<P> From Classical times through the Renaissance, the Minotaur appears at the center of many depictions of the Labyrinth . Ovid's Latin account of the Minotaur, which did not elaborate on which half was bull and which half man, was the most widely available during the Middle Ages, and several later versions show the reverse of the Classical configuration, a man's head and torso on a bull's body, reminiscent of a centaur . This alternative tradition survived into the Renaissance, and still figures in some modern depictions, such as Steele Savage's illustrations for Edith Hamilton's Mythology (1942). </P> <P> Androgeus, son of Minos, had been killed by the Athenians, who were jealous of the victories he had won at the Panathenaic festival . Others say he was killed at Marathon by the Cretan Bull, his mother's former taurine lover, which Aegeus, king of Athens, had commanded him to slay . The common tradition is that Minos waged war to avenge the death of his son and won . Catullus, in his account of the Minotaur's birth, refers to another version in which Athens was "compelled by the cruel plague to pay penalties for the killing of Androgeos ." Aegeus had to avert the plague caused by his crime by sending "young men at the same time as the best of unwed girls as a feast" to the Minotaur . Minos required that seven Athenian youths and seven maidens, drawn by lots, be sent every seventh or ninth year (some accounts say every year) to be devoured by the Minotaur . </P> <P> When the third sacrifice approached, Theseus volunteered to slay the monster . He promised his father, Aegeus, that he would put up a white sail on his journey back home if he was successful, but would have the crew put up black sails if he was killed . In Crete, Minos' daughter Ariadne fell madly in love with Theseus and helped him navigate the labyrinth . In most accounts she gave him a ball of thread, allowing him to retrace his path . Theseus killed the Minotaur with the sword of Aegeus and led the other Athenians back out of the labyrinth . On the way home, Theseus abandoned Ariadne on the island of Naxos and continued . He neglected, however, to put up the white sail . King Aegeus, from his lookout on Cape Sounion, saw the black - sailed ship approach and, presuming his son dead, committed suicide by throwing himself into the sea that is since named after him . This act secured the throne for Theseus . </P> <P> This essentially Athenian view of the Minotaur as the antagonist of Theseus reflects the literary sources, which are biased in favour of Athenian perspectives . The Etruscans, who paired Ariadne with Dionysus, never with Theseus, offered an alternative Etruscan view of the Minotaur, never seen in Greek arts: on an Etruscan red - figure wine - cup of the early - to - mid fourth century Pasiphaë tenderly cradles an infant Minotaur on her knee . </P>

What takes place in the legend of minos and the minotaur