character
Greek
Minotaur
The bull-headed monster at the center of the maze — the secret beast a system is built to hide.
Origin
Born to Pasiphae, queen of Crete, after Poseidon cursed her with desire for a bull. King Minos hid the half-man, half-bull child in the Labyrinth and demanded a tribute of fourteen Athenian youths every nine years to feed it. Theseus eventually killed it with the help of Ariadne's thread.
Modern usage
Used in essays and criticism for the monstrous thing concealed at the heart of an institution or family — the secret that the maze of policy, decorum, or denial exists to protect. Borges leaned on it heavily in 'The House of Asterion.'
Tags
monster
secret
crete