Greek sea gods conform to a single type: that of Homer's "halios geron" or Old Man of the Sea: Nereus, Proteus, Glaucus and Phorkys. These sea gods are not as powerful as Poseidon, the main god of the oceans and seas. Each one is a shape-shifter, a prophet, and the father of either radiantly beautiful nymphs or hideous monsters (or both, in the case of Phorkys). Nymphs and monsters blur, for Hesiod relates that Phorcys was wed to the "beautiful-cheeked" Ceto, whose name is merely the feminine of the monstrous Cetus, to whom Andromeda was due to be sacrificed. Each appearance in myth
The God Complex in that series, so Whithouse wrote "The Vampires of Venice" instead and "The God Complex" was pushed to the next series. The idea to have a Minotaur be the monster came from Whithouse's love for Greek mythology. Whithouse was more pleased with "The God Complex" than "School Reunion" and "The Vampires of Venice", his previous "Doctor Who" scripts, as the tone was darker which he was "more comfortable" writing. The first line of dialogue Whithouse wrote was the Doctor's translation of the Minotaur's words: "An ancient creature, drenched in the blood of the innocent, drifting in space through an endless