The Minotaur and the Labyrinth
c. 8th century BCE · Cretan / Greek Myth
- First attested
- 8th century BCEHomeric references and archaic Greek vase paintings.
The labyrinth must be walked to its terrifying center if the shadow is to be conquered and integrated.
Ovid, Metamorphoses VIII.152–182; Apollodorus, Bibliotheca Epitome I.7–9.
Bull-headed beast confined at the center of Daedalus’s maze, embodying the shadow at the core of the psyche.
Born from the cursed union of Queen Pasiphaë and the Cretan Bull, the Minotaur (Asterion) was imprisoned by King Minos within the complex Labyrinth designed by master architect Daedalus at Knossos. Fed every nine years with Athenian youth, the monster ruled the dark center until the hero Theseus entered with Princess Ariadne’s golden clew of thread, slew the beast in darkness, and retraced his steps out of the maze to sunlight.
Light
Courageously navigating inner complexity to confront and integrate core instinctual shadows.
Shadow
Getting devoured by irrational subterranean rage and lost in defensive mental mazes.
