Minos

Minos
Minos in Dante's Inferno
King of CreteJudge of the dead
General Information
Species	Demigod
Sex	Male
Titles	King of Crete
Relationships
Parents	Zeus and Europa
Grandparents	Cronus and Rhea (paternal), Agenor and Telephassa (maternal)
Siblings	Sarpedon, Rhadamanthys, Athena, Eunomia, Dike, Eirene, Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos, Aglaea, Euphrosyne, Thalia, Persephone, Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, Urania, Artemis, Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus, Eileithyia, Enyo, Angelia, Hebe, Aphrodite, Hermes, Dardanus, Iasion, Emathion, Lacedaemon, Epaphus, Dionysus, Magnes,Heracles, Pollux, Helen of Troy, Tantalus, Pandia, Ersa, Amphion, Zethus, Myrmidon, Damocrateiia, Aeacus, Arcas, others
Consorts	Pasiphaë
Children	Acacallis, Androgeus, Xenodice, Catreus, Deucalion, Ariadne, Phaedra
Grandchildren	Althaemenes, Apemosyne, Aerope, Clymene, Idomeneus, Crete, Molus, Enyeus, Oenopion, Thoas, Peparethus, Phanus, Eurymedon, Phliasus, Ceramus, Maron, Euanthes, Latramys, Tauropolis, Staphylus, Eunous, Acamus, Demophon

Minos was the king of Crete in Greek mythology. He was the son of Zeus and the Phoenician princess, Europa. He was married to Pasiphaë, daughter of Helios, and with Pasiphaë had five significant children: Glaucus, Phaedra, Ariadne, Deucalion, Catreus and Androgeos.

Ancestry

Minos was the son of Zeus and Europa. Europa's parents were King Agenor and Queen Telephassa of Phoenicia. Among her brothers was Cadmus who married Harmonia (daughter of Aphrodite and Ares) and father of Semele (Thyone) and therefore grandfather of Dionysus. Telephassa's father was Nilus (god of the river Nile). Her sister married Belus, son of Poseidon and brother of Agenor.

In Mythology

After he ascended the throne of Crete, Minos struggled with his brothers for the right to rule. Minos prayed to Poseidon to send him a snow-white bull, as a sign of approval. He was to sacrifice the bull in honour of Poseidon but decided to keep it instead because of its beauty. To punish Minos, Aphrodite made Pasiphaë fall madly in love with the bull from the sea. Her child with this bull became the Minotaur.

In the Underworld, Minos, his brother Rhadamanthys and his half-brother Aeacus (son of Zeus and Aegina), were the Judges of the Dead, with Rhadamanthys judging easterners, Aeacus judging westerners and Minos having the casting vote.

Descendants

Minos was the father of Ariadne, lover of Theseus and Dionysus' wife, Catreus, who succeeded him was killed by his own son to fulfil a prophecy, Phaedra, wife of Theseus, Deucalion, who succeeded Catreus and Androgeos, who died during an Athenian festival and caused Minos to declare war on King Aegeus.

Family

Tectamid Genealogy in Greek mythology

Tectamus   Bistonis   Agenor   Telephassa                                                                   Asterion   Europa   Zeús   Hḗlios                                                                                     Sarpedon   Anchiroe   Rhadamanthys   Minos   Pasiphae   The Cretan Bull                                                                   Alcinoe   Lycus of Athens   Lilaea   Deucalion   The Mīnṓtauros                                                     Ericthonid Kings of Lycia           Idomeneus   Meda   Leucus

Gallery

Minos in Dante's Inferno

Minos in Blood of Zeus

Minos in The Storyteller

King Minos on horseback wooing Scylla, Nisos' daughter

See also

• Zeus
• Daedalus

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Minos (view authors). As with Myth and Folklore Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported).

Preceded by: Rhadamanthys

King of Crete Mythic

Succeeded by Catreus