Commentary Inf XII 12-13

'The infamy of Crete' is the Minotaur (only identified by name at [Inf XII 25], half man and half bull, conceived by the sexually venturesome Pasiphaë [wife of Minos, king of Crete] with a bull, when she placed herself in a wooden replica of a cow in order to enjoy a bovine embrace. See [Purg XXVI 87] for another reference to her on the Terrace of the purgation of lust. As Singleton points out in his commentary (DDP Singleton.Inf.XII.12), the fact that the Minotaur is 'sprawling' indicates probably that he has four legs, as does the simile ([Inf XII 22-25]) describing his enraged movements. If that is so, Dante has turned from the usual Classical understanding, which lends him a bull's head and a man's body, to develop his own version of the mythical creature, with a bull's body and the head of a man. For the Minotaur's appearance see the study by Botterill (Bott.1988.1), who almost alone remains unconvinced that Dante's creature has a man's head and bull's body, and two articles by Tartaro (Tart.1992.1, Tart.1997.1).