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Trygon
Minos is Pasiphaë’s husband and the king of Crete. He fears Pasiphaë because of her powers—he does not want a powerful wife, but instead wants “a simpering jelly he keeps in a jar and breeds to death.” When Pasiphaë gives birth to a bull-headed monster, he names it after himself, calling it the Minotaur. He is terrified of the monster, but he wants to associate himself with it so that he can share in its fame and wield it as a weapon of fear over others. He does exactly this and uses the Minotaur to keep the people of Crete—who are terrified of losing their children to the beast—under his control.
Minos Quotes in Circe
The Circe quotes below are all either spoken by Minos or refer to Minos. 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 3
Quotes
I had heard by then the stories whispered among my cousins, of what [mortals] might do to nymphs they caught alone. The rapes and ravishments, the abuses. I found it hard to believe. They looked weak as mushroom gills. They kept their faces carefully down, away from all those divinities. Mortals had their own stories, after all, of what happened to those who mixed with gods. An ill-timed glance, a foot set in an impropitious spot, such things could bring down death and woe upon their families for a dozen generations.
It was like a great chain of fear, I thought. Zeus at the top and my father just behind. Then Zeus’ siblings and children, then my uncles, and on down through all the ranks of river-gods and brine-lords and Furies and Winds and Graces, until it came to the bottom where we sat, nymphs and mortals both, eying each other.
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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.
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Minos Quotes in Circe
The Circe quotes below are all either spoken by Minos or refer to Minos. 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 3
Quotes
I had heard by then the stories whispered among my cousins, of what [mortals] might do to nymphs they caught alone. The rapes and ravishments, the abuses. I found it hard to believe. They looked weak as mushroom gills. They kept their faces carefully down, away from all those divinities. Mortals had their own stories, after all, of what happened to those who mixed with gods. An ill-timed glance, a foot set in an impropitious spot, such things could bring down death and woe upon their families for a dozen generations.
It was like a great chain of fear, I thought. Zeus at the top and my father just behind. Then Zeus’ siblings and children, then my uncles, and on down through all the ranks of river-gods and brine-lords and Furies and Winds and Graces, until it came to the bottom where we sat, nymphs and mortals both, eying each other.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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:
