The Bull's head is one of the most prominent Minoan sacred symbols.
The son of Zeus and Europa (1), the famous and just king of Crete who lived three generations before the Trojan war. After he had united with Europa, Zeus married her to the Cretan king Asterion, who adopted and brought up Zeus' and Europa's sons, Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Sarpedon. When Asterion died, Minos took over the throne of Crete. His brothers objected, but he claimed that he was chosen by the gods to be the king and that the gods would answer whatever prayer he offered. To prove it, he asked Poseidon to send him a bull that he would in return sacrifice to the god. His request was granted, and a beautiful white bull emerged from the sea; amazed with its beauty, Minos decided to keep the bull, and sacrifice another one instead. After that, Minos was accepted among the people as a king. Angry because of the fraud, Poseidon changed the bull into a wild animal that raged the island. He also made Minos' wife Pasiphae fall in love with the animal. Pasiphae revealed her unnatural passion to Daedalus, the famous craftsman, who helped her unite with the bull; he constructed a hollow wooden cow into which Pasiphae hid and coupled with the bull. From this union, Minotaur was born, a creature with a bull's head and a human body. To conceal Pasiphae's disgrace, Minos shut the monster in the Labyrinth, a maze of rooms and corridors built by Daedalus.
Made of wood