The Minotaur as depicted by Sam Wood in art for Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition in the Forgotten Realms wiki. I prefer the art for this edition over the others as it showcases the more bestial and bull-like depiction of the Minotaur in modern fantasy, as opposed to its far more human depiction in classical mythology itself (essentially as human with bull’s head and tail)

(7) CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY – VILLAIN: MINOTAUR

Perhaps the most iconic and the most archetypal of the beasts of classical mythology – the bull-man (or is that man-bull?) stalking its sacrificial human victims in its Labyrinth and devouring them until it was slain by the Athenian hero Theseus.

The Minotaur needs little introduction, except perhaps a reminder that it actually had a name, something that blows my mind each time I recall it – Asterion or Asterius. As a bull-man hybrid, the Minotaur was classically depicted with the head (and tail) of a bull and the body of a man.

In modern fantasy, minotaurs tend to be depicted as more bestial and bull-like, usually as much bigger and stronger than humans – and typically with hooves rather than feet. They also tend to be depicted in the plural – that is, as part of a fantasy species – in marked contrast to the singular nature of the original Minotaur in classical mythology as a result of its distinctive origin.

You do not want to know that distinctive origin – it’s squick. Okay, maybe you do but don’t say I didn’t warn you! The king of Crete, Minos, reneged on sacrificing a bull to Poseidon and as usual when the gods got angry with mortals, they got…weird. “Poseidon arranged with Aphrodite for Minos’ wife Pasiphae to fall in love with the bull”. You can guess where it goes from there, albeit it needed Minos’ master architect Daedalus to make it happen with a cow disguise for Pasiphae.

Naturally, Minos couldn’t have the Minotaur roaming about the palace as family embarrassment, so he resorted to the stereotype of locking it up in the attic. And by attic, I mean the Labyrinth, the iconic lair of the Minotaur – also designed by Daedalus – where they fed people to it.

Yes, despite its herbivorous head, the Minotaur had an unnatural appetite for human flesh to match its monstrous appearance – which it satisfied from sacrificial victims, seven youths and seven maidens, offered in tribute by Athens to Crete, although the myths varied between an annual tribute or some other period. I’m guessing the Minotaur kept leftovers in the fridge for the rest of the period.

Enter the Athenian hero Theseus, who volunteered for the tribute so as to end it once and for all. The rest is, well, mythology.

Despite its singular nature in classical mythology, the Minotaur or minotaurs have recurred throughout popular culture and imagination, both literally and metaphorically, in adaptations or imitations. One of my favorites is the minotaurs in Sean Stewart’s Resurrection Man, essentially conjured from human bestiality or brutality by the wild magic force infusing the world after the Second World War.

ELDRITCH ABOMINATION RANKING

An archetypal abomination – “born from a union so unnatural that he can only sustain himself by consuming human flesh”.

FANTASY DARK LORD RANKING

Not so much in the original mythology but the Minotaur has surprising potential as a fantasy dark lord ruling from its Labyrinth, particularly if its intelligence is more human than bovine – or if combined with Minos, whether conflated as the one person (for example as a weird were-creature) or combined as a team (for example with the Minotaur as Minos’ “muscle”).

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)