Mythological Minos Part of a series on theĪsterion, king of Crete, adopted the three sons of Zeus and Europa: Minos, Sarpedon, and Rhadamanthus. When Asterion died, his throne was claimed by Minos, who, according to some sources, banished his brothers. Minos, along with his brothers, Rhadamanthys and Sarpedon, was raised by King Asterion (or Asterius) of Crete. Also given as his children are Euryale, possibly the mother of Orion with Poseidon, and Pholegander, eponym of the island Pholegandros. īy Androgeneia of Phaistos, he had Asterion, who commanded the Cretan contingent in the war between Dionysus and the Indians. Through Deucalion, he was the grandfather of King Idomeneus, who led the Cretans to the Trojan War.īy his wife, Pasiphaë (or some say Crete), he fathered Ariadne, Androgeus, Deucalion, Phaedra, Glaucus, Catreus, Acacallis, and Xenodice.īy a nymph, Pareia, he had four sons, Eurymedon, Nephalion, Chryses, and Philolaus, who Heracles killed in revenge for the murder of the latter's two companions.īy Dexithea, one of the Telchines, he had a son called Euxanthius.
Unlike Minos I, Minos II fathered numerous children, including Androgeus, Catreus, Deucalion, Ariadne, Phaedra, and Glaucus-all born to him by his wife, Pasiphaë. To this Minos, we owe the myths of Theseus, Pasiphaë, the Minotaur, Daedalus, Glaucus, and Nisus. This 'Minos II'- the 'bad' king Minos- is the son of this Lycastus, and was a far more colorful character than his father and grandfather. Lycastus had a son named Minos, after his grandfather, born by Lycastus' wife, Ida, daughter of Corybas. The wife of this 'Minos I' was said to be Itone (daughter of Lyctius) or Crete (a nymph or daughter of his stepfather Asterion), and he had a single son named Lycastus, his successor as King of Crete. This was the 'good' king Minos, and he was held in such esteem by the Olympian gods that, after he died, he was made one of the three 'Judges of the Dead,' alongside his brother Rhadamanthys and half-brother Aeacus. Īccording to this view, the first King Minos was the son of Zeus and Europa and the brother of Rhadamanthys and Sarpedon. To reconcile the contradictory aspects of his character, as well as to explain how Minos governed Crete over a period spanning so many generations, two kings by the name of Minos were assumed by later poets and rationalizing mythologists, such as Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch- "putting aside the mythological element," as he claims- in his life of Theseus. On the Athenian stage, Minos is a cruel tyrant, the heartless exactor of the tribute of Athenian youths to feed to the Minotaur in revenge for the death of his son Androgeus during a riot (see Theseus). He was the author of the Cretan constitution and the founder of its naval supremacy. He lived at Knossos for nine years, where he received instruction from Zeus in the legislation he gave to the island. He reigned over Crete and the islands of the Aegean Sea three generations before the Trojan War. Thucydides tells us Minos was the most ancient man known to build a navy. Minos appears in Greek literature as the king of Knossos as early as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Literary Minos 17th-century engraving of Scylla falling in love with Minos The Minoan palace at Knossos is sometimes referred to as the Palace of Minos though there is no evidence that Minos was a real person. King Minos became a judge of the dead in the underworld.Īrcheologist Sir Arthur Evans used King Minos as the namesake for the Minoan civilization of Crete. Every nine years, he made King Aegeus pick seven young boys and seven young girls to be sent to Daedalus's creation, the labyrinth, to be eaten by the Minotaur. In Greek mythology, Minos ( / ˈ m aɪ n ɒ s, - n ə s/ Greek: Μίνως, Ancient: Modern: ) was a King of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa. Gustave Doré's illustration of King Minos for Dante Alighieri's Inferno For other uses, see Minos (disambiguation).