Into the labyrinth: in search of Daidalos by Wilson Michael;

Author:Wilson, Michael;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
Published: 2020-09-30T00:00:00+00:00

King Minos

Minos, Judge of the Damned by Gustave Doré (1890)

Minos was one of three sons born to Europa and fathered by Zeus. He became King of Crete and established one of the most powerful navies in the Mediterranean which he used to rid the seas of pirates. Pliny states that “Minos was the first who waged war by means of ships”24. Every nine years he was said to have conversed with Zeus and received advice and instructions from him25 (“Among their cities is the great city of Cnosus, where Minos reigned when nine years old, he that held converse with great Zeus”. On the basis of this advice, he established the first Cretan constitution. He was so respected by the gods that, after his death, he was made one of the three “judges of the dead” (Figure). This description of a just and wise king contrasts starkly with other stories about him – a notorious womaniser, torturer and war-monger who demanded the regular sacrifice of 14 Athenian youths to the Minotaur. To rationalise this, some ancient writers suggested that “Minos” is simply the Cretan term for a king and there were, therefore, a number of individuals who bore that name. Others say that there were only two kings of Crete who used that name – Minos I (the “good’ king) and Minos II (the “bad” king).

According to Apollodorus, he had many children26: “He begat sons, to wit, Catreus, Deucalion, Glaucus, and Androgeus: and daughters, to wit, Acalle, Xenodice, Ariadne, Phaedra; and by a nymph Paria he had Eurymedon, Nephalion, Chryses, and Philolaus; and by Dexithea he had Euxanthius”

In addition to his involvement with Daidalos, two other stories are widely known about him. The first concerns Scylla, the daughter of King Nisos (Nisus) of Megaria. Minos attacked Megaria during his war with Athens following the death of his son, Androgeus. However, Nisos had a lock of purple hair which made him invulnerable. Scylla fell in love with Minos who persuaded her to cut off her father’s purple lock. However, when presented with the purple hair, Minos was so disgusted at Scylla’s disloyalty that he abandoned her. When she tried to get on board his ship, she was attacked by Nisos, who had turned into a sea eagle, and she herself was then transformed into a bird.

The second concerns his son, Glaucus who fell into a jar of honey and drowned. The famous seer, Polyidus, found the child but admitted that he couldn’t revive him so Minos locked him away with his son’s corpse. One day a snake came into the cell and Polyidus killed it. Later, he saw the snake’s mate revive the dead snake with a herb so Polyidus used the same herb to bring back Glaucus to life. Minos refused to let Polyides leave Crete until he had taught Glaucus the art of divination, which he did. However, as he was leaving Crete, Polyides told Glaucus to spit into his mouth and, on doing so, he immediately forgot all he had been taught.

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