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The Malta Classics Society is hosting the seventh public lecture in its monthly lecture series, this time with Jessica Alexander from the University of Virginia presenting a paper exploring the image of the Minotaur – a mythical creature from the Classical period with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a human.
Her paper, “The Minotaur is Always a Monster: Using the Minotaur’s Depictions in Children’s Picture Books to Understand Monsters,” examines the depictions of the Minotaur and Theseus in different children’s picture books.
“When we re-examine the Minotaur and Theseus through an anthropomorphic lens and monster theory, I conclude that the Minotaur will always be seen as a monster and will never be humanized, even for child audiences,” Alexander writes in her summary.
She concluded that the Minotaur was never a readable character and was always a villain.
“I used Liz Gillon and Geoffrey Andrew Weinstock’s monster theory and the definition of anthropomorphism to understand how the Minotaur has been portrayed in different children’s picture books, from the famous D’Aularies written in the 1950s to the book by Donna Jo Napoli and Chrstina Balit published in 2011,” Alexander explained.
She also analyzed descriptions of the Minotaur in ancient sources such as Plutarch and Roman sarcophagi.
By analyzing the descriptions of the Minotaur in ancient sources, the researchers concluded that even in ancient times, the Minotaur was considered a monstrous character.
“While it may seem obvious, by determining how the Minotaur came to be in ancient times, I went on to portray how the Minotaur is portrayed in modern retellings. Some ancient sources were needed to create a timeline from ancient times to the 20th century,” she continued. Alexander will go on to analyze how the Minotaur and Theseus are portrayed by contemporary children’s writers.
“I have come to the conclusion that contemporary writers in the 20th and 21st centuries also depict the Minotaur as a monster without any human qualities other than the concept. Modern children’s picture book authors have not thought to give the Minotaur enough autonomy to allow the reader to see even an inner monologue, even if his idea is to kill Ariadne and Theseus.
“Even though later authors used “he” instead of “it” when describing the Minotaur, all authors failed to give the Minotaur autonomy and make him sympathetic. However, later authors no longer leave all monsters to the Minotaur. Theseus is blamed for mistakes like leaving Ariadne in Naxos, but in the end, the Minotaur is always the villain.”
The online public lecture will take place on August 13 at 7pm on the Malta Classical Society Facebook page.
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