Greek Judges of the Dead - Minos, Aeacus, Rhadamanthus (Paperback)

Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Not illustrated. Excerpt: In Greek mythology, Minos (Greek: ) was a mythical king of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa. After his death, Minos became a judge of the dead in Hades. The Minoan civilization of pre-Hellene Crete has been named after him. By his wife, Pasipha, he fathered Ariadne, Androgeus, Deucalion, Phaedra, Glaucus, Catreus, Acacallis, and many others. Minos, along with his brothers, Rhadamanthys and Sarpedon, was raised by king Asterion (or Asterius) of Crete. When Asterion died, his throne was claimed by Minos who banished Sarpedon and (according to some sources) Rhadamanthys too. It is not clear if Minos was a name or a title, the Cretan word for "king", or indeed, to take a euhemerist position, the name of a particular king that was subsequently used as a title. Scholars have noted the interesting similarity between Minos and the names of other ancient founder-kings, such as Menes of Egypt, Mannus of Germany, Manu of India, and so on. There is a name in Minoan Linear A mi-nu-te that may be related to Minos. According to La Marle's reading of Linear A, we should read mwi-nu ro-ja (Minos the king) on a Linear A tablet. 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 (the equivalent of 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. If royal succession in Minoan Crete descended matrilinearly from the queen to her firstborn daughter the queen's husband would have become the Minos, or war chief. Minos reigned over Crete and the islands of the Aegean Sea three ge... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=20665