Pasiphae. In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, Pasiphae was a queen of Crete, and was often referred to as goddess of witchcraft and sorcery. The daughter of Helios and the Oceanid nymph Perse, Pasiphae is notable as the mother of the Minotaur. She conceived the Minotaur after mating with the Cretan Bull while hidden within a hollow cow that the Athenian inventor Daedalus built for her, after Poseidon cursed her to fall in love with the bull, due to her husband, Minos, failing to sacrifice the bull to Poseidon as he had promised. Pasiphae was the daughter of god of the Sun, Helios, and the Oceanid nymph Perse. She was thus the sister of Aeetes, Circe and Perses of Colchis. In some accounts, Pasiphae's mother was identified as the island-nymph Crete herself. Like her doublet Europa, the consort of Zeus, her origins were in the East, in her case at the earliest-known Kartvelian-speaking polity of Colchis, now in western Georgia. Pasiphae was given in marriage to King Minos of Crete. With Minos, she was the mother of Acacallis, Ariadne, Androgeus, Glaucus, Deucalion, Phaedra, Xenodice, and Catreus. After having sex with the Cretan Bull, she gave birth to the star-like Asterion, who became known as the Minotaur. Minos was required to sacrifice the fairest bull born in its herd to Poseidon each year. One year, an extremely beautiful bull was born, Minos refused to sacrifice this bull, and sacrificed another, inferior bull instead. As punishment, Poseidon cursed his wife Pasiphae to experience lust for the white, splendid bull. Ultimately, Pasiphae went to Daedalus and asked him to help her mate with the bull. Daedalus then created a hollow wooden cow covered with real cow-skin, so realistic that it fooled the Cretan Bull. Pasiphae climbed into the structure, allowing the bull to mate with her. Pasiphae fell pregnant and gave birth to a half-human half-bull creature that fed solely on human flesh. The child was named Asterius, after the previous king, but was commonly called the Minotaur. The myth of Pasiphae's coupling with the bull and the subsequent birth of the Minotaur was the subject of Euripides's lost play the Cretans, of which few fragments survive. Sections include a chorus of priests presenting themselves and addressing Minos, someone informing Minos of the newborn infant's nature, and a dialogue between Pasiphae and Minos where they argue over which between them is responsible. Pasiphae's speech defending herself is preserved, an answer to Minos' accusations in which she excuses herself on account of acting under the constraint of divine power, and insists that the one to blame is actually Minos, who angered the sea-god. Pseudo-Apollodorus mentions a slightly differing reason for why Poseidon cursed Pasiphae; citing that Minos wanted to be king, and he called upon Poseidon to send him a bull in order to prove to the kingdom that he had received sovereignty from the gods. Upon calling on Poseidon, Minos failed to sacrifice the bull, as Poseidon wished, causing the god to grow angry with him. According to sixth century BC author Bacchylides, the curse was instead sent by Aphrodite and Hyginus says this was because Pasiphae had neglected Aphrodite's worship for years. In yet another version, Aphrodite cursed Pasiphae with unnatural desires as a revenge against her father Helios, for he had revealed to Aphrodite's husband Hephaestus her secret affair with Ares, the god of war, earning Aphrodite's eternal hatred for himself and his whole race. Pasiphae nursing the infant Minotaur, red-figure kylix found at Etruscan Vulci, 4th century BC. In some more obscure traditions, it was not Poseidon's bull but Minos' father Zeus disguised as one who made love to Pasiphae and sired the Minotaur. An ancient Greek lexicon mentions a tradition where Zeus and Pasiphae are the parents of the Egyptian god Amun, who was identified with Zeus.