Minotaur (Hercules and Xena)

A Minotaur is a creature with the body of a man and the head of a bull.

Zeus once turned his son, Gryphus, into a minotaur as punishment (Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur).

Hera once created two Minotaurs to fight Hercules and Iolauswhen the heroes were searching for the Sword of Veracity in the Cave of Hestia (HTLJ "The Sword of Veracity").

Appearances

 * Gryphus in Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur
 * Minotaur in HTLJ: "The Sword of Veracity"
 * Assistant Minotaur in HTLJ: "The Sword of Veracity"

Background

 * The Minotaur was immortalized in plastic as an action figure by ToyBiz.

Mythology
Main article: Cretan Bull.Hercules forces the bull to the ground (engraving by B. Picart, 1731)Herculeswas then sent to capture the bull by /Eurystheus as his seventh task. He sailed to Crete, whereupon the King Minos, gave Hercules permission to take the bull away and offered him assistance (which Hercules declined because of pride)[7] as it had been wreaking havoc on Crete by uprooting crops and leveling orchard walls. Hercules snuck up behind the bull and then used his hands to throttle it (stopping before it was killed), and then shipped it back to Athens. Eurystheus, who hid in his pithos at first sight of the creature, wanted to sacrifice the bull to Hera, who hated Hercules. She refused the sacrifice because it reflected glory on Hercules. The bull was released and wandered intoMarathon, becoming known as the Marathonian Bull. Theseus would later sacrifice the bull to Athena and/orApollo. Eurystheus sent Hercules to bring back the man-eating Mares of Diomedes.
 * In mythology, Theseus had to battle a Minotaur in a Labyrinth on Crete.
 * ==Seventh Labour: Cretan Bull==