In Greek mythology, the Minotaur (, ; Ancient Greek: Minotauros [mi:no:tauros], Latin: Minotaurus, Etruscan: Thevrumines) is a mythical creature portrayed in Classical times with the head of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "part man and part bull". The Minotaur dwelt at the center of the Labyrinth, which was an elaborate maze-like construction designed by the architect Daedalus and his son Icarus, on the command of King Minos of Crete. The Minotaur was eventually killed by the Athenian hero Theseus.
After he ascended the throne of the island of Crete, Minos competed with his brothers to rule. Minos prayed to Poseidon, the sea god, to send him a snow-white bull, as a sign of support (the Cretan Bull). He was to kill the bull to show honor to the deity, but decided to keep it instead because of its beauty. He thought Poseidon would not care if he kept the white bull and sacrificed one of his own. To punish Minos, Poseidon made Pasiphae, Minos's wife, fall deeply in love with the bull. Pasiphae had craftsman Daedalus make a hollow wooden cow, and climbed inside it in order to mate with the white bull. The offspring was the monstrous Minotaur. Pasiphae nursed him, but he grew and became ferocious, being the unnatural offspring of a woman and a beast; he had no natural source of nourishment and thus devoured humans for sustenance. Minos, after getting advice from the oracle at Delphi, had Daedalus construct a gigantic labyrinth to hold the Minotaur. Its location was near Minos' palace in Knossos. The Minotaur is commonly represented in Classical art with the body of a man and the head and tail of a bull. One of the figurations assumed by the river spirit Achelous in seducing Deianira is as a man with the head of a bull, according to Sophocles' Trachiniai. From Classical times through the Renaissance, the Minotaur appears at the center of many depictions of the Labyrinth. Ovid's Latin account of the Minotaur, which did not elaborate on which half was bull and which half man, was the most widely available during the Middle Ages, and several later versions show the reverse of the Classical configuration, a man's head and torso on a bull's body, reminiscent of a centaur. This alternative tradition survived into the Renaissance, and still figures in some modern depictions, such as Steele Savage's illustrations for Edith Hamilton's Mythology (1942).

Q: what was significant about his birth?
A: After he ascended the throne of the island of Crete, Minos competed with his brothers to rule.

Q: did he beat them and become ruler?
A: deity, but decided to keep it instead because of its beauty.

Q: what was the competition?
A: unknown
what was his appearance?
the Minotaur appears at the center of many depictions of the Labyrinth. Ovid's The offspring was the monstrous Minotaur. Pasiphae nursed him, but he grew and became ferocious, unnatural offspring of a woman and a beast;
unnatural offspring of a woman and a beast;