The Minotaur

393 AC - The old myths talk of an ancient king called Asterion who was married to the Phoenician princess Europa. Europa was previously married to the god Zeus, who assumed the form of a white bull. They had three sons: Minos, Rhadamanthus and Sarpedon. Later, the wife of Minos, Pasiphaë, fell in love with a white bull, this time sent by Poseidon. From their love was born the Minotaur, also called Asterion. I'm no historian, but after talking with Abiram over a drink, I couldn't help but notice the similarity between these two stories and ours as a civilization. According to the historical books discovered in our travels, we were probably on the outskirts of a territory previously known as "Europe". The seat of our government is also called the Asterion. I had initially thought that it was to convey the idea of a star, a light in the sky. But maybe I was wrong.

As I watch my version of the Minotaur meditating under the foliage of a tree, I let my mind drift to such matters. My Asterion is nothing like an angry bull. It's rather a calm creature, as bulls often are unless you pick a fight with them. But come to think of it, the Minotaur nicely illustrates what we are as individuals, or even as a civilization. Tangible creatures, but also shaped by ideas… as well as a marriage between the realms of the imaginary and the real. Oneiroi and mortals. A chimeric union. If the legends are true, an age when imaginary characters and humans could unite in this way had really existed. So what was the situation with these hybrids, and what was their status in the grand scheme of things? The Minotaur shakes himself and prepares to get up. It seems its break is over, and so is my moment of reflection.

The queen of Crete, Pasiphaë, was cursed to fall in love with a white bull, a gift from the god Poseidon. The Minotaur was born from their love. Faced with the ferocity of the Minotaur, Pasiphaë's husband, Minos, consulted with the Oracle at Delphi and then asked Daedalus to build a remarkable labyrinth to trap the man with the bull's head. Much later, the hero Theseus found his way into the center of the labyrinth and killed the savage beast once and for all.

TEIJA