Silver didrachm, Knossos, Crete, circa 425-360 BC: Minotaur running.

This coin shows the ancient Cretan concept of the Minotaur recreated in the highlighted bronze sculpture. Shakespeare learned about the Minotaur from the biography of Theseus in one of his favorite sources, Plutarch's Lives of Noble Grecians and Romans. Shakespeare himself used North's translation of these parallel lives as the primary source for Antony and Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Coriolanus, Timon of Athens, and a minor source in several other plays. Cabinet des médailles Paris: Marie-Lan Nguyen (User:Jastrow), 2008-04-11. Courtesy of Yorck Project< the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license.