A Son of Zeus

The group reached Crete and upon reaching the palace of Knossos, Art, Thebe, Timaeus and Niall came fact to face with Minos, Lord of Crete, Emperor of Knossos and Ruler of all the seas between Achaea and Egypt. He was… a portly gentleman, looking Achaean and yet at the same time foreign, no doubt due to his Phoenician ancestry. He was black of hair and eyes with both beard and mustache upon his countenance. He was clad in a blue and orange loincloth with brown boots upon his feet, a ring upon each arm, a golden necklace and a plumed crown or helmet upon his head. He was long-haired, as style that seemed common to the men of Crete.

Art was not sure how old Minos was supposed to be. He looked to be nine and forty, but Atreus had referred to Minos as his grandfather-in-law, so clearly, he must have been older than that.

As Minos sat there upon his throne, reading the parchment that he had been presented with, he looked up at the group: a foreigner, an Athenian by birth, a Corinthian and some foreign beast.

Sighing, Minos nodded. "I bid you four welcome. As for you, young lady, I will not hold your place of birth against you. Although the Athenians killed one of my sons, I understand that you and your father were banished. You will be safe here from my twice-great nephew Argus, both of you. Now, as for you, young man, I would speak with you. The rest of you might leave." Thebe and Timaeus did depart to wait in the courtyard, but Niall remained. The lynx stared at the Cretan Monarch, who stared back, only to look at Art and utter: "I understand you are unsure about what you are told, Art."

"I do, sir." Art answered with a nod. "The world is strange and sometimes things are not as strange as we are told. I've questioned Heracles being a son of Zeus, thought him merely a priest of the god, I've been told of Heracles going to get man-eating horses, something that is impossible, I've been told of the Lernean Hydra and I wonder if there really was such a thing."

Nodding, Minos replied: "Young man, you are right to question what you are told. What if I were to tell you my wife Pasiphae was a goddess?"

"I'd say you might be speaking figuratively." Art answered. "To every happily married man is not his beloved wife such a thing?"

Smiling, Minos nodded again. He then asked: "And what if I were to say my uncle Poseidon sent me out of the sea a bull to be a worthy sacrifice? In my greed and folly, I kept the beast and two things happened. First, a curse was put upon my wife, leading to her having relations with the bull, I can explain that later, and then the bull went mad and became known as the Cretan Bull, which Heracles has long since taken away, freeing my people from it. From Pasiphae and the bull's… relations came a son, half-human and half-bull, a mockery of nature that eats human flesh."

Art was unsure what to say. This whole thing was strange. Human and beast could not produce offspring anymore than goats and sheep did or horses and cattle. Such interbreeding was impossible. Thinking for a moment, he said: "The bull was truly a very strong man whom your wife had relations with and the resulting offspring has cannibalistic tendencies."

"If only!" Minos exclaimed, standing up. Approaching the Young Gael, the Cretan Monarch looked down at him and quietly repeated: "If only."

Quietly, Art asked: "How long ago was this, sir?"

"Nine twelvemonths."

"Can you show me him?"