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Minos's name would then signify a lunar deity in this context, thus connected to several words for a moon god in Indo-European languages. Īnother possibility is that Minos and his relatives would be dramatis personae in a local "astronomical myth." Telephassa (Minos's grandmother) means "far-shining" Pasiphaë (Minos's wife, a daughter of Sun god Helios) means "all-shining" or "wide-shining" Phaidra (Minos's daughter with Pasiphaë) means "bright, beaming" – all three containing a tangible Proto-Indo-European root *b heh 2- 'to glow, shine,' which, in Greek, derives φαής phaés 'light' and related words. Some 19th-century scholars proposed a connection between Minos and the names of other ancient founder-kings, such as Menes of Egypt, Mannus of Germany, and Manu of India, and even with Meon of Phrygia and Lydia (after him named Maeonia), Mizraim of Egypt in the Book of Genesis and the Canaanite deity Baal.

There is a name in Minoan Linear A mi-nu-te that may be related to Minos.

The royal title ro-ja is read on several documents, including on stone libation tables from the sanctuaries, where it follows the name of the main god, Asirai (which would be equivalent to Sanskrit Asura, and of Avestan Ahura). La Marle suggests that the name mwi-nu (Minos) is expected to mean ' ascetic' as Sanskrit muni, and fits this explanation to the legend about Minos sometimes living in caves on Crete.

"Minos" is often interpreted as the Cretan word for "king" or, by a euhemerist interpretation, the name of a particular king that was subsequently used as a title.Īccording to La Marle's reading of Linear A, which has been heavily criticized as arbitrary, we should read mwi-nu ro-ja (Minos the king) on a Linear A tablet. The archeologist Sir Arthur Evans named the Minoan civilization of Crete after him.Įtymology Group of the damned, with Biagio da Cesena as Minos at right After his death, Minos became a judge of the dead in the underworld. Every nine years, he made King Aegeus pick seven young boys and seven young girls to be sent to Daedalus's creation, the labyrinth, to be eaten by the Minotaur. In Greek mythology, Minos ( / ˈ m aɪ n ɒ s, - n ə s/ Greek: Μίνως, Ancient: Modern: ) was a King of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa. Gustave Doré's illustration of King Minos for Dante Alighieri's Inferno For other uses, see Minos (disambiguation).