Far away in the Mediterranean Sea, you can find a very old and rich island called Crete. A long time ago, it was ruled by King Minos. He was married to Pasiphaë, who gave birth to many princes and princesses, such as their beautiful daughters, Phaedra and Ariadne. But their happiness couldn’t stay unstained: one unhappy day, Minos forgot to honor Poseidon, the god of all the seas, well-known for his resentment. And the god decided to punish the mortal, by making the queen fall in love with the white bull he was supposed to receive as a present. The queen couldn’t do anything against the god’s will, the curse was too strong to resist. And from this monstrous love was born an extraordinary creature: it had the body of a man, and the head of a bull. This monster, Ariadne’s half-brother, was named Asterion, but everyone knows him under the name of Minotaur. The king was so ashamed he decided to hide him away from his people. He hoped nobody would ever discover his wife’s son. At first, she wanted to raise him as an equal to his brothers and sisters, but quickly, she discovered it would be impossible: as he grew up, he became cruel and brutish. The Minotaur was dangerous, even for his own family. So the king decided to call Dedalus, a genius architect, for help, and he gave him his orders:
“You will build a prison from where no one will ever be able to escape.”
The Three Balladeers 