Minos
In Greek mythology, a king of Crete, who demanded a yearly tribute of seven youths and seven girls from Athens for the Minotaur, the offspring of his wife Pasiphaë and a bull. After his death, he became a judge in Hades.
| Minos was the son of Zeus and Europa, and his brothers were Sarpedon and Rhadamanthys, a fellow judge in Hades along with Aeacus, king of the Myrmidons. His children by Pasiphaë were Androgeos, Ariadne, and Phaedra, later wife of Theseus. He was drowned in boiling water by the daughters of King Cocalus of Sicily while pursuing the craftsman Daedalus. |
| Minos is only represented as a figure of evil in Attic legend, such as that of Theseus, possibly due to an old feud with Crete. It has been suggested that the name Minos may have been an official title of Cretan rulers at Knossos. |
