Cretan Bull
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In Greek mythology, the Cretan Bull was the bull Pasiphaë fell in love with, giving birth to the Minotaur.
Ancient drachma from Larissa, around 420 BC, depicting Heracles with the Cretan Bull. Now in the Palais de Rumine, Lausanne, Switzerland
Heracles performing one of his labors as he forces the Cretan Bull to the ground. The engraving was created by B. Picart in 1731.
Sacred bull
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Cattle are prominent in some religions and mythologies. As such, numerous peoples throughout the world have at one point in time honored bulls as sacred. In the Sumerian religion, Marduk is the "bull of Utu". In Hinduism, Shiva's steed is Nandi, the Bull. The sacred bull survives in the constellation Taurus. The bull, whether lunar as in Mesopotamia or solar as in India, is the subject of various other cultural and religious incarnations as well as modern mentions in New Age cultures.
The Procession of the Bull Apis by Frederick Arthur Bridgman, oil on canvas, 1879
20,000-year-old cave paintings in Lascaux, France
Human-headed winged bulls from Sargon II's palace in Dur-Sharrukin, modern Khorsabad (Louvre)
Stele dedicated to an Apis, dating to Year 21 of Psamtik I (c. 644 BCE)