetings with his father, Zeus, every nine years at the father's birthplace in the cave of Mount Ida. Here Minos got his father's advices on how to govern the state in a fair and good way.

 

 
That there has been regular pilgrimage to the cave can also be seen because of the great building complex, which the archaeologist Giannis Sakellarakis was excavating until his death on October 28, 2010 some 20 km from the cave, next to the natural spring of Zominthos, midway between the cave and Anogia. See more at https://interactive.archaeology.org/zominthos/.

 

 
During the reigh of Minos, Crete developed into a large naval power, which fought extensive pirate attacks at sea and made sure that the Minoans gained ground on several islands in the Aegean and along the Mediterranean coasts, where trade flourished (olive oil, wine and vegetables).
 

 
Tradition tells that Minos was killed in Sicily while pursuing his former architect Daidalos, who had sought refuge at King Cocalus' palace. The king offered to give Minos shelter, but when Minos was to take a bath, the king had previously poisoned the water. Minos was buried abroad and only in the 7th century BC. his earthly remains were sent to Crete.
 

 
After his death, Minos became chief judge in the underworld because of his famous skills in judgment, together with his brother Radamanthys and Aiakos, son of Zeus and Aigina.