The Kingship of Minoa

One of Zeus' sons, was the legendary king Minoa. Minoa replaced Asterius, the previous king of Crete and husband of Europe, and turned out to become one of the most powerful rulers of the island. The name Minoa was a royal title and symbolized the power and the ruling of a great leader, a judge and the representative of god. During his time Minoa managed to unify all the cities of Crete having as capitals Knossos and Phaistos and became a great navy power. It was divided in three big parts, the first having as capital Knossos, the second having as capital Phaistos and the last one having as capital the city of Kydon. The Minoan civilization managed to spread and rule all over the Eastern Mediterranean. Life was based on strict and fair laws, and it was believed that Zeus himself had them handed to his son. And he was such a fair judge, that later on he was placed to be a judge in the underworld as well, in order to judge the sins of the dead.

Pasiphae and the Minotaur

Minoa was married to Pasiphae, the daughter of Son and the nymph Crete. She gave birth to eight children, Androgeo, Katreas, Glaukus, Deukalion, Ariadne, Ksenodikus, Akalli and Phaedra. According to the myth, Minoa asked god Poseidon for a sign of whether he would become the king of Crete, and the god sent him a beautiful bull that the king denied to kill because of its beauty. And so he decided to sacrifice another bull instead, something that made Poseidon furious. Seeking for his punishment he decided to make Pasiphae fall in love with the white bull. Pasiphae , had Daedalus creating a wooden imitation of a cow in order to be united with the bull. This is how she gave birth to the Minotaur, who had a human body and a bull's head. According to the myth, the monster lived inside the Labyrinth in the basement of the palace and was fed with blood of teenagers. The famous Athenian hero Theseus was the man who fought against the Minotaur and managed to kill him and free Athens from this cruel blood tax that paid to this supernatural beast.

Ariadne and Theseus

The Minotaur was fed only with human blood and king Minoa had obliged Athens to offer young boys and girls as a meal for the beast as a punishment for the death of his son Androgeos. One of those youngsters was Theseus, son of king Aegea, and was assigned to eliminate the Minotaur and save his city state from the terrible blood tax. In his truly difficult task he had as a faithful ally Ariadne the daughter of Minoa. Ariadne fell in love with him and offered to help as long as Theseus promised to marry her and take her with him back to Athens. Theseus managed to kill the Minotaur and find his way through the Labyrinth by following the "Thread of Ariadne" which he unveiled when he entered the Labyrinth. However, according to the myth, as soon as Theseus was united with Ariadne, in the island of Zeus, and she gave birth to Stafylus and Oenopoeonas, or Demophon and Akama, he abandoned her. The myth states that he left her because he was in love with Aegle, or because he was motivated by goddess Athena or god Dionysus who fell in love with Ariadne, to do so. The return of Theseus had a tragic ending because the young hero was too excited for his accomplishment that forgot to change the mourning sail from the boat as he had promised to his father Aegea. His father assuming that the Minotaur had beaten and killed his son, committed suicide by falling in the sea and this is why we call it the Aegean sea.

Daedalus and Ikarus

During the great glories of the Minoan civilization Daedalus, one of the biggest inventors of his time, visited Crete. He was given the task to create the Labyrinth, with its numerous paths and rooms, wherefrom it was impossible to escape. It is also believed that he was the one who built the wooden imitation of a cow that helped Pasiphae be united with the mythical bull that made her give birth to the Minotaur. Daedalus and his son Ikarus in order to save themselves from the fierce of the king dared to leave through the air, like birds, by adjusting wings made out of feathers and candle. Unfortunately, Ikarus mesmerized by the height and the speed, he was seduced and started flying higher towards the sun which resulted in the melting of his wings. Ikarus fell in the sea and the place where he fell was named Ikarion Sea.