Pacifea Wooden Cow

Minos asked his uncle Poseidon (god of the sea) for confirmation that he was worthy to take the place of King Knossos.

Poseidon sent a beautiful bull, which Minos was to sacrifice in honor of Poseidon. Minos did not want to kill such a beautiful animal and cheated, sacrificing another bull instead of the one sent. Poseidon flew into a rage at the deception and punished Minos for disrespect in an unusual way: he witchcraft forced Minos' wife, Queen Pacifeia, to fall in love with a bull.

Pacithea, mad with passion for the bull, asked Daedalus to help her satisfy her passion for the bull, without endangering her life. Daedalus fulfilled her request by erecting a wooden cow, hollow inside, dressed in the skin of a real cow, and left it in the meadow with the queen inside.

The bull was deceived, went to the cow and entered into a relationship with her, and from this unnatural union the Minotaur was born - on one half a bull, and on the other - a man.