Greetings! So you think you know the story of Theseus & the Minotaur? Well, maybe you do. Then again, you probably don’t know the real story. So pull up a chair and I’ll fill you in to what really happened. Take notes; there may be a quiz later.

A few thousand years ago, give or take a thousand, King Minos of Knossos on the Isle of Crete asked Poseidon, God of the Sea, for a bull to sacrifice to the god. Poseidon came through with a magnificent white bull. Trouble was, Minos was so impressed by the animal, he wanted him for his stables and sacrificed 3 other bulls in his place.

Well, Greek Gods are notoriously known for getting honked off at any given offense and Poseidon was no exception. To punish Minos for this no-no, the god cast a spell on the queen, Pasiphae with a major case of the hots for the bull. (Geeze, those ancient Greeks would procreate with anything!). She had the local wizard, Daidalos, build a fake cow that she could climb in and be serviced by the bull. “Gasp!* Now since a bull’s *ahem!* equipment would kill a human, the real procreator in this case was Poseidon himself disguised as the bull. The result: a baby with the head of a bull, our friend Max the Minotaur. His birthname being Asterius (or by some scholars , Asterion).

Minos was none too thrilled about his new stepson and had Daidolos construct the labyrinth. He imprisoned the queen and baby minotaur there along with her female servant. Max grew at an astounding rate and by the time he was a year old, looked at least 3. His strength increased as well and it was very apparent he was the son of a god. But Max yearned to see the outside world yet he knew his appearance would frighten others. The queen's servant helped him by revealing a special secret; there was another exit to the maze. One built by the workers that she had seen them use. Now Max left the labyrinth whenever he wanted to observe the outside world.What fascinated him most was a nearby training ground for athletes. Max would watch from cover for endless hours as these men would train in wrestling, running, javeling tossing and the like. From this, Max self-trained himself and with his own bull strength and god given power, developed phenomonally in a short time. At the age of only 5, he looked to be well into his teens.

During this period, the queen developed a terminal case of Bulimia Nervosa or as we know it extreme overeating. She started stuffing herself like a Christmas turkey. Eventually it killed her. Max didn't know what had happened and he felt a great rage building inside him. Had it continued, he might well have become the monster legend calls him. Then a gentle, cooling hand set on his shoulder... it was the female servant, Fatina. She continued to tend him and teach him to be respectful to others and kind to every living creature. When she died, his bellows of sorrow resounded thruout the labyrinth.

Meanwhile, Minos was having a major blowout with the Athenians. His forces were greater and to stave off invasion, they had to promise an annual delivery of 7 maids and 7 males to Minos to be fed to "the man-eating Minotaur". Seems Minos was keeping the populace in line with threats of being eaten. Nothing was further from the truth. When introduced to the maze, they were confronted by Max, who, under the veil of night, had them escape thru the secret way out with the promise not to reveal what happened. Thus, the word spread that the Minotaur was a monster.

That brings us to Theseus. Hearing of what was going on, he volunteered to join the 'sacrifical offerings' with the intent of 'ending the Minotaur's and Minos' reign of terror'. He even got Minos' daughter, Ariadne to help with a ball uf string to help guide him back thru the maze. But it was a different story when the two sons of gods finally met. There was the initial two heroes battle under a misunderstanding scenario with it ending in a bruising draw. Max finally convinced Theseus he wasn't the bad guy here. To convince everybody the 'monster' was dead, Max sawed off his own horns (don't worry, they grew back). Theseus had his proof and Max finally had his privacy with no one bothering him.

Over time, it was apparent that Max was immortal and eternally young. He continued to to train and develope. Max had little contact with the outside world. Over the centuries, only a handful of ppl ever knew of his existance. When the modern age came around, he was able to put together old scrap parts for tv, and other modern conveniences. He would have been quite content to live there forever.

Until....

A certain bearded vacationer touring Knossos stumbled into that self-same secret exit and came across Max. After another misunderstanding and all, he saw that Max was no monster and convinced the hermit to join the outside world. Max eventually agreed and emigrated to Canada where he now lives. Oh, you're asking, why the name Max?...

Mark: So what's your name? Besides Minotaur, I mean.

Max: My birth name is Asterius

Mark: Hmmmm... Asterius Minotaur. Well, you hardly look MINItaur. You look more MAXimum. How about we westernize your name to Max?

Thus the legend continues as Max makes his way in today's world. I hope you will enjoy his story.

Some other mentionables:
Eyes: Blue

Favorite color: Purple

Likes: Working out, good friends

Dislikes: Bullies, vegetables

Max is still getting used to having people around but you couldn't ask for a better friend. Just watch out for those horns!