Minoan Young Men playing with a Bull - would not call it Bull Fight
So much is written about the Minotaur that covering it in my blog feels a bit like overkill. However, I never found an article putting the myth into a historical context. If google had been allowed to scan all the world’s books, I might have found something. But given my limited access to research papers – many interesting titles are behind paywalls – I have to figure it out myself.
Minotaur Bust in Athens National Archeological Museum
The story has been told many times. My summary here is just to introduce my thoughts:
The Cretan King Minos asked Poseidon, the Greek God of the Seas, to give him a bull which he then would sacrifice to the God to demonstrate his alliance and loyalty. Poseidon duly obliged and sent a creature so beautiful that everybody fell in love with the animal. Now King Minos wanted to keep it. He sacrificed a different bull. Of course, Poseidon noticed. As punishment, he made Queen Pasiphaë fall in love with the animal. She became so besotted with the bull that she made love with it dressed up as a cow (I spare you the details – they are quite hilarious). Nine months later, the Queen gave birth to a child with a human body and a bull’s head. King Minos was so horrified that he constructed a huge labyrinth below his palace to lock up and hide the monster. To appease the beast's lust for human flesh, he had to feed it every nine years with seven young men and seven virgins. Luckily, Minos had just won the war with Athens. In the peace terms he made Athens supply 14 young people as war tribute. The nightmare continued for many decades until Prince Theseus managed to slain the Minotaur and find his way back from the labyrinth with the help of a thread spun by Minos' daugther, Princess Ariadne.
Young Minotaur nurtured by Queen Pasiphaë
So far my quick summary. Below in bullet points – not ranged in proper historical order – my thoughts on the origin and meaning of the myth:
King Minos worshiped Greek Gods as did the Myceneans who dominated the island after 1’500 BC. The bull though which he requested from Poseidon was a symbol from a previous age – when Minoans ruled. Bulls were their fertility symbol as the many murals prove in the Minoan palaces. Bull fighting was not a sport but a religious ceremony in which the bull’s virility transferred to the fighters.
Minoan Bull from Knossos around 1'550 BC
The bull was not only a fertility symbol in Crete, but in the entire middle east. We find bull worshiping amongst the Hittite, the Phoenicians, the Egyptian. One of the prominent Gods associated with bulls was Baal, the powerful Phoenician Deity which we find in Carthage again. There are many different depictions of Baal. In some, he looks like Egyptian Sun God Ra, or a Pharaoh. In others he is portrait as a man with a bull’s head or horns – like the Minotaur.
Baal, from Ugarit, 18th to 15th Century BC
Whilst we are used to see Greek Gods appearing in human form, we should not forget that they could easily take all shapes of animals. Zeus frequently did so. Also, in many older religions - like in Egypt - human and animal bodies fused and created a being that was neither man nor animal – but a God. For ancient people, the appearance of a human being with an amimal's head was frightening but not something beyond their imagination.
Taweret: the ancient Egyptian Goddess of Fertility and Protection had the Head of a Hippo, a Crocodile's Tail, Lion's Paws and the Body of a pregnant Woman
As far as we know, the culture in Crete was matriarchic. Power and wealth moved from generation to generation along maternal lines. Whilst men were warriors, farmers and traders, the women organized society through their powerful position as priestesses. It is not by accident that the main Cretan God was a women who is often depicted with snakes in her hands.
The "Snake Goddess" found in Knossos in Crete
Reflecting on above, am realizing that two important symbols of ancient Minoan culture teamed up to produce a child exactly at the moment when King Minos wanted to show his loyalty to the new religion – the Greek Gods from Olympus. Am not surprised that the result of their love looks like Baal, the Phoenician God of fertility and virility. When the myth arose, people in the Levant and Carthage worshiped Baal. Does this indicate that the transition from Minoan to Mycenean culture took centuries? Quite possibly. The fertility symbols clearly had not lost their attraction even thought they were now in competition with other, newer Gods.
Figurines of Baal from Ugarit with the Bulls' Horns -
these little Statues once held a Club in the right Hand
to release Storms and a spear in his left as Warrior -
Protector, ca. 1'500 to 1'200 BC
The other interesting fact is that King Minos managed to lock up the Minotaur and hide it in labyrinth. If the Minotaur was a reincarnation of Baal, then King Minos and his new “friends”, the Greek Gods, were more powerful. Being able to put a God – even an ancient God – behind lock and seal and keep him there is quite an achievement. Maybe the hidden meaning of the Minotaur myth is that the new deities are more powerful than the old? Whilst they cannot obliterate the old ones, they can make them disappear.
Artist Impression of the Minotaur's Labyrinth - what is this illustration based on?
My last thought concerned the Minotaur’s lust for human flesh. He demanded human sacrifice to remain peaceful. Would the Minotaur be able to break out of the labyrinth if his demands were not met? We know that the Greek culture dropped human sacrifice early. Much earlier than the Phoenicians who it still practiced it in the 8th century BC. Most of us are familiar with the story of Abrahams who was tested by God when asked to sacrifice his sons. Abraham would have complied but God stopped him. Abraham’s dedication was sufficient proof of his love – there was no need for human sacrifice. Maybe the Minotaur's demand for human sacrifice is the reason he was put on a 9 year diet and was only feed "inferior" people who had lost a war? It removed human sacrifice from the Minoan daily life.
Theseus killing the Minotaur - Amphora 600 - 480 BC from Athens
Have not read my interpretation of the Minotaur saga anywhere else and wonder what other people think. There are always echoes of the past in the present. That Christmas is close to the hibernal solstice and Easter close to the pagan spring festivals is no accident but one of these echoes. Can not wait to visit the Minoan Palace in Knossos and the Museum of Archeology in Heraklion to learn more.
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