Minotaur

The Minotaur is one of the most famous mythical creatures of all time. There is only one, and lived in Mycenaean Crete. Crete is an island part of and south of Greece. It is the largest island in the Aegean Sea. The Mycenaean Age was long before the Romans, and around the same time as Troy. Crete was the most advanced civilization of the time and gathered tributes from various Greek City-States. Athens was one of these. They had to send seven young men and seven young women to be sent to the Minotaur.
The Minotaur was born of a union between the wife of King Minos, Pasiphae, and a bull. Minos was supposed to sacrifice his prize bull to Poseidon, but decided not to. Poseidon was furious, and caused Pasiphae to become infatuated with the bull. One night she slept with the bull, and nine months later gave birth to a monster. The monster was the Minotaur. It had the body of a large man that was much hairier than a normal man. It had the head of a bull, with huge curved horns, and the legs and feet of a bull. It was very strong, and uncontrollable, killing many. It often wielded a large axe, and went naked apart from a loincloth.
Minos built a large labyrinth under the capital Knossos to house the Minotaur. The men and women from Athens were forced to enter the Labyrinth and face the beast with no weapons or armour. No-one survived. One year, Theseus, Prince of Athens, offered to slay the Minotaur by disguising himself as one of the victims. The tribute arrived in Knossos and were shown to their rooms; they were to enter the Labyrinth the next morning. The daughter of Minos, Ariadne, however fell in love with Theseus. She gave him a sword to slay the Minotaur and a ball of string so he would not get lost in the Labyrinth, on the promise that he would take her with him when he fled Crete. Theseus accepted.
When Theseus entered the Labyrinth he succeeded in finding the Minotaur and slaying it. After finding his way out of the Labyrinth he expected to have to flee, however, Minos was so grateful for Theseus slaying the Minotaur that he let Theseus go, and ended the tribute agreement. He also allowed Theseus to take Ariadne to Athens to wed her. On the way home, however, Ariadne mysteriously disappeared.
The Minotaur was gone forever, but the legends lived on. One theory is that the Minotaur lives on, only concussed when fighting Theseus. He has vowed for revenge, and if you visit the ruins of Knossos, you can hear his roar of anger. Beware.
For more information visit:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minotaur
• http://www.theoi.com/Ther/Minotauros.html
• http://www.mythicalcreaturesguide.com/page/Minotaur
• http://www.gods-and-monsters.com/minotaur-greek-mythology.html