Cretan bull
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The Cretan bull is a figure from Greek mythology and the father of the Minotaur .
legend
When King Minos once offered to sacrifice the next animal to Poseidon that rose from the waters of the sea, since none of his animals were worthy of such a high sacrifice, Poseidon sent him an exceptionally handsome, white bull. However, Minos, impressed by its beauty, hid it in his flock, suppressed it from the god and instead sacrificed one of his animals to him. Poseidon, enraged by this iniquity, plunged Minos' wife Pasiphae into undying love for the bull. She gave herself to this in a wooden dummy cow designed by Daidalos and later gave birth to the Minotaur from this connection . In addition, the Cretan bull was beaten with frenzy by Poseidon, causing great havoc on Crete .
As the seventh task set by Eurystheus , Heracles was now to tame the bull and bring it to Eurystheus. So Heracles went out against the animal, landed on Crete and asked Minos if he had anything against taking the animal with him. Minos said no in case Heracles got along with the bull. Heracles tamed the animal and brought it to Eurystheus in Mycenae , where he showed it to him and immediately released it.
The bull wandered all over Sparta and Arcadia , finally crossed the isthmos and reached Marathon , where it caused considerable damage and killed many people. That is why he was often referred to as a marathon bull . Theseus , sent by Aigeus against the bull, finally conquered the bull and led him to Athens , where Aigeus sacrificed him to Apollo .
Some think before Theseus was Androgeos been sent by Aegeus against the animal, but he was inferior to the bull and killed.
Taurus constellation
Several early advanced civilizations know a constellation Taurus in the winter sky. The Greek mythology associated it with the Cretan bull, but partly also with "Taurus", the adversary of the hunter Orion . Some historians make a different assignment because there is a second Taurus constellation among the 48 classical constellations of Ptolemy with Centaurus .
For the Sumerians , the constellation and the neighboring Orion represented the mythological celestial bull in battle with the legendary King Gilgamesh of Uruk, as it was around 2700 BC. . Chr Epic of Gilgamesh describes.
Possible background
The Cretan bull probably reflects the later view of the Minoan bull cult , which is proven by numerous finds, especially from Knossos . The acrobatic bull jump was probably practiced in the inner courtyard of Minoan palaces .
swell
- Library of Apollodor , II / 94–95, III / 9 ff., III / 209, IV / 5–6
