On Unbelievable Stories
Heraclitus Paradoxographus
Heraclitus Paradoxographus. On Unbelievable Stories. Hawes, Greta, et al., translators. Washington, DC: Center for Hellenic Studies, 2021. (Digital publication).
They say that Pasiphae was in love with a bull. It was not, as many people believe, an animal from the herd (for it is laughable for the queen to desire a creature impossible to mate with). But rather, she fell in love with one of the locals, a man called Tauros [Bull]. She enlisted Daidalos’ help in her amorous scheme and, having given herself over to Tauros, gave birth to a son who bore an extraordinary resemblance to him. People accepted him as Minos’ son, but they noted that he looked like Tauros. So he was called by the portmanteau Minotauros.