Heracles & The Cretan Bull: The 12 Labours Of Heracles EP.7 | Greek Mythology

The seventh task of Heracles was to capture the Cretan bull, the father of the legendary Minotaur. King Minos of Crete had failed to keep his promise to Poseidon, and so the Earthshaker made Minos' wife fall in love and mate with the bull, giving birth to the dreadful monster. The Cretan bull had so much ravaged the land of Crete, destroying crops and plantations, that Minos was eager to help Heracles on his task when he arrived at Crete. However, the hero declined his aid, knowing well that Eurystheus would discount the task if he had any help. With the permission and blessings of Minos, Heracles went in search of the bull. He snuck up on the unaware animal, tightly wrapping his hands around it, till it surrendered, unable to fight any longer. He then took the animal to Eurystheus, who ran away into his large jar at the sight of the bull. When he offered to sacrifice it to Hera, the goddess rejected, because it would only exalt Heracles and fuel the praises about him. Seeing no further use of the animal, Eurystheus had Heracles release it, where it wandered into Marathon, becoming known henceforth as the Marathonian bull. It would later be caught and sacrificed to the gods by another hero, Theseus.