Minotaur, the Wild Beast of Crete
1961 film by Silvio Amadio
Minotaur, the Wild Beast of Crete (Italian: Teseo contro il Minotauro, lit. 'Theseus against the Minotaur') is a 1960 film based on the Greek legend of Theseus, the Athenian hero who is said to have slain a minotaur on Minoan Crete around 1500 or 1450 BC. The film was directed by Silvio Amadio and starred Bob Mathias.
Plot
The island of Crete lives in fear of the Minotaur, a dreadful beast trapped inside a labyrinth under the royal palace. The monster is venerated as a god, and to appease it, the Cretians regularly sacrifice a maiden to it.
One day, Minos' wife Pasiphaë is dying of natural causes. On her deathbed, she reveals that her daughter, the royal princess Phaedra, was not their only child: A twin sister, Ariadne, lives in secrecy on the Greek mainland in a humble village. She was brought there to avoid being sacrificed to the Minotaur, but now the queen's last wish is to see her daughters united again. While Minos consents to his wife's last request, Phaedra, who is a power-hungry and evil schemer, refuses to share the throne and sends out her loyal retainer, Chirone, to kill Ariadne. Chirone raids the village with a group of hired brigands, killing everyone including Ariadne's foster parents, but Ariadne is rescued by Theseus, son of King Aegeus of Athens, and his Cretan friend Demetrios, who happen to pass by. Upon seeing her, Demetrios immediately notices Ariadne's striking resemblance to Princess Phaedra, but Ariadne knows nothing of her true heritage.
Theseus and Ariadne accompany Demetrios back to Crete, but Chirone returns before them, alerting Phaedra to their arrival.
“Minotaur, the Wild Beast of Crete” enters the record as 1961 film by Silvio Amadio. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Minotaur, Wild and Beast can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1162000. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1960, 1500 and 1450.
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