You might’ve heard of the Minotaur. A ferocious, bull-headed monster? Well, he wasn’t always a monster. His story first originated in Greek mythology.

This is how the Minotaur was born. On the island of Crete, there was great devastation. They had just lost their king and he left five heirs. One of them, Minos, prayed to the Greek god, Poseidon. This heir  asked for a snow-white bull as the gods’  sign of approval  for his reign. He also said he would sacrifice the bull to the gods,  as this  was considered a sign of subservience.

Since Poseidon was the Greek god of the sea, a snow-white bull rose from the sea. But when Minos saw the bull, he coveted it for himself and sacrificed the best from his herd instead, assuming that Poseidon wouldn't mind. However, when Poseidon heard of this deception, he ordered Cupid, the Greek god of love, to make Minos’ wife, Pasiphaë, fall in love with the bull. Madly in love, Pasiphaë ordered Daedalus, the greatest of architects, to make a wooden cow. She then climbed into the finely-crafted decoy, and fooled  the bull.

Their offspring was a creature with the head of a bull and the body of a human. Pasiphaë felt pity for the baby, nursing  him in secret and naming  him Asterion. But, as he grew up, he became so ferocious and reckless -- even to the point of killing.  Rumors spread that there was a creature with the head of a bull that was killing people. The Cretans realized he was dangerous and locked him up in a maze, which was built by Daedalus. Asterion became known as the Minotaur, which meant “the bull of Minos.”