Minotaur

There was only ever one of him and he was it.

Alone in the labyrinth the Minotaur's isolation results in depression and horrific rage. The legend says that the monster is appeased by the presentation of young men and women who are sacrificed at intervals. He devours them. And then, surrounded by their bones, he feels remorse, the bite of loneliness and his anger rises — the cycle begins again. It is a cursed existence.

There have been several famous attempts to redeem the Minotaur, most notably Picasso's wonderful drawing series of the Minotaur being seduced in flowery bowers. Like Picasso, I like to consider the notion that the monster's rage could be replaced with love. The idea of the Minotaur reclining, adored, out in the sun and air, transformed by love is beautiful — but by what means?

Maybe a crack in his rage — for a moment — just enough to allow curiosity might delay the executions. Interest in the sacrificial others as individuals, as opposed to only seeing them as consumables, might be the turning point.