Minos, << MY nuhs >>, was a king of Crete in Greek mythology. He ordered Daedalus, a skilled artisan and inventor, to build the Labyrinth. This was a mazelike building in which Minos imprisoned a monster known as the Minotaur. Minos conquered much of Greece, including Athens. He forced the Athenians to send seven young men and seven young women at regular intervals as a sacrifice to the Minotaur. Eventually Theseus, one of the intended victims, killed the Minotaur and eloped with Minos’s daughter Ariadne.
Minos imprisoned Daedalus for helping Theseus and Ariadne run away, but Daedalus escaped. Minos pursued Daedalus and finally found him in Sicily. According to one story, Daedalus killed the king by scalding him in a specially constructed bathtub. After his death, Minos and his brother Rhadamanthus became judges in the underworld.
