Jun 6, 2025
I've seen a few people mention that Minos's stepfather who ruled Crete before him was named Asterion (or Asterius) which is where the Minotaur got his name
but something I haven't seen people mention is that King Asterion had a daughter called Crete.
One source makes this stepsister of Minos the mother of his famous children instead of Pasiphaë, but there are also a couple sources that claim Pasiphaë's mother was called Crete instead.
The parents of the Crete who gave birth to Pasiphaë aren't mentioned, but it's not a terrible stretch think she was the same Crete who was the daughter of King Asterion.
Perhaps Pasiphaë named the Minotaur after her own grandfather.