The MinotaurI think it’s time to speak about a particular myth, which explains some topics of the Mi

The MinotaurI think it’s time to speak about a particular myth, which explains some topics of the Minoans civilization. This myth is the Minotaur. According to ancient sources, Pasiphae was the daughter of the Sun god Helios and Perseis (an Oceanid). This means that Pasiphae was also the sister of Circe (a notorious enchantress who charmed the hero Odysseus).The legend is that Pasiphae fell madly in love with a beautiful white bull. This bull was one of the prized possessions of Minos, and the king so admired the creature that he refused to offer the bull as a sacrifice to the god Poseidon (some versions of the story claim that Poseidon gave the bull to Minos so that the king would in turn give it to the sea god as a sacrifice). Poseidon, however, got his revenge.The god of the sea cast a spell on Pasiphae, making the poor woman desire the bull. There was no way to overcome Poseidon’s curse, except to allow Pasiphae to consummate the union. So the clever craftsman Daedalus was called in to create a cow made of wood into which Pasiphae could be placed. And this is how the Queen of Crete satisfied her lust for the white bull. From this coupling, a beastly offspring - the Minotaur - was born.According to legend, king Minos ruled Athens and forced the Athenians to deliver seven youths and seven maidens every nine years.They became prey of the Minotaur in the labyrinth, and Athens escaped further sanctions through their obedience. The Minotaur was a terrible monster with the body of a man, and the head of a bull, born from the union of Pasiphae and the bull offered as a gift to Minos by Poseidon.The sacrifices of the Athenians ended only when Theseus, son of Aegean ruler of Attica, traveled to Crete as part of the youths to be sacrificed, but once in the labyrinth he killed the Minotaur and managed to find his way out of the labyrinth with the aid of Ariadne, the daughter of Minos. Ariadne fell in love with Theseus as soon as he arrived, and gave him a ball of thread which he unraveled behind him as he walked through the labyrinthin corridors. Exiting then became a simple matter of following the thread backwards towards his freedom.In a tragic turn of events, Theseus sailed back to Athens forgetting in his elation to replace the black sails with white ones as a signal of victory. His father Aegean who was watching for the returning ships from the Sounio rock saw the black sail, and in despair for what he thought was a failed mission that resulted to the death of his son, ended his life by jumping into the sea. The sea henceforth is named Aegean sea in his memory.Now, what does these things mean? Actually, it is thought that the fact that Athens had no send youths and maidens to Crete shows the power of the island over the rest of greece. The labyrinthin is one of the Palace of the island. Rember that palaces had a very complicated structure. (If you want to read about them visit this article: http://historyfilia.tumblr.com/post/120568114449/the-minoan-palaces-i-have-already-mentioned-them).  -- source link

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