Minos
- A son of Zeus and Europa, brother of Rhadamanthus, king and lawgiver in Crete, and after death a judge in the infernal regions: ad eos venire, qui vere judices appellentur, Minoëm, Rhadamanthum, Cic. Tusc. 1, 41, 98; 1, 5, 10; cf. id. Rep. 2, 1, 2; Sall. H. 2, 3; 1, 78; Verg. A. 6, 432; Ov. M. 9, 436.—Acc. Minoa, Ov. M. 9, 440; Verg. Cir. 367.—
- II The grandson of the former, likewise king in Crete, the husband of Pasiphaë, father of Ariadne, Phaedra, Androgeos, and Deucalion, and builder of the labyrinth, Ov. M. 7, 456; 8, 6 sq.; 152; cf. Suet. Tib. 70.
- 1. zoon v. Zeus en Europa, koning en wetgever op Kreta; na zijn dood rechter in de onderwereld;
- 2. kleinzoon v.
- 1. , koning op Kreta, echtgenoot v. Pasiphaë; liet door Daedalus het labyrint bouwen;
- 1. en
- 2. worden ook als één myth. persoon beschouwd, die zeer uiteenlopende karaktertrekken had en pas later in twee personen werd gesplitst; — patron. Mīnōis, idis f dochter v. Minos = Ariadne en Phaedra; — adj. Mīnō(i)us, a, um ook alg. Kretenzisch.
(Μίνως). The son of Zeus and Europa, brother of Rhadamanthus, was the king and legislator of Crete. After his death he became one of the judges of the shades in Hades. He was the father of Deucalion and Ariadné; and, according to Apollodorus, the brother of Sarpedon. Some traditions relate that Minos married Itoné, daughter of Lyctius, by whom he had a son, Lycastus, and that the latter became, by Ida, the father of another Minos. But it should be observed that Homer and Hesiod know of only one Minos, the ruler of Cnossus, and the son and friend of Zeus; and that they relate nearly the same things about him which later traditions assign to a second Minos, the grandson of the former. In this case, as in many other mythical traditions, a rationalistic criticism attempted to solve contradictions and difficulties in the stories about a person, by assuming that the contradictory accounts must refer to two different personages.
Assuming, however, the fact of a second Minos, he was also a king and lawgiver of Crete. He is described as the husband of Pasiphaë, a daughter of Helios; and as the father of Catreus, Deucalion, Glaucus, Androgeos, Acallé, Xenodicé, Ariadné, and Phaedra. After the death of Asterius, Minos aimed at the supremacy of Crete, and declared that it was destined to him by the gods; in proof of which, he asserted that the gods always answered his prayers. Accordingly, as he was offering up a sacrifice to Poseidon, he prayed that a bull might come forth from the sea, and promised to sacrifice the beast. The bull appeared and Minos became king of Crete. Minos, however, admiring the beauty of the bull, did not sacrifice him, but substituted another in his place, whereupon Poseidon rendered the bull furious, and made Pasiphaë conceive a passion for the animal. Daedalus enabled Pasiphaë to gratify her passion, and she became by the bull the mother of the Minotaurus, a monster with a human body and a bull's head, or, according to others, with a bull's body and a human head. The monster was kept in the labyrinth at Cnossus, constructed by Daedalus. Daedalus fled from Crete to escape the wrath of Minos and took refuge in Sicily. Minos followed him to Sicily, and was there slain by Cocalus and his daughters.
Minos is further said to have divided Crete into three parts, and to have ruled nine years. The Cretans traced their legal and political institutions to Minos. He is said to have been instructed in the art of legislation by Zeus himself; and the Spartan Lycurgus was believed to have taken the legislation of Minos as his model. In his time Crete was a powerful maritime State; and Minos not only checked the piratical pursuits of his contemporaries, but made himself master of the Greek islands of the Aegean. The most ancient legends describe Minos as a just and wise lawgiver, whereas the later accounts represent him as an unjust and cruel tyrant. In order to avenge the wrong done to his son Androgeos (q.v.) at Athens, he made war against the Athenians and Megarians. He subdued Megara, and compelled the Athenians either every year or every nine years to send him as a tribute seven youths and seven maidens, who were devoured in the labyrinth by the Minotaurus. The monster was slain by Theseus. See Ariadne; Theseus.
It is generally held that the tradition of Minos embodies a certain amount of historical truth, and that there really was a king of that name who ruled Crete before the Dorian migration, and developed a formidable sea-power, which he used in putting down piracy. Cf. Thuc. i. 4, 8; Aristotle, Polit. ii. 10; iv. 10; and see the article Nisus.
- Apollod. 3.1.1; Paus. 7.2.5
- husband of Pasiphae: Apollod. 1.9.1
- receives Talos from Hephaestus: Apollod. 1.9.26
- gives Procris a wonderful dog: Apollod. 2.4.7
- vows to sacrifice a bull to Poseidon, but does not keep his vow: Apollod. 2.5.6, Apollod. 3.1.3
- tells Herakles to catch the bull: Apollod. 2.5.6
- his sons in Paros: Apollod. 2.5.8
- father of Androgeus: Apollod. 2.5.9, Apollod. 3.15.6; Paus. 1.1.4
- father of Acacallis and Catreus: Paus. 8.53.4
- goes to war with his brother Sarpedon: Apollod. 3.1.1
- passes laws in Crete: Apollod. 3.1.2
- marries Pasiphae: Apollod. 3.1.2
- his children: Apollod. 3.1.2
- expels Miletus: Paus. 7.2.5
- makes laws for Crete: Paus. 3.2.4
- loves Britomartis: Paus. 2.30.3
- rules Greek seas: Paus. 1.27.10
- claims the kingdom of Crete: Apollod. 3.1.2
- shuts up the Minotaur in the Labyrinth: Apollod. 3.1.3
- recovers his son Glaucus from the dead by means of the diviner Polyidus: Apollod. 3.2.2, Apollod. 3.3.1
- father of Glaucus: Apollod. 3.10.3
- receives and seduces Procris: Apollod. 3.15.1
- his loose life: Apollod. 3.15.1
- bewitched by Pasiphae: Apollod. 3.15.1
- gives Procris a dog and a dart: Apollod. 3.15.1
- sacrifices to the Graces in Paros: Apollod. 3.15.7
- attacks Athens: Apollod. 3.15.7
- at war with Nisus, king of Megara: Paus. 1.39.5
- beloved by (Scylla) daughter of Nisus: Paus. 1.19.4
- takes Nisaea and Megara through treachery of (Scylla) daughter of Nisus: Paus. 2.34.7
- flings Scylla into sea: Paus. 2.34.7; Apollod. 3.15.7
- slays Nisus: Paus. 1.19.4
- prays to Zeus for vengeance on Athens: Apollod. 3.15.8
- orders the Athenians to send seven youths and seven maidens to be devoured by the Minotaur: Apollod. 3.15.8; Paus. 1.27.10
- Theseus goes to pay forfeit to Minos: Paus. 1.1.2
- Minos challenges Theseus to prove his parentage: Paus. 1.17.3
- bull of Minos (Minotaur) subdued by Theseus: Paus. 1.24.1, Paus. 3.18.11
- father of Ariadne: Apollod. E.1.6
- shuts up Daedalus in the Labyrinth: Apollod. E.1.11; Paus. 7.4.6
- pursues him to Sicily, detects him, and demands his surrender by Cocalus: Apollod. E.1.13; Paus. 7.4.6
- undone by the daughters of Cocalus: Apollod. E.1.15
- his death plotted by daughters of Cocalus: Paus. 7.4.6
- king of Crete, expulsion of his brother Sarpedon: Hdt. 1.173
- his Carian auxiliaries: Hdt. 1.141
- his death in Sicily: Hdt. 7.169