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Hermes
The Minotaur, a man-eating monster that craves human flesh, was born after Pasiphaë had sex with a sacred bull. The Minotaur is Pasiphaë’s way to gain fame among gods and men, and it also serves as her “whip to use against her husband Minos.” Minos hates Pasiphaë, and the two of them are always looking for ways to exercise power over the other. With the Minotaur, Pasiphaë has another way of making Minos fear her power. Because Daedalus helped Pasiphaë become impregnated by the bull, Daedalus feels guilt for all the deaths that the Minotaur causes.
The Minotaur Quotes in Circe
The Circe quotes below are all either spoken by The Minotaur or refer to The Minotaur. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 11 Quotes
[Pasiphaë’s] words were falling on my head like a great cataract. I could scarcely take them in. She hated our family? She had always seemed to me their distillation, a glittering monument to our blood’s vain cruelty. Yet it was true what she said: nymphs were allowed to work only through the power of others. They could expect none for themselves.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Minotaur Character Timeline in Circe
The timeline below shows where the character The Minotaur appears in Circe. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 10
...clamping down on her fingers. She yanks upward, bringing with it a hooved and horned creature that she throws to the ground. Circe pins it by the throat, forcing it to...
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Daedalus offers to kill the creature, but Pasiphaë demands that it live. He and Circe capture it in a blanket, and...
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...all people, to attend the birth. But her horror at the existence of this new monster eclipses her confusion, and, deciding to try brewing an antidote, Circe seeks out her sister’s...
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...in a pool. Recalling Helios’s gift of prophecy, Circe decides to try to glimpse the bull-baby’s future. She touches the water, asks for a vision, and, sure enough, watches a scene...
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...offers to take her to his workshop. When they arrive, Circe tells him that the monster will die, but not for many years. It wants human flesh, but she hopes that...
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...doing and is furious to learn that she has only prepared a draught—he wants the monster to die. But Circe tells him that the monster cannot die yet, although she can...
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...that her sister, who must have felt outperformed by her siblings, chose to breed a monster for power and fame.
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Chapter 11
...to the underground corridors of the palace. As they walk, he tells her that the monster is named the Minotaur, which Circe recognizes as the king’s attempt to associate himself with...
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...at the cage that Daedalus has built. He acknowledges that it will not hold forever—the Minotaur is already ferociously strong—but it buys him time to plan the next step. Circe approaches...
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...that he plans to design a maze in the cellars of the palace for the Minotaur and jokes that he is sure Minos will think of a name that associates him...
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Circe analyzes her time in Crete and realizes just how much the Minotaur is a victory for Pasiphaë: Minos’s humiliation, the subjugating terror of the Cretans, Daedalus’s guilt...
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...more. Circe exclaims that she deserves to know, after all her assistance with containing the Minotaur. After a pause, Pasiphaë tells Circe that she should know by now that obedience gets...
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As Circe and Daedalus lie together afterward, Circe realizes that she can feel the Minotaur shaking the palace foundations. After Circe tells Daedalus that the monster will eat about 15...
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Chapter 12
On one visit, Hermes tells Circe of the fall of the Minotaur. With Crete threatening rebellion after years of losing their youth to the monster, Minos ordered...
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...with Theseus. Before he entered the Labyrinth (the lair that Daedalus had made for the Minotaur), she gave him a sword and taught him how to navigate his way. When Theseus...
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Chapter 21
...saying that they are brothers. His statement makes Circe think of Ariadne’s affection for the Minotaur. Realizing that there is no changing Telegonus’s mind and taking comfort in her own strength,...
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Chapter 23
...interrupts to ask whether Telemachus knows anything of Pasiphaë, to which he responds that the Minotaur’s mother is always in Theseus’s story. Circe then mentions that she was present at the...
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