Union of god and woman, born as a punishment to a man who did not honor the gods, the tale of the minotaur is tragic. He was cast out of his home, shunned and locked away within a labrynth, and finally killed by the man Theseus in his desperate pursuit to become king. Recently archaeologists have unearthed evidence about this tragic figure and have vindicated the minotaur thousands of years after his death.
The minotaur was born to Pasiphaë, wife of King Minos, after the king betrayed the god Poseidon's trust. Poseidon had made Minos promise never to kill the minotaur to remember his subservient role, but Minos constantly plotted on how he could bring about the Minotaur's downfall without reigniting the god's anger. Pasiphaë, however, adored her son and poured all her love into him. She recognized King Minos' hatred of his stepson, and remained constantly at the Minotaur's side in order to protect him. She hired the best warriors and scholars from throughout the land to tutor the Minotaur and prepare him for the crown. Minos continued to plot against the Minotaur, and finally Pasiphaë recognized that he would have to leave the kingdom. She told her son the secrets of a treasure hidden far away within a cave on a mountain peak, and told him to go, build an army, and return to overthrow the king.
King Minos saw the Minotaur leave and recognized the chance to finally capture the Minotaur without Pasiphaë seeing it. He sent his armies to capture his stepson and locked him deep inside a laybrynth. Minos spread lies throughout the kingdom that the Minotaur was a savage beast who feasted on the flesh of children. Pasiphaë wept but her son was forever beyond her reach, and would surely be murdered if she ever helped him to escape.
War soon broke out between Athens and King Minos' Crete, and the Cretian armies emerged victorious. Minos demanded Athens send seven young women and seven young men every seventh year to be devoured by the Minotaur, but instead he enslaved them, gaining servants at the same time as he further villified his stepson. As Athens gathered the third group of youth to be sent to the Minotaur, a young man named Theseus eagerly volunteered. He was the son of Athens' king, but the king had no confidence in his son and was looking for a steward to rule in his stead. Theseus thought by killing the Minotaur he would gain the love of the people and secure the throne from his father.
Theseus traveled to the labrynth, convincing several Athenians and Minos' daughter Ariadne to help him slay the Minotaur. The Minotaur saw his half sister and reached out his hands to her, but Theseus snuck behind and stabbed him in the back. As blood stramed from his wound, the minotaur collapsed against the wall. When Theseus realized that the minotaur was scraping oddly shaped grooves into the wall which were unreadable to Theseus' eyes, he beheaded the Minotaur, and returned to Athens where he tricked his father the king and seized the throne. None were able to figure out what the Minotaur had written, and it was soon forgotten.
Archaeologists recently uncovered the labrynth on the island of Crete, and noticed the strange markings where the Minotaur was killed. They do not appear to be the scratchings of a dying animal, but instead appear to be some form of writing even though writing was known by none but the most skilled scholars in that day. None have been able to decipher these inscriptions, but they perhaps contain the key to the treasure of Pasiphaë, a secret which she took to her grave. Here is a picture of these scratches:
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