The Minotaur (painting)

The Minotaur was most likely inspired by an article series by W. T. Stead titled "The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon", published in the Pall Mall Gazette in July 1885.

[1] Stead was the leading advocate against child prostitution in London and used the myth of the Minotaur and human sacrifices as an allegory in his article series.

According to the myth, the Minotaur lived on the island of Crete and the mainland Athenians were compelled to regularly ship seven of their young men and seven virgin girls for him to eat.

[1] In 1897, Watts gave The Minotaur and seventeen other paintings, including Mammon (1885), to the National Gallery of British Art, later renamed Tate Britain.

[5] Jorge Luis Borges discovered The Minotaur through a book about Watts by G. K. Chesterton and it inspired him to write the short story "The House of Asterion" (1947).