In Greek mythology, the minotaur is the monstrous offspring of a human woman (the queen of Crete) and a bull. The minotaur blocks Dante and Virgil's way in the seventh circle of hell, but thrashes around mindlessly after being spoken to by Virgil, so that the two poets can sneak past.
Get the entire Inferno LitChart as a printable PDF.
Minotaur Character Timeline in Inferno
The timeline below shows where the character Minotaur appears in Inferno. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Canto 12
...down from the precipice into the seventh circle, but their path is blocked by the minotaur, a half-bull, half-human creature of Greek mythology born from the union of a woman and...
(full context)
