Minotaur

Minotaur

Greek myth a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man. It was kept in the Labyrinth in Crete, feeding on human flesh, until destroyed by Theseus

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Minotaur

fabulous monster of Crete, half-bull, half-man. [Gk. Myth.: EB, VI: 922]

See: Bull

---

Minotaur

beast with bull’s head and man’s body. [Gk. Myth.: Brewer Dictionary, 714]

See: Monsters

Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Minotaur

 

in ancient Greek mythology, a monster that was half-bull and half-man, the offspring of Pasiphae, wife of King Minos of Crete, and the sacred bull of the god Poseidon. According to the myth, Minos confined the Minotaur in a labyrinth and forced Athens, which was then subject to him, to send as an annual offering seven youths and seven maidens to the monster. The Athenian hero Theseus entered the labyrinth and killed the Minotaur.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.