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Introduction In Greek mythology, Minos (/ˈmaɪnɒs, -nəs/; Greek: Μίνως, Ancient: [mǐːnɔːs] Modern: [ˈminos]) was a king of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa. Historians have widely believed that 'Minos' may actually have been a title given to all Minoan kings, but to ancient Greece, Minos is depicted as one single, powerful figure. Every nine years, he made King Aegeus pick seven young boys and seven young girls to be sent to Daedalus's creation, the labyrinth, to be eaten by the Minotaur. After his death, King Minos became a judge of the dead in the underworld.

Archeologist Sir Arthur Evans used King Minos as the namesake for the Minoan civilization of Crete. The Minoan palace at Knossos is sometimes referred to as the Palace of Minos though there is no evidence that Minos was a real person.

In poetry

Minos depicted by Romantic British artist William Blake as part of his illustrations of Dante's Divine Comedy. The original object for this image is held by the National Gallery of Victoria.

Family

By his wife, Pasiphaë (or some say Crete), and daughter of the Sun (Helios), and mother of the Minotaur. He fathered Ariadne, Androgeus, Deucalion, Phaedra, Glaucus, Catreus, Acacallis, and Xenodice. By a nymph, Pareia, he had four sons, Eurymedon, Nephalion, Chryses, and Philolaus, whom Heracles killed in revenge for the murder of the latter's two companions. By Dexithea, one of the Telchines, he had a son called Euxanthius. By Androgeneia of Phaistos, he had Asterion, who commanded the Cretan contingent in the war between Dionysus and the Indians. Also given as his children are Euryale, possibly the mother of Orion with Poseidon, and Pholegander, eponym of the island Pholegandros. Minos, along with his brothers, Rhadamanthys and Sarpedon, was raised by King Asterion (or Asterius) of Crete. When Asterion died, his throne was claimed by Minos, who, according to some sources, banished his brothers.

Mythological Minos Asterion, King of Crete, adopted the three sons of Zeus and Europa: Minos, Sarpedon, and Rhadamanthus. According to the Odyssey (Book XIX l. 203, as interpreted by Plato in Laws 624), Minos consulted with Zeus every nine years receiving his laws directly from Zeus himself. When Minos' son Androgeos won the Panathenaic Games, King Aegeus sent him to Marathon to fight a bull, resulting in Androgeos's death. Outraged, Minos marched on to Athens to avenge his son, he camped at Megara, where Nisos resided. Learning that Nisos' strength came from his hair, Minos gained the love of Scylla and her aid in cutting off her father's hair, enabling him to conquer the city. After his triumph, he punished Scylla for her treachery against her father by tying her to a boat and dragging her until she drowned. Upon arriving in Attica, he implored Zeus to punish the city, and the god struck it with plague and famine. An oracle advised the Athenians to meet any of Minos' demands if they wished to escape the punishment. Minos then asked Athens to send seven boys and seven girls to Crete every nine years to be sacrificed to the Minotaur (the offspring of the zoophilic encounter between Minos' wife Pasiphaë and the Cretan Bull that the king refused to surrender to Poseidon) which he had placed within a labyrinth he commanded his architect Daedalus to build. The Minotaur was eventually defeated by the hero Theseus with the help of Minos' daughter Ariadne.

Thesus

Minos' son Androgeus won every game in a contest hosted by Aegeas of Athens. The other contestants, jealous of Androgeus, killed him. Minos was angry and declared war on Athens. He offered the Athenians peace if they sent him seven young men and seven virgin maidens to feed the Minotaur each year. This ritual corresponded directly to the Minoans' meticulous records of lunar alignments – a full moon falls on the equinoxes once every eight years. This continued until Theseus killed the Minotaur with the help of Ariadne, Minos' lovestruck daughter.

Later realization

The wife of this 'Minos I' was said to be Itone (daughter of Lyktos) or Crete (a nymph or daughter of his stepfather Asterion), and he had a single son named Lycastus, his successor as King of Crete.

Literary Minos

Minos appears in Greek literature as the king of Knossos as early as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Thucydides tells us Minos was the most ancient man known to build a navy. He reigned over Crete and the islands of the Aegean Sea three generations before the Trojan War. He lived at Knossos for nine years, where he received instruction from Zeus in the legislation he gave to the island. He was the author of the Cretan constitution and the founder of its naval supremacy.

On the Athenian stage, Minos was one who had strong character, but was also a cruel tyrant. When Asterius died, Minos was boasting to himself that he deserved the rule while shunning the gods. According to Homer, Minos conversed with Zeus every nine years, for educational purposes. Being the only one who received lessons from Zeus, made Minos receive tons of praise. However, the heartless exactor of the tribute of Athenian youths to feed to the Minotaur; in revenge for the death of his son Androgeus during a riot (see Theseus). While Minos had stern character and was the law of the land, he was also cruel, this made Minos one who was respected but also greatly feared.

Astronomy

Minor planet 6239 Minos, is named after Minos. With its orbit relatively close to earth's, it is deemed as a potentially hazardous asteroid.