Pasiphaë
Pasiphaë was the queen of Crete whom Poseidon cursed with an unnatural desire for a bull — the mother of the Minotaur and a sorceress in her own right.
The Legend of Pasiphaë
Daughter of Helios and sister of Circe, Pasiphaë married King Minos of Crete and was a powerful sorceress. When Minos offended Poseidon by keeping a sacred bull, the god (or Aphrodite) cursed Pasiphaë with desire for the beast. She persuaded Daedalus to build a wooden cow in which she could conceive. The offspring was the Minotaur — half man, half bull — which Minos imprisoned in Daedalus's Labyrinth. Theseus eventually killed it with Ariadne's help. Pasiphaë's story links the house of Helios to Crete, Athens, and the cycle of divine punishment that Zeus tolerated.
Parents
Helios and Perse
Symbols
Fun Fact
Pasiphaë was sister to both Circe and Aeëtes — three children of the sun god, all famous for sorcery. Magic ran in the family.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Io
🗡 heroPriestess transformed into a cow
Io was a priestess of Hera whom Zeus seduced and then transformed into a white cow to hide from his jealous wife — she wandered the world in torment.
Dirce
🗡 heropunishment, spring
The queen of Thebes who tormented Antiope and was killed by being tied to a wild bull by Antiope's sons Amphion and Zethus, becoming the sacred spring of Thebes.
Aerope
🗡 heroAdultery, royalty
Queen of Mycenae whose adultery with Thyestes caused the devastating curse upon the House of Atreus
Hecuba
🗡 heroQueen of Troy
Hecuba was the queen of Troy who watched her husband, sons, and city destroyed — embodying the total devastation that war inflicts on women.
Althaea
🗡 heroNone recorded
Queen of Calydon and mother of Meleager who killed her own son by burning the magical brand that the Fates had tied to his life at birth
Medea
🗡 heroSorceress who helped Jason, then destroyed him
A powerful sorceress and princess of Colchis who betrayed her family to help Jason win the Golden Fleece, only to be abandoned by him and take catastrophic revenge.
Phaedra
🗡 heroQueen consumed by forbidden love
Phaedra was the wife of Theseus who was cursed by Aphrodite to fall hopelessly in love with her stepson Hippolytus — her suicide and false accusation destroyed him.
Io
🗡 herotransformation
Priestess of Hera transformed into a white cow by Zeus (or Hera), driven across the world by a gadfly until she reached Egypt.
Hippolytus
🗡 heroSon of Theseus destroyed by Aphrodite
Hippolytus was the chaste son of Theseus who rejected Aphrodite and was destroyed when his stepmother Phaedra fell in love with him.
Pentheus
🗡 heroNone recorded
King of Thebes torn apart by his own mother for opposing the worship of Dionysus
Aethra
🗡 heroMotherhood, Captivity, Loyalty
Princess of Troezen, mother of Theseus, who became a captive slave in Troy.
Semele
🗡 heroMortal mother of Dionysus
Semele was a Theban princess who became the mortal mother of Dionysus — destroyed when she insisted on seeing Zeus in his true divine form.