MEDUS THESEUS MEDEA KING AEGEUS AETHRA PITTHEUS KING AETIUS ICARUS DAEDALUS ARIADNE Family Connections ANDROGEUS THE MINOTAUR KING MINOS PASIPHAE THE WHITE BULL ZEUS EUROPE POSEIDON
N G R E E C E Delphi Thebes A G E A N S E A T U R K E Y Corinth Athens Argos Troezen DELOS NAXOS MEDITERRANEAN SEA King Aegeus 1 division = 10 miles Theseus DIA Gortyna Knossos C R E T E
The Story of the Minotaur 1 2 3 4
King Aegeus and the Birth of Theseus King Aegeus s first and second wives (Melite and Challciope) bore him no children. He considered this and the misfortunes of his sisters (Procne and Philomela) to be due to the wrath of Aphrodite. To appease her he introduced her worship in Athens, and then went to consult the Oracle at Delphi. Returning from Delphi he stopped at Corinth. Here Medea made him swear to always protect her from her enemies, if she ever sought refuge in Athens. In return she would get him a son by magic. Next King Aegeus went to the city of Troezen. Here he visited Pittheus and Troezen (sons of King Aetius, King Aetius was the son of Anthas who was the son of Poseidon and Alcyone). Pittheus was the most learned man of his age. While Pittheus was living in Pisa his daughter Aethra was to marry (Bellerophon, but he had to leave the city in disgrace before the marriage took place.) Pittheus was grieving over this. As well Medea had them all under a spell cast from afar. Pittheus got King Aegeus drunk and sent him to bed with his daughter Aethra. Later that night Aethra, in a dream trance left King Aegeus and waded across to an island where Poseidon with the help of Athene overpowered her. Poseidon conceded that Aegeus would have paternal rights if any child was born to Aethra within the next 4 months.
When King Aegeus awoke he told Aethra that if a son was born it must remain a secret and be raised in the city of Troezen. King Aegeus buried his sword and sandals as tokens under a hollow rock outside the city, then returned home to Athens. A son Theseus was born to Aethra who was raised in Troezen. To protect Theseus, Pittheus discreetly spread the rumour that the father was Poseidon. When Theseus was 16 years old Aethra told him of his true father. She showed him the rock where King Aegeus had hidden a carved ivory handled sword and his sandals. Theseus was now strong enough to lift the rock and retrieve the tokens. He set out for Athens by land.
Theseus Arrives in Athens While Theseus had been growing up King Aegeus kept his promise to Medea and sheltered and protected her from enemies. King Aegeus felt that Medea s magic spells would give him an heir. He did not know yet of Theseus. Theseus, after a very long journey, and many battles finally reached Athens on the 8th day of the month Cronius. Upon Theseus s arrival to Athens, Medea recognized him. She feared that Theseus and not her son Medus would be the successor to the kingdom. She persuaded Aegeus that Theseus was a spy and assassin and came up with a plan to poison him with wine containing wolfsbane at a feast. However, at the feast King Aegeus recognized his ivory handled sword, and threw the poisoned wine to the ground. Great celebrations followed. Medea was forced to flee and Theseus went in vengeful pursuit. She protected herself with a magic cloud and with the help of an escort that King Aegeus had provided.
King Minos & Daedalus M INOS WAS ONE of 3 sons of Zeus and Europe. When Zeus left. Europe married Asterius, the reigning King of Crete. After Asterius s death Minos took power as king. To prove his power he boasted that the gods would answer any prayer he offered. He prepared a sacrificial altar to Poseidon and prayed for a bull to emerge from the sea. A pure white bull emerged from the sea. However it was so beautiful that Minos kept it in his own herd and sacrificed another bull. King Minos had married Pasiphae. However Poseidon was still angry over King Minos s trickery that he made Pasiphae fall in love with the white bull. Pasiphae asked Daedalus to help her. Daedalus was the famous Athenian craftsman taught by Athene. He had been exiled to Crete for murdering his brother who was having an incestuous relationship with his mother. Daedalus built her a hollow wooden cow covered in cow hide. The wooden cow was wheeled into the meadow where Poseidon s white bull was grazing. Pasiphae slipped inside the rear legs of the wooden cow and soon the bull mounted the cow. Later Pasiphae gave birth to a half man half bull creature called a Minotaur. The Minotaur was named Asterius. Afterward the white bull grew savage damaging much of Crete. Heracles captured it and let it loose on the plains of Argos in Greece.
As punishment Daedalus and his son Icarus were locked up in the labyrinth prison that Daedalus had built. Story has it that Pasiphae freed them. They escaped Crete by flying to Italy using wings that Daedalus constructed of feathers held together with wax. Icarus flew in to the sun, the wax melted, and he fell into the sea. Later Minos raised a large fleet to track down Daedalus. He brought along a Triton shell and offered a reward to anyone who could pass a linen thread through it. Minos knew that only Daedalus could figure this out. At Camicus, Cocalus solved the puzzle with the help of Daedalus. Daedalus fastened a gossamer thread to an ant and drilled a tiny hole at the point of the shell. An ant followed a trail of honey and threaded the shell. When Cocalus claimed the reward Minos knew he had found Daedalus. Realizing the situation Cocalus and Daedalus plotted to kill King Minos by pouring hot pitch or water through a pipe into Minos s bath. The corpse was returned to Crete with the claim that Minos had stumbled and fallen into a cauldron of boiling water. The death of King Minos signified the end of Cretan power in the Mediterranean.
Theseus Fights the Minotaur It is not known whether Medea suggested that Theseus slay Poseidon s white bull or whether King Aegeus agreed to it in order to enhance his public standing in Athens. The white bull was loose on the plains of Argos and had killed hundreds of men. It was suggested even including King Minos s son Androgeus. Theseus captured the white bull, dragged it through Athens where it was sacrificed to the gods at the Acropolis. Androgeus had been visiting Athens, competing and winning in the Athenian Games. Androgeus had strong allies with rebellious enemies of King Aegeus. King Aegeus feared that King Minos might have lent support to a revolt. It is most likely that to prevent this connection from getting any stronger Androgeus was ambushed and killed at Oenoe on the way to Thebes to compete in funeral games. In requital for the death of Androgeus, King Minos decried that at the end of every Great Year (every 9 years or 100 lunations) Athens must make a sacrifice of 7 young men and 7 young women to the Minotaur who lived in the Great Cretan Labyrinth. Soon after Theseus arrival the sacrifice came due a third time. Theseus felt so badly that he volunteered as a victim to go and kill the Minotaur.
On the early trips the ships sails were black. This timetheseus asked for white sails for the return voyage. If all were saved the ship would return with white sails. Theseus sailed on the 6th day of Munychion (April) and arrived later at Cnossus in Crete. King Minos came to greet the ship and check out the victims. He saw one young girl that he wanted for himself. Theseus protested that as Poseidon s son he had to defend the girl. King Minos challenged Theseus to retrieve a golden ring that he flung into the sea. If Theseus could retrieve the ring Minos would leave the girl alone. Theseus first asked that Minos prove that he was a son of Zeus. His prayer Father Zeus, hear me was followed by a round of thunder and lightning. With this Theseus dove into the depth of the sea and returned with the ring and a jewelled crown of Thetis (her wedding gift from Aphrodite). As the victims were being taken away Ariadne, King Minos s daughter approached Theseus and offered to help Theseus kill her half brother, the Minotaur. In return Theseus must take her back to Athens as his wife. Ariadne had a magic ball of thread that Daedalus had given her to navigate the labyrinth. The thread was fastened at the entrance and the ball would roll through the labyrinth to the centre where the Minotaur lived.
That night Ariadne released Theseus from the prison and gave him the magic thread, a torch and a sword. Theseus followed the thread to the centre and slay the sleeping Minotaur as a sacrifice to Poseidon. Upon exiting the labyrinth all covered with blood, Theseus and Ariadne released the victims and sailed away. After a few days of sailing they reached the island of Naxos. Theseus left Ariadne asleep on the shore and sailed away. No one is sure of the reason. Perhaps it would not be safe or scandalous to return to Athens with the daughter of King Minos. procession and rescued her. He married her and crowned her with Thetis s crown. Theseus continued back to Athens stopping at Delos to make a sacrifice to Apollo. Whether in grief for Ariadne or in joy of sighting the coast, Theseus forgot to hoist the white sails. His father King Aegeus saw the black sails, stumbled and threw himself off a cliff into the sea killing himself. In his honour the sea is now called the Aegean Sea. Ariadne awoke and found herself alone and wept. The god Dionysus appeared with his
Theseus built a shrine to his father to honour him and was soon crowned the new King of Athens. This event signified the end of Minoan domination over Greece. On the 8th day of Pyanepsion (October) the date of the return from Crete, a festival was held every year.
Epilogue Today one can wander the winding caverns at Gortnya, Crete that may have been the mythological labyrinth, or view the excavations of the dungeon and palace at Knossus. Maze like patterns can be seen on the walls and floors of the palace where the partridge dance could be performed. The 7 ringed classical maze design can also be found on many early Cretan coins. axe of the Minoan s. The word Minotaur comes from Taurus bull and Minos, hence Minotaur as the bull of Minos. One also finds many signs of the cult of the bull or the double axe symbol. There is the shape of a tomb entrance way, an ornament on a grave, large sculptures or even a tomb s floorplan. The word labyrinth is thought to be derived from the Greek word labrys meaning the ritual double headed
Other Characters Aphrodite is the goddess of desire and daughter of Dione the goddess of the oak tree. Zeus claimed to be her father. Athene the goddess of war. trying to poison Theseus. She was later married to Achilles in the Elysian Fields. Poseidon brother of Zeus and god of the sea. Heracles son of Alcmene (a human) and Zeus, a warrior who protected both gods and men against destruction. Medea a goddess princess who drove a serpent drawn chariot. She was the grand daughter of Helius and a child of King Aeetes of Colchis. She had murdered King Creon, the rightful king of Corinth and was exiled. She then fled to Athens and married King Aegeus. She was exiled from Athens for Thetis a sea goddess once courted by Poseidon. It was prophesied that any son born to Thetis would be greater than his father, so Poseidon did not marry her. Zeus the father of Heaven.