minotaur

[Neil Maclay <nmaclay@psi.prc.com>]

Poster: Neil Maclay <nmaclay@PSI.PRC.COM>

>Greetings, 
>  I am tring to help a friend submit his device but have run into a
>documentation problem.  I am looking for any period example of a minotaur.
>According to a Herald that I asked I have a sound reason for using a
>minotaur and it should pass, but because it hasn't been used yet I need to
>try and find some sort of documentation.
>
>Thanks in advance
>Roland Nugent  mka Cecil JOnes
>
I would think that a minotaur would be acceptable. I am not a herald
but I do not believe that it would be necessary to prove that a
minotaur was used in a heraldic device in the middle ages. But one
should be able to show that the myth about the minotaur was known in
this period.

The menotaur appears in the ancient Athenian myth of Theseus. I forget
which Roman author transmitted the myth to us. Was it Plutarch? If
you can find the primary sources for the story of Theseus and then
find a reference to them in a medieval bibliography or a medieval
romance you should be home free.

Of course, it would be good to get my opinion verified or contradicted
by a knowlegeable herald before doing a submission.

I do not have my Shakesphere with me but was not Theseus refered to
in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' as the duke of Athens?

		Malcolm MacMalcolm
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