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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[]

See also[]

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
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