In Greek mythology, what food did the Minotaur traditionally eat?

In Greek mythology, the Minotaur traditionally ate human flesh.

The creature was kept inside the Labyrinth built for King Minos, and Athenian youths and maidens were sent to Crete as tribute. In the best-known versions of the myth, the Minotaur consumed these human victims within the maze.

This detail explains why the Minotaur was portrayed as a terrifying monster rather than simply as a hybrid creature. The tribute connected the monster to Athens’s political subjugation by Crete and provided the immediate reason for Theseus’s journey.

Ancient accounts do not all narrate the story in exactly the same way, and some later retellings expand the details of the victims’ fate. Nevertheless, human flesh is the standard answer in summaries of the myth. The Minotaur’s diet should not be confused with the bull sacrifice associated with Minos and the Cretan Bull.