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The Minotaur (Ancient Greek: Μῑνώταυρος [miːnɔ̌ːtau̯ros], Latin: Minotaurus, Etruscan Θevrumineś), is a creature in Greek mythology that has the head of a bull on the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, "part man and part bull".
Biography
The birth of the Minotaur was a form of punishment from Poseidon to the Greek king Minos. At that time, Minos begged the god of the sea to give him a bull that appeared from the deep sea as a means to help him conquer the throne and validate the support and authority of the gods towards him as ruler of Crete. In return, Minos was to sacrifice the bull to fulfill his part of the oath. However, the king, too obsessed with the majestic bull, sacrificed another bull instead. As a result, Poseidon punished Minos by making his wife Pasiphae fall in love with the supernatural bull, which culminated in her mating with the great white bull, such a union gave birth to Asterion, the minotaur.
For a time, Pasiphae raised the Minotaur. The problems began as the Minotaur progressively grew into a ferocious and monstrous beast. To make matters worse, he developed taste for human flesh. To hide his wife's unholy affair and keeping him from causing more harm, Minos had Daedalus and Icarus build a great Labyrinth to house the beast.
In the light of the death of Androgeos, Minos' human son and half-brother of the Minotaur, at the hands of the Athenians, Minos coerced the people of Athens to pay a tribute to Crete in form of seven maidens and seven youths every nine years (some sources claimed it to be once a year instead). Said tributes were then sent into the Minotaur's labyrinth as the meal for the beast within. This term remained that way until Theseus showed up.
When Theseus, son of King Aegeus came along by volunteering to be among the third tribute of youths, Ariadne and Phaedra, half-sisters of the Minotaur, fell in love with him. To ensure his survival in his mission to kill the beast, Ariadne consulted with Daedalus for the means to exit the Labyrinth, and thus gave Theseus a ball of string to guide him through the beast's lair. Ultimately, the hero found the beast in the furthest corner of the Labyrinth and slew it (with either smuggled swords or bare fists), ending Minos' term and ensuring the survival of both his own and his fellow sacrifices.
In Fiction
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
Minotaur was the second boss and a minor villain in the RPG game Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, where he was poisoning the forest - prompting Benjamin to stop him alongside Kaeli, a girl who also wished to see the corruption end. However when Kaeli cut down the cursed tree that was being used by the Minotaur to poison the land he attacked, poisoning her before engaging them both in battle.
Eventually the Minotaur was defeated and Benjamin is sent to the Sand Temple to find an Elixir to save Kaeli's life.
Legendary
The Minotaur is a monster found in the videogame Legendary and is based on the man-bull hybrid of legend - in the game it is depicted as a large vaguely anthropomorphic bull that attacks with a berserker rage and feral instincts such as charging on all fours, gorging with its horns and smashing through pillars and walls with its brute strength. If caught, the Minotaur will spank the hero's bottom until his health reaches zero. Minotaurs are very durable but ultimately will succumb to death if they recieve sufficent damage, so are by no means impossible to defeat.
King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow
The Minotaur is a minor villain from the adventure game King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow. He only appears in the catacombs on the Isle of the Sacred Mountain.
The Minotaur somehow took refuge in the catacombs on the Isle of the Sacred Mountain. The Winged Ones were forced to make a sacrifice to the Minotaur in order to keep him from reeking havoc on their city. Alexander defeats the Minoataur in his lair by showing him the Red Queen's red scarf and tricking him into falling into a fire filled pit.
It is said that when Alexander became King of the Land of the Green Isles, another minotaur has since taken up residence in the catacombs.
