Minotaur (nonfiction)

Minotaur bust (National Archaeological Museum of Athens).

In Greek mythology, the Minotaur (Ancient Greek: Μῑνώταυρος, Latin: Minotaurus, Etruscan: Θevrumineś) was a creature with the head of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "part man and part bull".

The Minotaur dwelt at the center of the Labyrinth, which was an elaborate maze-like construction designed by the architect Daedalus and his son Icarus, on the command of King Minos of Crete. The Minotaur was eventually killed by the Athenian hero Theseus.

The term Minotaur derives from the Ancient Greek Μῑνώταυρος, a compound of the name Μίνως (Minos) and the noun ταύρος "bull", translated as "(the) Bull of Minos". In Crete, the Minotaur was known by the name Asterion, a name shared with Minos' foster-father.

In the News

• 

  Peano curve holds key to trapping Minotaur, says Guiseppe Peano.

Fiction cross-reference

• Gnomon algorithm
• Gnomon Chronicles

External links

• Minotaur @ Wikipedia