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The Taurus Myth- The Bull

The myth behind Taurus zodiac sign

“Once, there was a young boy named Theseus. Nobody knew who his father was, for both King Aegeus of Athens and Poseidon had been fond of his mother Aethra.” (Greekmythology.com)

theseusTheseus was strong, stronger than a bull. Even before facing the fierce Minotaur in the labyrinth of Knossos in Crete, he had imprisoned and killed off, in honour of Apollo, the bull of Marathon which had claimed amongst its victims the son of the king of Crete.

He was also a ‘Don Juan’ with the women, both earthly and divine, and he liked to have his fun. When he arrived in Athens he was already known, being preceded by a great and well-deserved reputation as during his journey he had faced and overcome a thousand trials and dangers. One of these was when he eliminated Procrustean; who had been nicknamed called the “puller” because of the enjoyment he got from stretching people on a rack.

Theseus was strong and a fighter as well as handsome and built like a tank and nothing could get in his way. He arrived in Athens to a hero’s welcome. At that time, Minos, the King of Crete, had become the master of the sea thanks to the god of the sea, Poseidon, to whom he had promised to sacrifice a beautiful white bull. Poseidon had sent such a beast himself as a sign of his good favour but instead of sacrificing the white bull to the god in supplication, Minos decided to keep it for himself.

The deeds of Theseus

The deeds of Theseus

He had not, however, reckoned on the reaction this might cause. Poseidon was a god, not a fool, and realized immediately that he had been cheated and so devised a terrible revenge. He enlisted the help of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, who implanted in the heart of Minos’ wife, a mad and violent passion for the white bull of the sea. Nothing could hold back her passionate desire. She caused Daedalus, a master engineer to build a hollow cow made from wood which the woman could enter and thus be united sexually with the handsome bull. The fruit of this intercourse was the Minotaur, a hideous monster with a bull’s head and the body of man, and who ate human flesh. Minos, injured, humiliated and ashamed, turned to the ingenious Daedalus who then devised and built the famous labyrinth where the voracious Minotaur was imprisoned. Every nine years Minos collected his tribute from Athens; seven boys and seven girls who were to be sacrificed to the Minotaur.

When Theseus arrived in Athens a group of young people were leaving for their sacrifice at Knossos. It was the third time of doing this and Theseus sought them out and joined them. When they arrived at Knossos, Theseus wanted to be the first to enter the dark labyrinth, which although easy to enter was almost impossible to escape from. To help him, Theseus had his guardian angel. She was Ariadne, the daughter of the king and shone brighter than the stars. She had fallen in love with the handsome Theseus, and to help him escape she gave him that “Ariadne’s thread” that we all wish to have. She advised Theseus to fix one end of the wire above the entrance to the maze while holding tightly on to the rest. Theseus found the Minotaur sleeping in the innermost part of the labyrinth and engaged in a fierce fight, eventually stabbing the monster to death. Theseus then followed the thread back to the entrance, dragging the limp body of the Minotaur and emerged victorious.

Last updated on December 27, 2015 at 11:04 pm. Word Count: 613