La Bête Appellée Minotaure
La Bête Appellée Minotaure
(The Beast Called Minotaur)
Prologue
Myths are just that. They are stories created around a handful of facts. Facts being subject to point of view, of course. From my point of view, Greek Myths lasted so long because they were one of the only writings that survived wars. Somehow this became the basis of the new world. As so the myths carried on through time unabated. The story of the Minotaur, however, I know to be untrue. I will not bore with the details of how I know, but I will tell you the real story.
Many know of King Minos. His wife was Pasiphaё and the only mother of all his children. Before Minos had become King he asked Poseidon for a sign that he would become King and not his brother. In response of Minos’ prayer, Poseidon sent him a giant white bull of the sea with the understanding that it would be sacrificed back to him. King Minos promised this would be done, but when it came time, he substituted it for another. This is the start of the myth. It is said that Poseidon became so enraged that he cursed Pasiphaё with a lust that would not be abated until she had coupled with the white bull. Pasiphaё sought out Daedalus, a famous artificer, for a solution to her desires. Daedalus constructed a wooden bull for her to fit in. Pasiphaё put herself in the wooden bull and waited until the white bull mated with it. She became pregnant with a monster that would later be called Minotaur. To hide this shame, King Minos had Daedalus create a giant labyrinth that was inescapable under his palace in Knossos. In this labyrinth he cast the Minotaur. So that no one would learn anything of the labyrinth, Minos imprisoned Daedalus and his son in a tower. Time passed and Androgeus, a son of Minos, was killed in Athens. King Minos was infuriated and declared war on Athens. The Minoans won and for tribute, seven virgin boys and seven virgin girls were to be sent every ninth year to be devoured by the Minotaur. When the third year came around, Theseus, who was the son of the King of Athens, promised his father that he would slay the Minotaur. King Minos’ daughter, Ariadne, fell in love with Theseus. To aid him in his quest, Ariadne provided him with a magical sword to slay the Minotaur and a ball of string to find his way out of the labyrinth. When Theseus killed the Minotaur Athena appeared to look down on the conquest of Athens’ son.
Now, for the other side of the story. What few know is that Helios, the father of Pasiphaё, was close to Poseidon. Helios and Poseidon were both caretakers of the Oracle at Delphi and worked together often. Though Poseidon was angered with Minos, he did not curse Pasiphaё but rather completed a union between himself and Helios. King Minos was horrified by this and to try and appease her husband, Pasiphaё named this child of hers Asterius, after Minos’ foster father. But still Minos cast the boy into the labyrinth to use against his enemies as he saw fit and more importantly to protect himself in the instance that the bastard son wished the kingdom as his own. Pasiphaё still loved her child and begged her father for a way to find Asterius within the maze. Helios willingly helped his daughter by giving her a candle that would light the way through the maze without revealing the carrier. She would venture into the labyrinth every night that her husband had other affairs to tend to, sometimes staying until the early morning hours. She would play with the child, sing to him, and care for him as any mother would. Asterius was very dear to her, and it never mattered that he had a head and tail of a bull. He grew as quickly as a bull would and at the human age of five, was the size of any of the great soldiers of the Minoan army. Still, he was his mother’s child and even as he grew his still found comfort in laying his head upon her lap while she stroked his soft ears. Minos may have been a cruel man, but he was crafty as well. When his son was killed in Athens, he took the opportunity to feed his bloodlust by requesting that young virgins be sent to him every nine years. These virgins were not food for the Minotaur but that of Minos’ sadistic pleasures. Only Daedalus knew of the chamber Minos had built directly above the center of the labyrinth and that was because he constructed it. This was the reason Minos imprisoned Daedalus and his son. From this chamber Minos could do what he wished to the children of Athens and when he was done, the bodies were dropped into labyrinth and thus blamed on the Minotaur. Asterius cared for these children as best he could in their dying moments and at first tried to hide their corpses from his mother because he felt shame for their deaths. But anyone knows that a child that does not know deceit cannot keep anything from their mother for long. On discovering the mutilated bodies, Pasiphaё fell into a fit of rage. She had felt guilt for having conceived Asterius and betraying her husband only to find his crimes burdened onto her child. However, she could not reveal that she had been seeing her son so she decided to take her revenge on him in another way. When Helios heard of Minos’ betrayal, he cursed Minos so that if his seed was cast into another it would turn into poisonous creatures that would destroy them. When Theseus was brought before Minos the King was annoyed because the man was clearly not young enough and he doubted his virginity. Ariadne had watched Theseus when he was moved through the palace and begged her father not to feed him to the Minotaur. Minos agreed and Theseus was imprisoned instead. Ariadne bribed the guards to allow Theseus into her custody. Theseus convinced the enamored Ariadne to follow Athena and told her of his plan to kill the evil Minotaur that had been eating his people since the battle. Athena and Poseidon had been rivals ever since they vied for the position of patron over Athens. Athena knew that the Minotaur was a creature of Poseidon and came to Ariadne. Athena gifted her with a blade by which the Minotaur thick hide would easily be cut and even touched her hands thereby making her an excellent weaver. Ariadne gave the blade to Theseus as well as a ball of thread that could not break so that he could find his way back out of the labyrinth. Now Pasiphaё knew of her daughter’s interest in the young Athenian and soon feared for Asterius’ life. Helios calmed his daughter by telling her that in the creation of her son, Poseidon had made sure that Asterius could not die as long as the blood spilt remained with his body. When Theseus slew Asterius, he cleaned the blade on the Minotaur’s chest. Athena appeared to see that the Minotaur was vanquished and thus assured that history would know of Theseus great accomplishment for Athens. When Minos heard of the Minotaur’s death he sought out Daedalus who had escaped. This left the Kingship of Crete Deucalion and with that Pasiphaё sought haven for Asterius with the Etruscans.
From there, the story is left to Asterius to tell if he so wishes.