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[[File: Minotaur One.jpg|200px|thumb|left| Bust of Minotaur]]__NOTOC__
The legend of the Minotaur is one of the most enigmatic in all of World mythology , but it has also been very influential. The story of the half-man and half-bull in the labyrinth in Crete has fascinated people for thousands of years and is one of the best-known myths from the Classical World. It appears that this myth was probably most likely based on historical precedents.
The myth of the Minotaur will be examined and summarized. Then there is a discussion of the meaning and the significance of the fable. The story of the half-man and half-bull is full of symbolic meaning and allows us to understand the mindset of an a-long bygone age.
The myth is set on the island of Crete, which in the Early History of Greece was very important. There are no direct references to the mythic creature in the works of Homer, but the monster is referred to in a fragment of a poem written by the poetess Sappho of Lesbos. The tale of the Minotaur begins with King Minos, the Cretan king, who was the son of the King of the Gods Zeus and Europa. When his stepfather died, he made himself king of Crete and its many dependent islands. His brother Sarapedon questioned the right of Minos to become king.<ref> Grant, Michael, and John Hazel. Who's who in Classical Mythology (London, Routledge, 2004), p. 45</ref> He stated that it was the will of the Gods.
Minos proved that he was the rightful king when Poseidon (the sea-god), sent him a white bull, from the sea, as a sign of his legitimacy. Now Minos was meant to sacrifice this beautiful white bull, to show his gratitude to the sea-god but he let it live because of its rarity and sacrificed a different and less valuable bull. The new king married the goddess Pasiphae and they had several children and Crete prospered and grew stronger. Poseidon learned about the white bull and he was enraged and in revenge he caused the wife of Minos to fall in love with the beast.<ref>Calimachus, Hymn 4</ref>
[[File: Minotaur Two.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Theseus killing the Minotaur]]
In the Roman version of the myth, Venus made the Cretan Queen, fall in love with the white bull. Pasiphae was infatuated with the animal and she had the legendary craftsman Daedalus built her a wooden cow. When the queen of Minos was in the decoy cow, she was able to trick the bull into mating with her. The offspring of this was Minotaur, who is described in the ancient texts, as a massive creature, with a strong human body and the head of a bull, complete with horns. His mother christened the child Asterion, but he became known as the Minotaur, which means ‘bull of Minos’. Naturally, when the Cretan heard about this he was angered and decided to hide the half-bull and half-human child.<ref> Grant and John, p. 115</ref> He enslaved Daedalus and ordered him to build a labyrinth or a maze to hold the animal. This is the first known reference to a labyrinthine structure The hybrid could not escape from the maze and no one could ever leave who entered it.
====The meaning of the Minotaur====
No one today takes myth literally , and they are acknowledged to be an interpretation or even misunderstandings of historical events or personages. However, they did impart important essential values, ideas , and provided explanations for our forebears. The killing of the Minotaur by Theseus may represent the replacing replacement of an old religion by a new one. This myth may tell the story of the old ancient Minoan religion represented by the hybrid being supplanted by the new religion of the Greeks, symbolized by Theseus. It is known that the Minoan culture was very influential in mainland Greece until the Late Mycenaean Age.
The story of the Athenian slaying , the son of the white bull may represent the end of the influence of the Minoan religion on mainland Greece during the Bronze Age. Like many myths, there was a moral imperative implicit in the myth. They often relate what happens if the social norms are ignored and what happens when humans transgress and break the laws of nature and the gods. The story of the Minotaur shows what happens when humans disrespect the gods, as Minos had. Another important them in ancient fables was the triumph of civilization over nature. Theseus killing of the monster was often regarded as the victory of human society and humanity over animals and the forces of nature.
Mythic tales are often surprisingly political, and this is also the case with the narrative of the monster in the labyrinth. Some believe that Theseus' victory over the bull-man represents the end of the Minoan domination of mainland Greece, possibly during the Mycenaean era. It also appears that the myth of the Minotaur became very popular with the Athenians and others during the Persian Invasions. It appears that the fabulous narrative was adopted by many to symbolize the threat posed by the Persians, represented by the Minotaur. While Theseus, was the personification of Greece and his defeat of the monster, it represented the victory of the Hellenes over the Persians.
