[3]
Asterius dying childless, Minos wished to reign over Crete, but his claim was opposed. So he alleged that he had received the
kingdom from the gods, and in proof of it he said that whatever he prayed for
would be done. And in sacrificing to Poseidon he prayed that a bull might appear from the
depths, promising to sacrifice it when it appeared. Poseidon did send him up a fine bull,
and Minos obtained the kingdom, but he sent the bull to the herds and sacrificed
another.1 [
Being the first to obtain the dominion of the sea, he extended his rule over almost all
the islands. ]2
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1 Compare Diod. 4.77.2; Tzetzes, Chiliades i.479ff. （who seems to follow Apollodorus）; Lactantius Placidus on Statius, Theb. v.431, according to whom the bull was sent, in answer to Minos's prayer, not by Poseidon but by Jupiter （Zeus）.
2 Compare Hdt. 1.171; Thuc. 1.4 and Thuc. 1.8.
Apollodorus. Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Includes Frazer's notes.
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