Minos

Minos
/muy"neuhs, -nos/, n. Class. Myth.
a king of Crete: he ordered Daedalus to build the Labyrinth.

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In Greek legend, a king of Crete, the son of Zeus and Europa.

He gained the throne with the aid of Poseidon and also became ruler of the Aegean islands. His wife Pasiphaë fell in love with a bull and gave birth to the Minotaur, which was imprisoned in the Labyrinth. Minos waged war against Athens and exacted a tribute of youths and maidens to feed the Minotaur until Theseus killed the monster with the aid of Minos's daughter Ariadne. Minos was killed in Sicily when boiling water was poured over him as he was taking a bath. Many scholars now consider that Minos was a royal or dynastic title for the priestly rulers of Bronze Age, or Minoan, civilization in Knossos (Minoan means "of Minos").

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      legendary ruler of Crete; he was the son of Zeus, the king of the gods, and of Europa, a Phoenician princess and personification of the continent of Europe. Minos obtained the Cretan throne by the aid of the Greek god Poseidon, and from Knossos (or Gortyn) he gained control over the Aegean islands, colonizing many of them and ridding the sea of pirates. He married Pasiphae, the daughter of Helios, who bore him, among others, Androgeos, Ariadne, and Phaedra, and who was also the mother of the Minotaur.

      Minos successfully warred against Athens and Megara to obtain redress after his son Androgeos was killed by the Athenians. In Athenian drama and legend Minos became the tyrannical exactor of the tribute of children to feed the Minotaur. Having pursued Daedalus to Sicily, Minos was killed by the daughters of King Cocalus, who poured boiling water over him as he was taking a bath. After his death he became a judge in Hades.

 Although Athens preserved a hostile tradition, the general account shows Minos as a powerful, just ruler, very closely associated with religion and ritual. In light of excavations in Crete, many scholars consider that Minos was a royal or dynastic title for the priestly rulers of Bronze Age, or Minoan, Knossos.
 

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  • Minos — {{Minos}} Sohn des Zeus* und der Europa*, König und erster Gesetzgeber der Kreter, von Pasiphae* Vater des Androgeos*, der Phaidra*, der Ariadne* und weiterer drei Söhne, Stiefvater des Minotauros*, für den ihm Daidalos* das Labyrinth baute. Als… …   Who's who in der antiken Mythologie

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  • Minos — MINOS, óis, Gr. Μίνως, ωος, (⇒ Tab. XX.) Jupiters, Homer. Od. Λ. v. 567. oder vielmehr des Asterius, eines Königs in Kreta, Abel Hist. Monarch. l. II. c. 1. §. 24. und der Europa, einer Tochter des Agenors, Königs in Phönicien, Pausan. Ach. c. 2 …   Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon

  • MINOS I — MINOS I. fil. Iovis ex Europa, ut poetae fere omnes asserunt: Occasione hinc captatâ, quod speciosa haec puella, nave, cui Tauri insigne erat, in Cretam asportata, ibi Asterio regi nupta, hunc filium peperit. Aliis et, Asteri seu Xanthi regis… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

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  • Minos — [mī′näs΄] n. [Gr Minōs] Gr. Myth. a king of Crete, son of Zeus by Europa: after he dies he becomes one of the three judges of the dead in the lower world: see also MINOTAUR …   English World dictionary

  • Minos — Mi nos, prop. n. [Gr. ?.] (Class. Myth.) A king and lawgiver of Crete, fabled to be the son of Jupiter and Europa. After death he was made a judge in the Lower Regions. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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