Paulus Orosius, Historiarum Adversum Paganos Libri VII 1.13
In the five hundred and sixtieth year before the founding of the City, the Cretans and Athenians engaged in a bitter struggle in which both sides suffered disastrous losses. The Cretans were victorious and made their triumph even bloodier by cruelty, handing over some children of noble Athenian parentage to be devoured by the Minotaur. I do not know whether it would be more accurate to describe this creature as a man with the qualities of a wild beast or as a beast with the qualities of a human being. But the Cretans fattened this misshapen monster on these noble children who had been torn away from their native land.
Sole di mezzanotte
6 thoughts on “Sole di mezzanotte”
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The House of Vines 
That work was an attempt to counter another called “History Against the Christians”. It contained some things that really shook Christians up. It was cribbed from by a lot of later historians, including Christian ones. That is the reason we know about it and some of its content. I find it funny how these later(often Christian) historians just pulled a bunch of stuff uncritically from the old mythographers and earlier histories. I have long suspected that something was strange about the Minotaur story, some Athenian meddling with something older that had a different context.
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Thanks for providing context! And agreed re the Minotaur; that’s actually one of the foundational principles of the Starry Bull tradition.
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That’s an interesting photo…I haven’t seen too many by that artist that aren’t interesting, though! ;)
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Agreed.
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I like the image but it makes me giggle: it looks like they’re doing a tango. lol
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Cue a version of Tom Lehrer’s “Masochism Tango” with changed lyrics…”The Minotauric Tango”? Anyone want to give that a try?
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