The Minotaur and the Labyrinth from multidisciplinary perspectives, specifically on how the symbol of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth has been used from antiquity to now. How has the Minotaur been used, or abused, throughout time? How has the mythology surrounding it been used to generate or regenerate cultural structures? Referencing Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s Monster Culture, what does the Minotaur reveal about the cultures he exists within?

The Minotaur is an enduring symbol throughout Western thought: The Minotaur, the bull-human hybrid, the unnatural, adopted son of Minos, the terror of Crete, has found a home outside of his Labyrinth in Western literature. Singular, this monster – or should monster be in quotation marks? – has been used at times to embody the horrors of unnatural desires, and at other times an embodiment of Otherness that ‘had’ to be destroyed, and in still others, an incorporated member who still is somehow odd.

This panel aims to apply the theme of the 2026 NeMLA Convention, (Re)generation, in order to examine the uses of the Minotaur, the Labyrinth in which he resides, and the reason for the shifts in his attendant mythologies from antiquity to today. How has the Minotaur been used, or abused, throughout time? How has the mythology surrounding it been used to generate or regenerate cultural structures? Referencing Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s Monster Culture, what does the Minotaur reveal about the cultures he exists within?

Perspectives to possibly address:

Feminist and Queer readings of the Minotaur or the Labyrinth

Psychoanalytical readings of the Minotaur or the Labyrinth

Monstrous masculinity and the Minotaur, or monstrous femininity of the Labyrinth

The role of heroes and “heroes”

The Minotaur or the Labyrinth in art and art history

The Minotaur or the Labyrinth as a symbol – of what, and to what end?

The Economics of the Minotaur or the Labyrinth – who benefits from the Minotaur, and how?

The Minotaur or the Labyrinth in a specific work or time period –

The Antique Minotaur

The Renaissance Minotaur

The image of the Minotaur in modern popular culture

Anything else! What about Ariadne? What about Minos and Pasiphae?

Please submit a 250-300 word abstract and approx. 100 word author bio to Michael Dalpe at minotaurstudies@gmail.com by 30 September 2025 to be considered for the panel.