"Flegetonte (""river of blood""), to continue through the seventh Circle. Minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur (, ; , , Etruscan: ""Θevrumineś"") is a mythical creature portrayed in Classical times with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being ""part man and part bull"". It dwelt at the center of the Labyrinth, which was an elaborate maze-like construction designed by the architect Daedalus and his son Icarus, on the command of King Minos of Crete. The Minotaur was eventually killed by the Athenian hero Theseus. The"
"love with Theseus and helped him navigate the labyrinth. In most accounts she gave him a ball of thread, allowing him to retrace his path. Theseus killed the Minotaur with the sword of Aegeus and led the other Athenians back out of the labyrinth. On the way home, Theseus abandoned Ariadne on the island of Naxos and continued. He neglected, however, to put up the white sail. King Aegeus, from his lookout on Cape Sounion, saw the black-sailed ship approach and, presuming his son dead, committed suicide by throwing himself into the sea that is since named after him. This"
"gave him a ball of thread which he unwound as he went into the Labyrinth so that he could find his way back by following it. Theseus killed the Minotaur, and then he and Ariadne fled from Crete, escaping her angry father. As it turns out, there probably was an association of the word ""labyrinth"", whatever its etymology, with ancient Crete. The sign of the double axe was used throughout the Mycenaean world as an apotropaic mark: its presence on an object would prevent it from being ""killed"". Axes were scratched on many of the stones of the palace. It"
"strangled it). After decapitating the beast, Theseus used the string to escape the Labyrinth and managed to escape with all of the young Athenians and Ariadne as well as her younger sister Phaedra. Then he and the rest of the crew fell asleep on the beach of the island of Naxos, where they stopped on their way back, looking for water. Athena woke Theseus and told him to leave early that morning and to leave Ariadne there for Dionysus, for Naxos was his island. Stricken with distress, Theseus forgot to put up the white sails instead of the black ones,"
"labyrinth and they engage in brutal fighting, cheered on by the chorus. Theseus hesitates momentarily when the Minotaur acquires the power of human speech, but then delivers the fatal blow. Theseus begins his journey out of the labyrinth. Once he has escaped, he intends to set sail for Athens with Ariadne. ""Scene 13: Death of the Minotaur"" As the Minotaur lies dying, he laments his empty existence, neither fully man or fully beast. He pulls out the bloodied sword from his side and declares that he is the son of Poseidon. The chorus leave the labyrinth as the Minotaur dies."
"every one, seven or nine years and lasted until Theseus volunteered to join the third group of the would-be victims, killed the monster and led his companions safely out of the Labyrinth. Plutarch in his ""Life of Theseus"" cites a rationalized version of this myth, referring to Philochorus who in his turn claimed to be following a local Cretan tradition. According to it, the young people were not actually killed but given as prizes to winners of the funeral games of Androgeos. The Labyrinth was an ordinary dungeon where they were temporarily kept. The winner who received them as a"
"Daedalus, and he to Hephaestus, son of Zeus."" This suggests that Daedalus was related to Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths, and therefore to Zeus himself. Daedalus is first mentioned by Homer as the creator of a wide dancing-ground for Ariadne. He also created the Labyrinth on Crete, in which the Minotaur (part man, part bull) was kept. In the story of the labyrinth as told by the Hellenes, the Athenian hero Theseus is challenged to kill the Minotaur, finding his way with the help of Ariadne's thread. Daedalus' appearance in Homer is in an extended metaphor, ""plainly not Homer's invention"","
"crumbles, Theseus saves Ariadne, and is cheered by the bull-dancers and the native Cretans, who heard his warning and fled the palace in time. Asterion is already taking part in the ritual to make himself the new Minos. They charge at the guards while a fire rages through the ruined Labyrinth. While the others fight, Theseus goes with the Cranes through a secret passageway, and they find Asterion wearing only the bull mask of Minos. Theseus charges him, interrupting the rite, and after a battle he stabs Asterion with his dagger. Seeing that Asterion had already been anointed with oil,"
"feelings towards Talos and pushing Daedalus to murder the boy. Daedalus and Icarus fled to the island of Crete, where he found himself in the court of King Minos. There he constructed the Labyrinth to contain the monstrous Minotaur. Minos cast Daedalus and Icarus into the Labyrinth. Daedalus managed to get out of the Labyrinth for after all, he had built it. The vulture reappears calling Daedalus a murderer for killing Talos. Full of rage and guilt, Daedalus kills the vulture. Daedalus decided that he and his son had to flee Crete and get away from Minos. However, Minos controlled"
"the hermaphrodite sickens and dies of thirst. Enraged, the mercenary tries to murder his two companions but is overpowered and killed. Captured by soldiers, Encolpius is released in a labyrinth and forced to play Theseus to a gladiator's Minotaur for the amusement of spectators at the festival of Momus, the God of Laughter. When the gladiator spares Encolpius's life because of his well-spoken words of mercy, the festival rewards the young man with Ariadne, a sensual woman with whom he must copulate as the crowd looks on. Impotent, Encolpius is publicly humiliated by Ariadne. Eumolpus offers to take him to"
"the Minotaur. Theseus set to try to capture the bull. On the way to Marathon, Theseus sought shelter from a storm in the shack owned by an old lady named Hecale. She swore to make a sacrifice to Zeus if Theseus was successful in capturing the bull. Theseus did capture the bull, but when he returned to Hecale's hut, she was dead. Theseus built a deme in her honour. He then dragged the bull to Athens where he sacrificed it to Athena and/or Apollo. Theseus then went to Crete where he killed the Minotaur with the help of Minos' daughter"
"for his step-son. With the Minotaur imprisoned in the labyrinth, Minos demanded that Athens send seven maidens and seven youths to be sacrificed to his monstrous son every nine years. After several years of this the son of the king of Athens, Theseus, was eventually chosen to be sacrificed to the Minotaur, who he swore to slay. When he succeeded in slaying the Minotaur he returned home with one of the princess of Crete, Phaedra, he was crowned king after his father had killed himself in grief believing his son to be dead. In this story the Minotaur was a"
"Cerberus."" In the rationalized account of Philochorus, in which Heracles rescues Theseus, Perithous is eaten by Cerberus. In this version of the story, Aidoneus (i.e., ""Hades"") is the mortal king of the Molossians, with a wife named Persephone, a daughter named Kore (another name for the goddess Persephone) and a large mortal dog named Cerberus, with whom all suiters of his daughter were required to fight. After having stolen Helen, to be Theseus' wife, Theseus and Perithous, attempt to abduct Kore, for Perithous, but Aidoneus catches the two heroes, imprisons Theseus, and feeds Perithous to Cerberus. Later, while a guest"
"also died there. In a kylix by the painter Aison (c. 425 – c. 410 BCE) Theseus drags the Minotaur from a temple-like labyrinth, but the goddess who attends him, in this Attic representation, is Athena. An ancient cult of Aphrodite-Ariadne was observed at Amathus, Cyprus, according to the obscure Hellenistic mythographer Paeon of Amathus; Paeon's works are lost, but his narrative is among the sources cited by Plutarch in his ""vita"" of Theseus (20.3-.5). According to the myth that was current at Amathus, the second most important Cypriote cult centre of Aphrodite, Theseus's ship was swept off course and"
"of the youths and set off with a black sail, promising to his father, Aegeus, that if successful he would return with a white sail. Like the others, Theseus was stripped of his weapons when they sailed. On his arrival in Crete, Ariadne, King Minos' daughter, fell in love with Theseus and, on the advice of Daedalus, gave him a ball of thread (a clew), so he could find his way out of the Labyrinth. That night, Ariadne escorted Theseus to the Labyrinth, and Theseus promised that if he returned from the Labyrinth he would take Ariadne with him. As"
"The seven female Cranes. Iros, Hippon, Menesthes, Telamon, Phormion: The five male Cranes (apart from Theseus and Amyntor). Lukos: a Cretan officer who commands a detachment of African warriors in the service of King Minos. Sent to collect the tribute of fourteen youths and maidens from Athens, Lukos serves as an example of the polished and sophisticated courtiers of the Labyrinth in contrast to the crude but energetic values of mainland Greece. Kerkyon: The 20-year-old, strongly built year-king of Eleusis. The name 'Kerkyon' is given to all year-kings: his real name is not given. Theseus kills him in a wrestling"
"one of the Argonauts, although Apollonius of Rhodes states in the ""Argonautica"" that Theseus was still in the underworld at this time. Both statements are inconsistent with Medea being Aegeus' wife by the time Theseus first came to Athens. With Phaedra, Theseus fathered Acamas, who was one of those who hid in the Trojan Horse during the Trojan War. Theseus welcomed the wandering Oedipus and helped Adrastus to bury the Seven Against Thebes. Lycomedes of the island of Skyros threw Theseus off a cliff after he had lost popularity in Athens. In 475 BC, in response to an oracle, Cimon"
"Minotaur that he was killed by Theseus the Duke of Athens with the help of the monster's half-sister Ariadne. The Minotaur is the first infernal guardian whom Virgil and Dante encounter within the walls of Dis. The Minotaur seems to represent the entire zone of Violence, much as Geryon represents Fraud in Canto XVI, and serves a similar role as gatekeeper for the entire seventh Circle. Giovanni Boccaccio writes of the Minotaur in his literary commentary of the Commedia: ""When he had grown up and become a most ferocious animal, and of incredible strength, they tell that Minos had him"
"Theseus immediately as Aegeus' son and worried that Theseus would be chosen as heir to Aegeus' kingdom instead of her son Medus. She tried to arrange to have Theseus killed by asking him to capture the Marathonian Bull, an emblem of Cretan power. On the way to Marathon, Theseus took shelter from a storm in the hut of an ancient woman named Hecale. She swore to make a sacrifice to Zeus if Theseus were successful in capturing the bull. Theseus did capture the bull, but when he returned to Hecale's hut, she was dead. In her honour Theseus gave her"
"Ariadne Ariadne (; ; ), in Greek mythology, was a Cretan princess. She is mostly associated with mazes and labyrinths because of her involvement in the myths of the Minotaur and Theseus. Ariadne was the daughter of Minos—the King of Crete and a son of Zeus—and Pasiphaë—Minos' queen and a daughter of Helios. Others called her mother Crete, daughter of Asterius, husband-king of Europa. Ariadne was the sister of Acacallis, Androgeus, Deucalion, Phaedra, Glaucus, Xenodice and Catreus. Through her mother, Pasiphaë, she was also the half-sister of the Minotaur. Minos put Ariadne in charge of the labyrinth where sacrifices were"
"Lernaean Hydra The Lernaean Hydra or Hydra of Lerna (, ""Lernaîa Hýdra""), more often known simply as the Hydra, is a serpentine water monster in Greek and Roman mythology. Its lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid, which was also the site of the myth of the Danaïdes. Lerna was reputed to be an entrance to the Underworld, and archaeology has established it as a sacred site older than Mycenaean Argos. In the canonical Hydra myth, the monster is killed by Heracles (Hercules) as the second of his Twelve Labors. According to Hesiod, the Hydra was the offspring"
"created the mortals, whose faith and prayers has fueled the gods' immortality. As time passed, however, mortals began to question and soon resist their creators, angering the Olympians. The Olympians wanted to eliminate Man altogether, but Zeus had other plans for man. Zeus disguised himself as the King Acrisius and slept with the queen conceiving a child Perseus. So angry at Zeus, Acrisius murdered his wife and threw her and the child in the ocean. Zeus punishes Acrisius by striking him with lightning and turning him into the deformed creature Calibos. A fisherman named Spyros finds a coffin adrift in"
"leprous prophetess tells him that Fion is still alive in the labyrinth. Against his father's wishes, he replaces one of the sacrifices and is taken to the Minos Empire capitol. Other captives are Danu (Theo's best friend), Morna (Danu's love interest), Tyro (who initially resents Theo because of his standing) Didi (Tyro's love interest) Vena, Ziko and Nan. After the group are dropped into the labyrinth, the Minotaur immediately begins hunting them and kills Nan. The survivors are approached by Queen Raphaella, Deucalion's sister and unwilling lover, who offers them a way out. Vena does not believe her, and when"
"if they refused, to put to death the youth whom Minos had received from them as hostages, Theseus made him a gentle reply, declining to surrender Daedalus, who was his kinsman and cousin.."""" """"Then joining battle with them at the gate of the Labyrinth, he [i.e. Theseus] slew Deucalion and his body-guard.""""One source recounts a different relationship between Deucalion and Theseus: ""While he [i.e. Deucalion] was ruler of Crete, formed an alliance with the Athenians and united his own sister Phaedra in marriage to Theseus."""" Odysseus pretends to be his second son Aethon when he speaks to his wife while"
"girl who sang the lament, demands to be told the truth about what lies in store. Euaemon tells the little he knows, including the usual story, that the monster in the Labyrinth is the offspring of Pasiphaë, Queen to Minos, by a bull-god. The young people pair off for the night, Theseus choosing Aegle, who has impressed him by her courage and grace. They become lovers (Theseus had already seduced the pine-bender's young daughter on the way to Athens.) At dawn the south wind prevents departure; the party spend three days on the isle, during which time Theseus and Aegle"
"a Titan to buy Theseus time to get away, but is killed by the other Titans. Zeus, Poseidon, Athena, Heracles, and Apollo arrive and battle the Titans while Theseus fights Hyperion. Zeus destroys the Epirus Bow, and the gods prove more than a match for the Titans, but they are overwhelmed by sheer numbers, with all but Zeus and Poseidon being killed. Theseus kills Hyperion while Zeus collapses Mount Tartarus on the Titans. As the mountain is collapsing, Zeus picks up Athena's body and ascends to Olympus along with a badly wounded Poseidon. The collapsing mountain wipes out all of"
"than the Nereids, which invoked the wrath of Poseidon who sent the sea monster Cetus to attack Æthiopia. Upon consulting a wise oracle, King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia were told to sacrifice Andromeda to Cetus. They had Andromeda chained to a rock near the ocean so that Cetus could devour her. After finding Andromeda chained to the rock and learning of her plight, Perseus managed to slay Cetus when the creature emerged from the ocean to devour her. In one version, Perseus drove his sword into Cetus's back. In another version, Perseus used Medusa's head to turn Cetus to stone."
"Asleep, he reflects on his imprisonment in the labyrinth and violent existence. An image of Ariadne appears and tells the story of his birth. She is interrupted by a mysterious and disturbing figure; unknown to the Minotaur, it is Theseus. ""Scene 7: The Labyrinth"" The chorus urges the Minotaur to wake. They taunt him as he brutally massacres the Innocents. When they have all been killed or mortally injured, the Keres descend again to feast upon the bodies. ""Scene 8: A Proposition"" Ariadne tries to dissuade Theseus from confronting the Minotaur. He remains determined, revealing that – like the Minotaur"
"sacrifice seven young men and seven maidens to the Minotaur every seven or nine years. One year, the sacrificial party included Theseus, the son of King Aegeus, who volunteered to come and kill the Minotaur. Ariadne fell in love at first sight, and helped him by giving him a sword and a ball of thread (μίτο της Αριάδνης 'Ariadne's thread'), so that he could find his way out of the Minotaur's labyrinth. She eloped with Theseus after he achieved his goal, but according to Homer ""he had no joy of her, for ere that, Artemis slew her in seagirt Dia"
"Sybaris (mythology) Sybaris or Lamia of Mount Cirphis, Greece, was a legendary cave-dwelling giant beast that devoured both livestock and humans. It was hurled from an overhanging rock and killed by the hero Eurybatus. Though precise physical description is given in the primary source, it has been hypothesized by modern commentators that she must have been a dragon or an anguiped. According to the Greek mythology myth, recorded by Antoninus Liberalis, Sybaris or Lamia was a giant beast () that dwelled on Mount Cirphis and terrorized the countryside of Krisa, ancient name of Delphi, devouring livestock and people. The people"
"Hyperion's henchman the Minotaur. Theseus kills the Minotaur and uses the Bow to save his allies from being executed before collapsing from poisoned scratches inflicted by the Minotaur. Phaedra tends to Theseus and later falls in love with him. They make love to each other, stripping her of the visions she deemed a curse. The group returns to Phaedra's temple while Hyperion and his forces are away at Mount Tartarus. At the temple, the monk followed by Stavros and Theseus are lured into an ambush and Theseus loses the Epirus Bow. Outnumbered by Hyperion's men, Ares directly intervenes to save"
"Daedalus' creation, the labyrinth, to be eaten by the Minotaur. After his death, Minos became a judge of the dead in the underworld. The Minoan civilization of Crete has been named after him by the archaeologist Arthur Evans. By his wife, Pasiphaë (or some say Crete), he fathered Ariadne, Androgeus, Deucalion, Phaedra, Glaucus, Catreus, Acacallis and Xenodice. By a nymph, Pareia, he had four sons, Eurymedon, Nephalion, Chryses and Philolaus, who were killed by Heracles in revenge for the murder of the latter's two companions; and by Dexithea, one of the Telchines, he had a son called Euxanthius. By Androgeneia"
"the bull to Poseidon, but then decided to substitute a different bull. In rage, Poseidon cursed Pasiphaë, Minos' wife, with a mad passion for the bull. Daedalus built her a wooden cow, which she hid inside. The bull mated with the wooden cow and Pasiphaë was impregnated by the bull, giving birth to a horrible monster, again named Asterius, the Minotaur, half man half bull. Daedalus then built a complicated ""chamber that with its tangled windings perplexed the outward way"" called the Labyrinth, and Minos put the Minotaur in it. To make sure no one would ever know the secret"