Book 3
1.3
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.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). [ Being the first to obtain the dominion of the sea, he extended his rule over almost all the islands. ]Compare Hdt. 1.171; Thuc. 1.4 and Thuc. 1.8.
