Talk:Minotaur

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(I realize this is just a stub, but I don't want to make any mistakes with spelling, names, or facts, so I would be grateful to anyone who can help me or perhaps finish this article)

..."had relations"...? I hope we're not going to have to repeat the discussion in talk:SNAFU about trading clarity for prudishness in an encyclopedia.

I just replaced "relations" with "sexual intercourse". I struggle to see how anyone could find the phrase "sexual intercourse" offensive. --Robert Merkel
I could - the late Mary Whitehouse


Contents

[edit] Minotaur(s)

Something I've had no success digging up, so perhaps some clever Wikipedian can help and fill in: When did the transition in fantasy fiction occur from The Minotaur, a single individual, to a group of beings or species called minotaurs? Was this an invention of early RPG's, or had it occurred in some earlier fiction? I've never managed to find any occurrence of minotaurs-as-a-species before ca. 1980, but I'm not entirely sure where to search for such a thing. -FZ 23:36, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Thomas Burnett Swann was writing about a race of minotaurs as early as 1965, although as noted they have some physical differences from the classical description.... Lee M 09:25, 8 Apr 2005 (UTC)


Dont know where else to put this, but SHAG aka Josh Agle a "retro" pop artist also has a minotaur character. Picasso aint the only one. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.179.22.36 (talk) 03:48, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Restoring paragraphs on swann's stuff, the movie and role playing games

The paragraph about swann's minotaur's explains that they are an inteligent race, which is important and useful for understanding the current fictional view of minotaurs. The stub about the movie is obviously relevent to a section titled Fictional appearences. The para on role playing games needs work - it does read somewhat fancrufty at present, but it does present fictional appearences and it can and should be expanded to explain why minotaurs were used as monsters in role playing games and how that affected the fictional view of minotaurs. Please respond on the talk page before reverting, if you feel you must. Or better, add more material of the type I outlined. ;-) JesseW 06:12, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)


I have a question. Does anyone understand what the moral in this myth is? /Greateful for answer. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.226.1.143 (talk) 17:07, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Citing Sources?

Hey Guys, I was wondering if whomever wrote this article concerning The Minotaur would also, please, cite his-- or her-- references for those of us wishing to further investigate this topic; particularly the Intro., "The Story," and "Interpretations".

Thanks a lot!


        Especially that bit about the Minotaur being an aspect of Baal-Molech. I just finished my thesis work on the Minotaur myth, and I haven't seen head or tails of other scholarly work claiming this connection between them, though there are obvious connections in iconography and so forth. [[User:Threskiorn 22:33, 22 April 2007 (UTC)]]

[edit] Fictional Appearances

The Fictional Appearance section is getting horribly glutted up with any ridiculous appearance of anything that even resembles a minotaur. Is is necessary to know that something was "based on" a minotaur. Anyone want to clean this up? If no one does, I'll jump in and do it some time. Maybe.

Sparsefarce 20:34, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

nevermind. i did it. Sparsefarce 22:52, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Proposal for new picture

This is completely my opinion only, but I think this article could benefit from a much better picture of a Minotaur, such as a nice painting for example. What do you all think? I think the current picture of this article is "weak". --JOK3R 18:52, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

i agree. change it. i just don't want to go trying to find one that fits the picture use policy Sparsefarce 19:28, 11 May 2006 (UTC)
I'm going to begin searching for one now. If I find one that meets the fair use policy, I'll add it on. :) --JOK3R 20:09, 11 May 2006 (UTC)
OK I added a new picture. I think it more accurately portrays the general depiction of a minotaur. What do you think? --JOK3R 20:24, 11 May 2006 (UTC)
Well someone disputed it, so I will continue to search for a new canidate. --JOK3R 21:29, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

yeah, i would have disputed it too. no video game images, please. let's at least keep the top half of this article somewhat academic. and remember to read the image use policy. Sparsefarce 21:37, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes I have read it. Thanks. --JOK3R 21:44, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Video Games vs Role Playing Games

There seems to be some confusion on which section to file electronic role-playing games under. I don't know which of the RPGs are which to tidy it, any help? Grey Knight 22:48, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Labyrinth V. Maze

A labyrinth is not the same thing as a maze. Basically, a maze had many paths and is supposed to be hard to navigate. A labyrinth has one path and isn't. I propose changing "maze" to "structure" in this article. See the WP articles on labyrinth and maze. Matteboy2001 23:26, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

right on. Sparsefarce 23:31, 17 August 2006 (UTC)
That part of the story has always bugged the hell out of me. The Labyrinth of Daedalus is THE canonical labyrinth, but for Ariadne's role to make any sense, it had to have been a MAZE. If it were a labyrinth, Theseus could have just kept walking after defeating the Minotaur. But what do you expect in a story that supposes a bull-headed man is more intimidating than a man-headed bull? That's the equivalent of a mermaid with legs and a fish's head. Asat 17:19, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Chicken?

I'm no expert in Greek mythology, but I feel quite confident that the Minotaur was a man-bull hybrid. In the opening sentence of the article, I had to change "chicken" to "man." Any objections? Carpe diem 11:27, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

It's repeated vandalism, and it's getting really old. Some stupid internet movie probably said that the minotaur was half-chicken and some kid thought it was funny. Change it back when you see it. Thanks for your help! Sparsefarce 15:34, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

Well, looks like "the kid" is back. I'll keep watching it and change it as needed. I'm new here but very glad to help.

he's also hitting Minotaur (disambiguation) if people want to watchlist that one too. Sparsefarce 02:50, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
I'm on it. Carpe diem 14:47, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
To clear a few things up, you are entirely incorrect regarding my age. Although the prank itself is obviously a Jr. High style prank, I, myself, am a student at an Ivy League University. Why do I do this? Simple, it causes ruckus. If this IP gets blocked, so what? It's so worse than getting turned aside in swordfighting. I just go back in with an alternate IP. Now, what are my goals? Easy, I have no goals. There is no rhyme, reason, or purpose to this. It's merely a gratifying way to spend my free hours on a weekend. I also sprinkle scatological references to Weis Markets all over the internet, and help a dear friend of mine (girlfriend, I suppose?) engage in creating virtual graffiti on the VR Troopers Mutants and Cyborgs in the Virtual Dungeon page. Depending on my mood, I make constructive edits or stupid edits. This isn't a confession, this is braggery. My deletion from Wikipedia would be a crime, however, I've inserted high-quality material into many articles. Getting rid of me would be like having a good, loyal, well-behaved dog destroyed because it occasionally soils the carpet. Oh, and have a nice day. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.72.224.118 (talk) 06:43, 11 December 2006 (UTC).
it doesn't matter how many constructive edits you've added or which ivory tower you spend your time in. if you continue with this, we will permanently block every IP you use. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Sparsefarce (talk • contribs) 16:50, 11 December 2006 (UTC).
Not possible, sorry to bust your bubble, but you don't KNOW every IP I use. So what if you ban the Verizon ones? I've got a whole slew of MSN IPs, and don't forget good ol' AOL. Oh and there are tons of IPs from my little "Ivory Tower". So your act of gonads-dot-com comes to naught. :-P
PS: You might want to reconsider your act of toughguy-dot-com, because there will be tons and tons of VERY pissed off people finding their IPs blocked permanently, and all because you let this harmless prank get to you. It's much like the guy who throws a fit because someone used a whoopee cushion. They won't know who to blame, either, they'll just know that YOU blocked a whole chunk of Verizon, AOL, and "Ivory Tower" IPs. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.72.224.118 (talk) 06:36, 12 December 2006 (UTC).
Oh, my PS note wasn't lined up properly with the rest of the message. Sorry about that. Anyways, here's one of many "Ivory Tower" IPs. Guess what? There's MANY more where this came from. This single area here has 25 different IPs, and this is just a teeny tiny sample of the myraid of IPs I can use. Don't worry though, I'll get bored with this eventually and be on my merry way. Until then, the Minotaur is a clucking, snorting, forelegs-as-vestigal-chicken-wings, walking-upright chicken/bull hybrid. Or else, a man/bear hybrid, also known as a backwoods beer drinker.
You're a condescending jerk. You suck. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.243.248.249 (talk) 18:04, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Semi-protect

I semi-protected the article because of the above vandalism. Let me know if people disapprove. Sparsefarce 02:47, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Fully approved Wereldburger758 18:19, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

that was from October. Do we want to re-protect it? I'm not sure it's been frequent enough to warrant it. Sparsefarce 18:42, 14 December 2006 (UTC)
The Page History reveals that vandalism is currently being reverted more than once a day. Semi-protection does not interfere with the improvements being made to the article. No one is denied the ability to read it. How much wear-and-tear on editors is acceptable? --Wetman 19:46, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Coincidence or foul play?

Is it possible that Minos imprisoned his foster father and thus helped create the myth? it's quite a coincidence that he and the bull both had the same nameBrallan 12:31, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

Actually, it's usually considered to be evidence that Pasiphae's and Europa's stories stem from the same source, because their kinsfolk have much in common, including their names. <Andrews, P. B. S. (1969, April) “Myth of Europa and Minos.” Greece & Rome. Ser. 2, Vol. 16, No. 1: 60-66.)> [[User:Threskiorn 22:31, 22 April 2007 (UTC)]]

[edit] Unclear sentence

I'm sorry to complain, but could someone explain this sentence: "The queen came back inside the wooden cow and the bull confused by the perfection of the costume he was conquered." Is something to the effect of "The queen disguised herself inside a wooden cow and mated with the bull" intended? Vultur 16:33, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re-adding cultural material

As per recent discovery that User:Varlak is one of a number of sockuppet accounts that have been used to delete content, I am selectively restoring references to the minotaur from literature and art (while skipping role playing games, which seem trivial, and in one case a human / cow hybrid that did not seem to derive from the minotaur). Because the minotaur is a powerful and a myth / cultural archetype, it is an encyclopedic subject to cover the place it has in our culture.

Bullet point lists are discouraged, and citations are always helpful, so if you have a moment it would be good to improve the article the usual way: prose-ify the list, add citations where necessary, and put it in context. Wikidemo 14:09, 6 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The moral of this Myth

Hi does anyone understand the moral of this myth. What is the moral? Can someone plaese tell me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fabbebabbe91 (talk • contribs) 17:14, 15 January 2008 (UTC)