The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002.
Minotaur
(MIN-uh-tawr) In classical mythology, a monster, half man and half bull. The Minotaur was born to the queen of Crete, Pasiphaë, after she mated with a sacred bull. The king Minos, to hide his shame, had Daedalus construct the Labyrinth in which to hide the monster. Minos then forced the Athenians to send as tribute fourteen of their young people, seven men and seven women, to be locked in the Labyrinth for the Minotaur to eat. To stop the slaughter, the hero Theseus volunteered to enter the Labyrinth and fight the Minotaur. On the instructions of the king’s daughter, Theseus brought in a ball of thread, which he unwound as he went through. He found the Minotaur, killed it, and then used the thread to find his way out of the maze.
