The Minotaur is a mythical creature with the body of a man and the 'head of a bull' ,^[25] said to inhabit the Knossos labyrinth. 'Minotaur' means 'the bull of Minos' or 'Minos the bull' a name which refers to the bulls mentioned in the Labyrinth Myth. The bull featured prominently in life at Knossos and the bull was seen as the sacred embodiment of the life-force by the Minoans. Sacred marriage rituals were presided over by priestess-queen and the priest-king wearing the horned masks of the cow and bull. Ritual slaying of bulls by priests took place as part of the marriage ceremony. Many of the seals, frescoes and ceramic figures found at Knossos suggest that before the bull was killed, the bull's magical power was invoked by young men and women 'vaulting over its back' .^[26] [image: Bull fresco] Sir Arthur Evans describes the sport including detailed diagrams of the acrobatic acts.^[27]