Ilustrated History- Ancient Greece
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10<br />
THE MINOAN<br />
CIVILIZATION<br />
The Minotaur<br />
Legend has it that the king of<br />
Crete, Minos, was unable to<br />
have children and asked the<br />
gods for help. The god of the<br />
sea, Poseidon, sent him a magnificent<br />
white bull to sacrifice<br />
in his honor, but Minos kept<br />
the bull and sacrificed another<br />
animal instead. When Poseidon<br />
realized, he was very angry and<br />
made Pasiphae, the King’s wife,<br />
fall in love with the bull. A few<br />
months later, the queen gave birth to a monstrous baby, halfman<br />
and half-bull: the Minotaur.<br />
The child grew up to become a cruel, savage being that<br />
fed on people. Horrified, Minos ordered the famous architect<br />
Daedalus to design a place to imprison the monster—a construction<br />
so complex that it was impossible to get out once<br />
you had gone in. They called it a labyrinth.<br />
Then war broke out between the Greek city of Athens and<br />
the Cretans, led by Minos. Crete won the war, and Minos<br />
demanded a terrible condition in exchange for peace: Every<br />
year, Athens would send ten boys and ten girls to Crete to be<br />
devoured by the Minotaur.<br />
The king of <strong>Greece</strong>’s son, Theseus, volunteered to<br />
kill the monster. Minos’ daughter, Ariadne, fell<br />
in love with Theseus and gave him two gifts:
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