Editing Minos (section)

== Minos in art ==
[[File:Illustrations to Dante's Divine Comedy object 9 Butlin 812-9Minos.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Minos was depicted by Romantic British artist [[William Blake]] as part of [[:File:Blake Dante Hell V.jpg|his illustrations of Dante's ''Divine Comedy'']]. The original object for this image is held by the [[National Gallery of Victoria]].<ref>{{cite web |editor2=Robert N. Essick |editor3=Joseph Viscomi |title=Illustrations to Dante's "Divine Comedy", object 9 (Butlin 812.9) "Minos" |url=http://www.blakearchive.org/exist/blake/archive/object.xq?objectid=but812.1.wc.09&java=no |access-date=26 September 2013 |publisher=[[William Blake Archive]] |editor1=Morris Eaves}}</ref>]]

[[File:Michelangelo, giudizio universale, dettagli 50.jpg|thumb|right|Judge Minos in ''The Last Judgement''.]]

On Cretan coins, Minos is represented as bearded, wearing a [[diadem (personal wear)|diadem]], curly-haired, haughty, and dignified, like the traditional portraits of his reputed father, Zeus. He frequently occurs on painted vases and sarcophagus bas-reliefs, with Aeacus and Rhadamanthus as underworld judges and in connection with the Minotaur and Theseus.
[[File:Knosos - 400-350 BC - silver stater - head of Ariadne - Minos - Berlin MK AM.jpg|thumb|Knosos - 400-350 BC - silver stater - head of Ariadne - Minos]]
In [[Michelangelo]]'s famous [[fresco]], ''[[The Last Judgment (Michelangelo)|The Last Judgment]]'' (located in the [[Sistine Chapel]]), Minos appears as a judge of the underworld, surrounded by a crowd of devils. With his tail coiled around him and two donkey ears (symbol of stupidity), Minos judges the damned as they are brought down to hell (see ''Inferno'', Second Circle).

=== In poetry ===
In the ''[[Aeneid]]'' of [[Virgil]], Minos was the judge of those who had been given the death penalty on a false charge - Minos sits with a huge urn and decides whether a soul should go to [[Elysium]] or [[Tartarus]] with the help of a silent jury. Radamanthus, his brother, is a judge at Tartarus who decides upon suitable punishments for sinners there.<ref>''Aeneid'' VI, 568–572).</ref>

In [[Dante Alighieri]]'s ''[[Divine Comedy]]'' story ''[[Inferno (Dante)|Inferno]]'', Minos is depicted as having a [[snake]]-like tail. He sits at the entrance to the second circle in the ''Inferno'', which is the beginning of Hell proper. There, he judges the sins of each soul and assigns it to its appropriate punishment by indicating the circle to which it must descend. He does this by circling his tail around his body the appropriate number of times. He can also speak to clarify the soul's location within the circle indicated by the wrapping of his tail.<ref>''Inferno'' V, 4–24; XXVII, 124–127).</ref>